The Martial Unity

Fiona threw herself at Mia multiple times, being blown away each time. She could have chosen a route where she used evasive maneuvering to dodge Mia's aim, but instead she thrusted herself headfirst into Mia's super-powered attacks.

Yet each time, she managed to reach further and further.

FLICK

She managed to touch Mia's face, earning Mia's shock, before the sound bullet touched her.

BAM!

She swiftly landed a blow before the attack could push her away

Mia skidded back despite guarding it, immediately setting up a sound attack.

Yet it was too late.

POW!

A swift kick to the jaw sent her flying across the arena. Fiona didn't even wait for her to gain her bearing.

BAM BAM BAM!

She pummeled Mia ruthlessly.

POW!

The second strike to the jaw.

THUD

Mia collapsed as she lost consciousness.

"Winner; representative Fiona Roschem." The referee declared.

"And there you have it folks! Representative Fiona Roschem will be taking her spot in the finals against Representative Rui Quarrier! The finals will be conducted here tomorrow at the same time. Be sure not to miss it!"

The crowd erupted in cheers and applause.

Rui exhaled at that sight, deep in thought. He had expected as much, so he wasn't too surprised.

What he found interesting was that Fiona had had to exert herself more each round. In her last fight, Mia was actually competitive to a certain degree.

Thankfully, Rui had gotten three rounds worth of data on her. He would be able to construct a better style.

However, Fiona was an all-rounder. The type that the VOID algorithm dealt with the worst. In order to adapt to her to the degree Rui wished he could, he would need to employ the higher-end data science-driven pattern recognition systems of the VOID algorithm. But he was currently unable to use it because it was too difficult, the amount of data he had to memorize and process on the spot was just too much even for his enhanced cognition.

Rui sighed inwardly. He was truly beginning to experience his limitations. So far, even his incomplete and partial mastery of an insufficient VOID algorithm had always been enough, but in this tournament, he had been shown his limits.

Ian Nepomiachtchi first and now Fiona Roschem. This tournament had exposed him to a new tier of power than showed him the VOID algorithm's inadequacies.

His urge to perfect the VOID algorithm had grown much deeper than it was before. He had always been driven, but only now was he truly impatient.

Unfortunately, the finals were in twenty-four hours, and he could only give it his best shot.

But he vowed to tackle the problem of the VOID algorithm more seriously once the tournament ended.

For now, he had to find some way to defeat Fiona.

He left the viewing balcony, exiting the colosseum accompanied by his instructors as they headed towards the living quarters.

"We'll have to talk once you get some rest." Squire Kyrie told him once more, as the they split ways.

Rui simply nodded as he headed down towards the cafeteria to get something to eat. He was lost in thought, he didn't even notice Fiona until he almost bumped into her.

"Woah." He paused abruptly, startled.

"Hi." She said. "Going to grab a bite?"

"...Yeah." Rui replied.

"Great! I was headed there myself." She said. "Let's go together, there's nobody else left here except for the two of us."

Rui simply stared at her, before shrugging. "Sure."

As they headed down, Rui simply walked in silence, unsure of what to say to her. They weren't friends, after all. Hell, they were going to be fighting against each other in the finals of the Martial Contest. He didn't know anything about her, though he was curious about her.

"You know..." He began. "I was surprised that you haven't named your Martial Art yet."

"Really? Why so?" She asked, curiosity flashing across her silver eyes.

Rui wasn't sure what to say, Headmaster Aronian did say that the significance of naming Martial Art was not something they revealed to Martial Apprentices, so he did not know if she knew. He did not want to meddle and make things inadvertently harder for her by telling her the importance of it.

"Because you're so strong." He said. "Not to mention you've been a Martial Apprentice for a long time, I thought you would have named it by now."

She shrugged. "Never felt the urge to name it. Martial Art are no more than collections of techniques anyway, what's the point of naming such a thing?"

Her words essentially confirmed that her Martial Art definitely did not have much, if at all any, originality and individuality at all.

So basically, she had gotten this far through some combination of sheer talent, resources and mundane albeit hard work.

"Do you enjoy Martial Art?" Rui asked.

"No." She said.

"Do you enjoy fighting?" Rui asked.

"No." She replied.

"Do you enjoy power?"

"It's helpful, but I don't particularly enjoy it, no."

Rui had partial expected her answers. He had sensed it when she fought. She showed more life and energy in her talks with him than in her fights in the Martial Contest.

"Then why do you fight? Why do you traverse your Martial Path? Why do you practice your Martial Art?"

"Because I'm good at it." She shrugged. "A bit too good at it, in fact. What else am I going to if not this?"

Rui was speechless at her answer. It was not something he ran into often, if at all. All of his friends had a core motivation, goal or interest.

Fae fought for her family.

Kane fought for freedom.

Nel fought because he loved fighting.

Hever fought because he wanted to pursue his Martial Path.

Even Milliana and Dalen fought for similar reasons as well.

Yet, he realized he shouldn't be all too surprised. Even back on Earth, people often did things because they were extremely good at it.