The Martial Unity

“So this is how Martial Artists fight,” Veruschia remarked with a hint of curiosity. “I must say, he’s quite strong.”

Amare burst out laughing, shaking her head.

“You haven’t seen anything yet.”

“I am aware that he is holding back his power,” she replied. “But given how much he is holding back his power, he is quite strong.”

“Well, that is true.” Amare directed a gentle smile as she watched Rui deal with powerful wood sieges.

BOOM!

WHOOSH

Rui effortlessly sidestepped wooden cannonball hurling at him at high speeds, before directing an amused expression at the dark elf defensive line.

“I must admit I hoped to face individual warriors.”

The dark elves gritted their teeth. “Attack!”

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

A myriad of wooden sieges surged forth as roots emerged from the ground, trying to wrap around his feet.

In war, against enemies of their caliber, such a tactic was undoubtedly bound to be extremely effective.

Yet, against Rui, it was meaningless.

He shook his head.

“I’m not dodging because I have to; it’s just more fun to dodge.”

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

A myriad of attacks blasted his body as he found dozens of heavy impacts on his body.

And yet, he didn’t so much as budge, effortlessly dispersing the attacks with Flux Earther without a scratch on his body. Funnily enough, this only helped the dark elves, who got an unexpected boost from him. After all, the flora of the Genora Continent was genetically modified to be able to absorb seismic radiation while Flux Earther converted attacks into seismic radiation and dispersed them into the ground.

“We have gained more energy! Attack!”

“Damn, unexpected incompatibility,” Rui murmured. “Oh well.”

CRACK CRACK CRACK!

He broke out of the roots, surging forth with great speed as he wove through the incoming sieges effortlessly.

WHOOSH

Before the dark elves could even react, he had arrived behind them.

POW POW!

In the blink of an eye, he knocked out two of them.

His fist surged forth towards the third, expecting to be able to knock them out then and there.

THUD!

His eyes lit up with intrigue as a powerful barrier of wood and roots emerged from the ground, stopping his blow as it absorbed the kinetic energy of his blow seamlessly.

“Woah!” the dark elf reacted a second after, stumbling away from him.

“Interesting…” Rui murmured with a curious expression. “You weren’t able to react to me, but your nature manipulation was able to react to me. How does that work?”

She wasn’t the only one.

Having fought several dark elves at this point, he couldn’t help but note that their reaction time was slow.

It didn’t even match that of a Martial Apprentice. It was around that of a normal human at around zero-point-two-five seconds.

He could be certain of this because he could see their SOULs, and they were not reacting to anything by themselves. Yet, they could somehow keep up with his attacks and even target him somewhat accurately as he maneuvered at supersonic speeds.

“No, more fundamentally, how are they even exerting such control over flora?” he pondered as he effortlessly dodged their attacks, studying their bodies.

He gazed at their bare feet.

Could it be through the ground with which their feet had contact?

He could sense any flux of information through their feet or anything of the sort.

He snapped his fingers as he manipulated heaven, tossing several of them flying into the sky just to see what they would do.

WHOOSH!

In the blink of an eye, they flung a hundred meters into the air and the morning Sky

To their credit, they didn’t scream, instead gritting their teeth as they waved their hands.

RUMBLE…

“Oh?” Rui stepped aside as he allowed the emerging blooming plants to do their thing as it surged forth into the air, gently cushioning their return.

“Hmmm…” he fell into thought as he observed them. “Definitely not through the feet since they can do it midair as well. Then…”

He turned around as time slowed down in his eyes, watching the dark elves move in slow motion.

“How?” he raised an eyebrow.

He could sense any manual connection.

He could sense any physical contact.

Then how could they communicate and control nature so effectively?

“Ah…” his eyes lit up with realization. “Of course. I see.”

It was their mind.

The dark elves before him had more activity in his brain, the closer he looked.

They were also stronger than the previous dark elves and could manipulate more flora.

“It must be through brainwaves,” Rui realized. “Brainwaves are the only explanation for how these low-level warriors are able to control nature remotely.”

There were more extravagant means of remote control, but this was the only one that was even remotely mass-producible. Most likely, the ’Gate of Harmony’ improved their brain capacity for communication and control with nature, the way that the Apprentice Realm improved brain capacity in combat.

While cognition in Martial Art was used to increase efficiency and effectiveness in one’s Martial movements, in the Nature Path, it was likely used to increase the bandwidth of one’s connection with nature.

He quickly built SOUL Models for each of the elves before him, editing the model to incorporate the movements of nature into it as well.

Sure enough, his hypothesis proved to be true.

By sensing the signals that their brains released to the trees, he could sense exactly what they were going to do.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

More and more dark elves from the surrounding area joined as they launched hundreds and thousands of Squire-level attacks upon him.

And yet, despite the countless attacks surging towards him, he was unharmed.

Despite the myriad of branches, roots, and wood projectiles converging on him, not a single one could put even a scratch on him.

Not a single one could even touch him.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

The dark elves widened their eyes with shock as they bore witness to a ghost that seemed to phase through the very fabric of reality

For the first time in their lives, they beheld the power of a Martial Artist.

Of the strongest Martial Artist.