The Martial Unity

That realization gave him even deeper respect for Kane, yet it also drove him deeper into considering his paths to victory.

One possibility that sprung to mind was altering the variables of combat, such as range.

He had powerful long-range capabilities that he could leverage. The ODA System allowed him to accurately target his opponents from great distances away. It was particularly effective against close-range fighters as he could use it to barricade them from reaching him.

Furthermore, he also had Transverse Resonance that allowed him to hit up to four times the power he normally could with a single attack, allowing him to inflict critical damage on his opponents.

However, he quickly dismissed this strategy against Kane. Kane was far too quick and would close the distance between them extremely rapidly. As an evasive maneuverer, this was right up his alley, and ultimately a futile effort.

It did not solve the fundamental challenge that was contacting Kane's body with an attack.

He considered trying to turn the battle into a grappling match, but he could tell that Kane was wary about being caught by Rui. Rui had used that exact same strategy against Kane far too many times in the past, it was simply not going to work when he was that cautious about it.

('Tsk, no long-term battle strategy will slowly lead me to victory. His reflexes negate such plans and refuse to give them the opportunity to make slow progress against him,') Rui knew that a more ordinary standard long-term battle approach would likely be unable to hurt him. ('What I need is a tactic, rather than a strategy.')

The two words were used interchangeably, but there were nuances that distinguished them. Strategies were over-arching and long-term. A tactic was a more acute plan that yielded outcomes sooner.

Rui needed a tactic to catch him off-guard, allowing him to beat Kane due to landing a single blow in a critical moment.

That was all he needed with Kane's weak constitution.

Of course, the first question was how he ought to overcome the reflexes problem.

('Surpassing his reflexes with raw speed is out of the question. But reflexes aren't the only relevant variable,') Rui's eyes narrowed as he came up with a possible way out. ('He can't react to what escapes his awareness.')

The human mind received a ton of information every second from all senses, information that it could not entirely process. Thus it often ignored large chunks of the information that came in, focusing on certain parts of it at any given moment.

That was something Rui could exploit.

WHOOSH

Appeared to Rui's side, his finger flung forward as he aimed at Rui's eyes.

POW!

Rui countered by shifting his head at the right moment, causing Kane's attack to harmlessly bounce off his skull.

Rui threw a short and swift jab, avoiding any wind-up movements to ensure that it could hit Kane straightforwardly, yet Kane casually evaded the blow.

POW POW POW!

Rui blocked three swift strikes, yet Kane switched up to a powerful blow to the throat, exploiting a gap in Rui's guard caused by the previous three strikes. His palm jab shot forward unperturbed as Kane finally saw an opportunity to land a critical blow. Rui jerked back in a desperate attempt to avoid the attack.

Yet he couldn't!

SPLAT!

Kane's finger punctured a hole in his throat, much to the former's ecstasy. Yet, at that very moment, Kane felt a sharp pain in his foot.

POW!

"Rgh!" He grimaced as he glanced down.

His eyes widened as he saw Rui's foot crushing his own, pushing it deeply.

At the moment that Kane had struck Rui, Rui had crushed his foot with his own, holding him in place.

Kane struggled like a horse as he did his very best to wrangle his foot.

And he did.

For the rock beneath his foot could not hold a Martial Squire.

But not before it was too late.

BOOM!!!

Rui landed the first strike of their fight!

A powerful blow amplified with Outer Convergence with the impact permeated deeper into his body with Reverberating Lance.

CRACK!

The sheer force of the blow broke Kane's ribs as it launched flying back.

Rui, on the other hand, cradled his throat.

He had come to the conclusion that the best way to distract Kane's awareness in these circumstances was to give him what he wanted.

Then, and only then, would he truly give Rui the opportunity to trap and land a blow on him.

However, he had to pay a price nonetheless. Although Kane's piercing technique was highly primitive and would not have done any damage to Rui nearly anywhere else on his body, Kane had aimed for the one spot where he knew it would do damage.

Yet he wasn't too concerned. It was true that it was serious, but the injuries that he had inflicted on Kane were just as bad, if not worse.

His body was not meant to endure great stress. Rui had not only struck him with his full power, but he had also used Reverberating Lance to make sure that Kane wouldn't be able to get away with just a bad bruise.

"Cough!" Kane spat out some blood on his knees, he turned towards Rui who was covering his throat but was otherwise fine for the most part.

Just one look at him and Kane could tell that the man could fight quite well even in his state. In fact, if this was a real fight, Rui would have already rushed over and kicked him in the head. The only reason that he hadn't was because he knew that the fight was over. Kane had suffered far more damage and was far more debilitated than Rui, who was not that far from his peak even with a hole in his throat. His healing factor and Final Breathing meant that he could continue fighting for quite some time.

"Damn… Cough!" Kane cursed. "I really thought I had a good shot this time."

"You actually did," Rui nodded. "Frankly, I was at a little bit of a loss as to how to beat you."

He offered Kane a hand, pulling him up.