The Martial Unity

By now, Rui had gotten used to the process of creating Metabody techniques. These techniques were distinctly different from normal techniques. If nothing else, they were much more difficult to create than normal techniques, that was for sure. That alone meant that they were a challenge, unlike nearly anything Rui had faced before. The sheer complexity of the techniques, as well as the standards of quality that he reserved for them, was very high from the get-go, and this was unlike any other technique that he had ever mastered before where he was more open-minded about the outcome.

And yet, Rui managed to complete the defensive Metabody technique well before the Martial Festival arrived. Ordinarily, such technique projects were easily one-year long projects each, just like many of his older technique projects had each taken nearly a year sometimes, these Metabody techniques were not something that could normally be finished this quickly. 

Yet, this time it was. 

The reality of the matter was that due to being constrained by a rough deadline, Rui pushed himself more than he would have had this been an open-ended project. The fact of the matter was that no matter how dedicated one was, human beings were fundamentally creatures that adapted to pressure. As long as there was enough pressure to accomplish something, it would happen, including finishing two Metabody techniques well within the year ended. It wasn’t that Rui or other Martial Artists were otherwise lazy or not dedicated, not at all. 

All it was, was that the sheer hasty desperation that arrived when one was subjected to heavy pressure was something that simply could not be artificially generated without that pressure in the first place. 

In fact, it had been a little under three years since Rui left the Shionel Confederation, and ever since then, he had noted that the rate of growth that he had experienced as a Martial Artist was visibly higher than the rate of growth he had prior to entering the Shionel Confederation.

He was subjected to a lot of pressure within the Shionel Confederation as well as after he left it, and this pressure had helped stimulate his potential unlike anything could when he was simply training freely.

Just the growth that he had made in the past year was probably much higher than anything he had ever experienced in the past. Two grade-ten techniques in less than a year were something that Master Deivon was surely bound to be excited about.

Not that Rui intended to tell him. He didn’t want to disclose information that he didn’t need to. Of course, Master Deivon had already gained an inkling of the previous grade-ten technique that Rui had made, Hypertrophic Surge. But he did not know of the latest one.

“Huff…” Rui exhaled, sending a small shock across a specific nerve in his navel while breathing in a certain pattern.

When faced with the choice of creating a physiological trigger or a psychological trigger for the defensive Metabody technique that he had created, he ultimately decided to go for both to make it as distinguished from his other triggers as possible. One thing that he was paranoid about was accidentally triggering a metabody that he did not want to trigger. 

That was he made sure to distinguish and differentiate them as much as possible.

His flesh grew thicker and thicker and denser while growing darker and darker. He felt as though he was wearing an impenetrable armor that could protect him from any and everything.

“Please begin the final preparations,” Rui instructed the assisting staff team that was assigned to aid him with utilizing the more sophisticated and complex training systems that required external aid to operate.

The staff head hesitated for a moment, bowing deeply. “Sir… Are you absolutely certain of this? May I ask you to reconsider? This is madness. These systems are meant for Martial Seniors. Even if we significantly lower their output to well below the Senior Realm, they are still far beyond Martial Squires!”

Rui sighed. “This again? I told you, did I not? You will not be held liable for anything that happens to me. I even signed a statement stating that. Don’t worry, I am not that easy to kill.”

The man gave a resigned sigh, nodding. “Very well then.”

“What is the energy output of a baropresser?” Rui asked.

“We’ve set it to eighteen liters of Darion condensate.”

That was an explosive that was commonly used as the equivalent of energy.

(‘About nine hundred tons of TNT, roughly speaking.’) Rui mused, exhaling deeply. It was an intimidating number, but he was confident in his estimations of what he could handle.

He immediately began walking in a certain direction, entering a gigantic hemispherical dome chamber.

“Alright, get started,” Rui called out. 

“Yes, sir,”

He grounded himself, making sure to balance himself perfectly before exhaling.

VMMMMM!

He heard a vibrating sound from the dome.

“Pressure blast incoming in ten… nine… eight…”

Rui focused himself as the man counted down, even though the defensive metabody technique that he did end up creating was passive after activation, he still felt the need to make sure he was in a sharp state of mind.

“…One.”

BOOM!!!

Rui gritted his teeth as he experienced a titanic blast of pressure crashing onto him from all directions!

The sheer amount of force that he was subjected to far exceeded anything that he had ever experienced in his entire life!

Not even the Root attacks, not even Senior Xanarn’s attacks, not even the barrages unleashed by the three Martial Seniors of the Kaddar Region matched the amount of force that this chamber exerted on him.

It lasted for just a few seconds, yet it felt as though it had lasted an eternity.

THUD!

Rui fell to his knees, panting. 

His body was covered with bruises all over.

He glanced at his arms and legs. A few bruises, he also twisted his ankle a little, and he felt a little dizzy.

(‘But nothing aside from that!’) Rui grinned in amazement. (‘This technique is a perfect success!’)