The Martial Unity

"Moving onto our next battle! On one hand we have Representative Byron Harth and his Gentle Sting Style representing the Brillix branch. And on the other hand, we have Kaerts Omegde and his Soul Reader Style! Let's welcome them with a round of applause."

The two men entered the arena, earning an eruption of cheers from the audience.

Rui raised an eyebrow at their heavy presence.

They were strong.

"Take your stances." The referee instructed.

Byron Harth extended his left leg forward as he crouched his right leg. His arms positioned themselves in front of him, with all fingers except the index and middle fingers bent.

Rui recalled that Fae and Kane had told him that Byron's Martial Path and Martial Art were centered around nerve targeting.

The nervous system of the human body was responsible for the functioning of the human body in many ways, Rui wasn't even sure what Byron was capable of. He intended to pay close attention to his combat style and make a profile centered around him as well.

As for Kaerts, he wasn't sure what to make of that strange name. Neither of his friends knew much about him either. They only knew that he was the son of a Martial Master.

He simply took a simple neutral stance, making him all the more mysterious in Rui's eyes.

"Begin!" The referee commenced the match.

Byron immediately dashed towards Kaerts, launching several finger poking attacks.

WHOOSH

Kaerts evaded the attack incredibly cleanly, he moved almost the very bare minimum needed to avoid the attack. What struck Rui as interesting was that he didn't strike Rui as an evasive type, yet he possessed high evasive capabilities.

Perhaps this had something to do with his Martial Art.

WHOOSH

WHOOSH

WHOOSH

As time passed, he continued avoiding each of Byron's finger jabs with unbelievable timing. Rui's eyes knitted with confusion and amazement as a certain realization dawned on Rui.

('This man... He's not dodging the jabs as or even after they come.') Rui noted. ('His evasive motion begins as or just before Byron begins his movements.')

There were very few people who were able to regularly do that at the Apprentice Realm. Kane was one of them, with his excellent reflexes and agility, he was able to often evade as early as possible. Rui was also one of them, with the VOID algorithm supported with Primordial Instinct, he possessed an incredibly high amount of foresight, and his prediction allowed him to move at among the earliest of intervals in the fight.

However, Kaerts was certainly not an evasive-type like Kane was, and he absolutely certainly did not possess the VOID algorithm.

"Hmmm..." Rui frowned. "There's something strange here."

"You noticed quite quickly." Squire Kyrie raised an eyebrow. "I was going to tell you after the match ended."

"The fac that he's evading this early... As well as the name of the Martial Art..." Rui's eyes narrowed. "Is it a sensory technique?"

"Quite likely." Kyrie nodded.

If that was the case, then it could perhaps explain his remarkable Martial Art.

('But what is he sensing if that is the case?') Rui wondered. ('And how is he sensing it in the first place?')

Rui paid a lot of attention to his movements, trying to understand what exactly was happening.

Suddenly, a strange event occurred. Byron actually skidded just a bit under a particularly slippery part of the arena when setting up a kick, disbalancing him as he launched the kick. Normally, this was a blunder and would be exploited by an experienced Martial Artist.

Yet, not only did it not fail, the kick mysteriously landed straight on Kaerts' face.

POW

Rui raised an eyebrow at that sight in surprise, he would have been able to dodge that thanks to the center of gravity evaluation system of the VOID algorithm, yet for some reason, it completely bypassed Kaerts' sensory.

It very well could have been a fluke, of course.

('Or perhaps...') Rui narrowed his eyes as an idea formed in his head.

Byron managed to land in a strike by fluke, but it worked in his favour. All he had needed was one element to give him an opening. The fluke strike had landed square on Kaerts' nose causing pain and disorientation.

POW POW POW

He landed three speedy close-range finger jabs that had very little power in them. He had sacrificed weight and momentum for speed, allowing him to cleanly land them.

Yet despite being weak jabs, they strangely affected Kaerts negatively.

THUD

He collapsed to one knee all of a sudden, seemingly unvoluntarily.

BAM!

Byron managed to land a powerful kick to the face this time.

Kaerts managed to get back up, retreating.

Rui had watched the scene carefully with eagle eyes.

('Temporary partial Paralysis.') Rui thought with incredulity. With just a single tap, he could temporarily hinder or incapacitate a body part. It was an almost magical ability. The average Martial Apprentice stood no chance of defeating that ability. Byron would go very far in the prelimianry contest of the Hajin branch.

In a way Kaerts was extremely compatible against him. However, that did not mean that Byron was necessarily weak.

Against the right opponents, he would dominate incredibly hard. For example, Rui suspected that Nel would likely be helpless against Byron. The reason for that being that Nel relied on his durability toughness too much. Byron would paralyze him quickly and just eternally punish him.

However, his opponent was not Nel, it was Kaerts. He had managed to gain a temporary advantage, but the compatibility was not good.

BANG!

Kaerts landed a powerful blow as he sneaked past Byron's finger pokes smoothly.

He had managed to regain his bearing and began avoiding Byron properly yet again.

Once he began going all out, there was too much of a gap.

POW!

A powerful blow to the jaw rattled Byron's brain, knocking him out.

THUD

He collapsed to the ground.

"Aaaaand we have a winner folks! Representative Kaerts Omegde has earned his spot in the second round after a solid victory against Representative Byron Harth!"