The Martial Unity

Yet it appeared that he wasn't one to give up so easily, either. He immediately lashed out, rushing in towards the spear wielder. The moment he stepped into range, the spear flashed forward racing to impale him.

Yet Squire Janeau leaped diagonally to the side, avoiding the spear, and closing the distance a bit. 

Because spears had lesser flexibility, they could not easily attack targets that weren't directly ahead within their striking range. This was what Squire Janeau hoped to use to close the distance between them.

Yet, it appeared that he was still underestimating the monk.

The moment the latter saw the maneuver, the spear as he rapidly shifted it from hand to hand towards the approaching Squire Janeau.

THWACK!

The powerful weapon slammed hard into Squire Janeau. The man gritted his teeth as he blocked the powerful weapon with both arms, only to be launched backward with the force of the impact.

"I won't let you get your claws on me that easily, beast." The monk declared confidently.

Squire Janeau gritted his teeth. "I'm going to tear you apart!"

Rui watched with vague interest as the two of them continued their fierce competition. Squire Janeau continued applying as many possible solutions to getting past the man's annoying counter-offensive and defense. The monk instead did everything he could to keep Squire Janeau away. 

Rui had to respect how far he had taken spear-wielding. Every time he moved the spear, it almost disappeared in Rui's vision. It was incredibly fast, and even more lethal. The edge of the spear was sharper than Rui could even sense. He doubted that even Nemean Blossom would be able to withstand the offense without taking any damage, the offense was too focused, powerful, and lethal for that to possibly happen.

Squire Janeau, on the other hand, reminded Rui a lot of Nel. The two of them had the same wild aggression that resembled what one would expect from a predatory monster as opposed to a Martial Artist.

He knew better than to underestimate someone like that. The man's speed was incredibly high, allowing him to dodge the spear routinely. Rui didn't even want to imagine what it felt like to get hit with either those razor-sharp claws or the fangs in his mouth. 

However, as much of a wild beast the man seemed like he was, he did display a respectable amount of strategic and tactical intelligence. He didn't just blindly stick to one approach even if it failed. He showed that he was capable of adapting his approach if that was what was necessary.

It was an interesting fight, but not one that was too important as far as he was concerned. He almost certainly would not be fighting either one of them in the final round. They would need to overcome the winner of the next match to reach him.

He had a feeling that that was not going to happen.

Regardless, the outcome did catch him by surprise.

SPLAT!

The spear pierced through the top of Squire Janeau's shoulder... but that wasn't enough to stop him from ripping off a good chunk of the monk's forearm.

"Rgh!" The monk grimaced as he immediately tried to contain the bleeding.

Squire Janeau, on the other hand, was ecstatic. "Hehehe..."

The piece of flesh that he bit off, fell from his mouth. "I told you didn't I...?"

The man appeared to be unperturbed by the spear wound. "...This ain't your little Daeshun Temple. You'll get torn apart if you're soft!"

What followed was inevitable. 

The size of a spear meant that it needed to be wielded by both arms. It could not be used to anywhere near its full potential with only one functioning arm. With one arm losing a huge chunk of its forearm, the man could not effectively use it to manipulate his spear.

He had brought this upon himself.

'Why would you not take measures to protect your arms?' Rui shook his head.

If the arms were the most important part of the Martial Body when it came to one's Martial Art, then Rui would most certainly have gone to extensive means to protect them. At the very least, he would have conditioned them to hell and back.

'Then again, it's highly doubtful that anything short of a full-fledged defensive powerhouse could stop that man's fangs and claws.' Rui shrugged.

"I forfeit!" The monk exclaimed once Squire Janeau's claws were just an inch away from his throat.

"We have a winner! Contestant Janeau of the Virodha Theocracy passes on to the second round of the Martial Contest!"

The crowd cheered ecstatically as much of it was comprised of the natives of the Virodha Theocracy.

Rui grew more attentive as the next round soon arrived.

This is what he had been waiting for. 

"And in the final matchup of the first round, we have Contestant Feoul, the renowned Breathless Demon of the Feriung Clan at the frontier of Human Domain! A powerful newcomer to the Martial Contest!" The announcer exclaimed, before pausing for a moment. "And on the other hand... We have the champion of the Martial Contest! The Devil's Beauty herself! Will the newcomer be able to dethrone the queen of the Martial Contest?!"

The crowd cheered loudly as two women appeared in the colosseum. Rui watched carefully, unwilling to miss even a moment of the fight. He had already resolved not to make predictive models on any of them to give himself as much of a challenge to potentially trigger his Martial Heart, but that did not mean he would not take ordinary measures when it came to observing them.

"Take your stances!" The Senior priest instructed them once the formalities ended. 

Contestant Feoul took a low crouching stance with her hands ahead of her, poised for action.

'Grappler... Interesting.' Rui glanced back at Meera, who simply stood there. 'And on the other hand... stanceless.'

Squire Feoul released a tremendous amount of pressure, one that would any Martial Squire on edge. It appeared that she was as impressive as one would expect from a first-timer entering the top eight of such a wide and powerful contest. One look at her, and Rui knew that if he wasn't careful, it wouldn't end well.