The Martial Unity

Why was ‘Martial Artist’ upper-capped?

Why was it Martial Artist in the world of Gaia and ‘martial-artist’ in the world of Earth?

It was the difference between a plural and a singular.

It was the difference between a pattern and a point.

The difference between an archetype and a story.

The archetype of a Martial Artist and of Martial Art was a limitlessly recurring pattern of violence in the hearts of men and women being honed and harnessed with order and discipline to be elevated to entirely new Realms.

He wasn’t just fighting the embodiment of the Noosphere.

He was fighting an archetype.

The archetype of the Martial Artist.

‘She’ was an embodiment of the sphere of human thought of the deceased; ‘she’ had access to the hearts of every Martial Artist who had ever passed away on Gaia.

From them, she could draw the most fundamental patterns of Martial Artists and of Martial Art.

The fist.

The palm.

The kick.

Her movements embodied the most universal patterns of Martial Art, exceeding even his wildest fathoming.

She was an embodiment of the fundamental archetype of a Martial Artist.

That realization shook him to the very core of his being as time slowed down in his ethereal eyes.

Within their ethereal depths emerged a madness.

A smile untethered from sanity bloomed on his bloody face.

A smile of boundless ferocity and excitement.

Of reckoning.

Within the depths of his heart emerged a single resolution.

“I will adaptively evolve to the fundamental archetype of the Martial Art itself.”

A tremendously ferocious desire boiled from deep within the depths of his heart. The countless drives that drove him, the drive to fulfill Project Water, the drive to protect Kandria, the drive to protect Panama and the true world, to protect Gaia herself.

And of course, the most powerful drive of them all.

The drive to protect his precious baby girl.

They wove together, creating a singularity of a boundlessly intense desire.

To overcome the tribulation before him.

To overcome the Archetype of Martial Art itself.

And yet, reality begged to differ.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

‘Her’ palm caused his gut to crumble as the impact permeated deep throughout his body. The embodiment of the Noosphere perceived that ‘her’ attack would do great damage to him.

She perceived that it would kill him.

And thus, reality followed throug—

“No.”

Rui’s voice interrupted.

It interrupted the Narrative.

He slowly opened his eyes.

Within their depths were two blood-red Suns of blinding brightness. RUMBLE!!!!!

The world shook as he reached a realm of unprecedented power unlike anything he had ever possessed before. His Martial Embodiment roared with an otherworldly intensity, radiating across the material and information dimension.

RUMBLE!!!!!

It washed over the chamber of creation, across the walls clad with glowing exotic matter.

It washed across the negatron Earth core of Gaia.

It went beyond.

Beyond the mantle.

Through the crust, emerging from the depths, Gaia and upon the surface.

RUMBLE!!!!!

Water spread through the Beast Domain as the beasts and monsters roared in celebration of the display of power of the King of Beasts. “ROOOAAARRR!!!”

“KRIIIEEEKKK!!!”

“RAAAWWWRRR!!!”

They bowed in deference to the power of the Emperor of the Beast Domain even as the flood of Water spread throughout human civilization.

It spread through the Panama Continent, washing over each and every single Panaman in the world. It evoked excitement and wonder within them as they were graced by a sensation that they had now come to become extremely familiar with. “Look dad! It’s the Emperor of Water!” one child squealed as he jumped and down, enjoying the illusion of water created by his subconscious processing of the information of the Martial Embodiment. “He’s doing that thing again! That means he’s fighting for all of us, right?”

His father smiled, hiding his worry and anxiety at just what was causing the most powerful Martial Artist alive to push himself to this limit as he comforted his son. “Yes. Yes he is. The Emperor of Water fights for all of us.”

He gazed up at the dark evening sky with a hint of concern and a silent prayer as Water rushed throughout human civilization.

RUMBLE

Throughout the Panama Continent, the Water spread, evoking both relief and dread. Dread from the knowledge that there was a threat capable of forcing the Emperor to go this far.

And relief that the Emperor was fighting to protect them from it.

RUMBLE

The water rushed across all of Panama, all the way through to the edge and beyond.

It washed through the Kandrian Empire, evoking a wave of celebrations, dispelling the previous nervousness that hung in the air due to the announced energy blackouts.

“All hail the Emperor of Water!”

“Glory to Emperor Rui!”

“His Majesty will protect us to the very end!”

People cheered in celebration, while many even knelt, gripping their hands in a prayer as they expressed their reverence and piety towards their living deity.

Each and every single person recognized the Emperor from his Embodiment.

RUMBLE…

“Papa?”

Ria’s amber eyes lit up with joy as she felt her father amidst the Water that washed over her and her friends while they played together in the street.

“Whoa, look at all this water!” Runark yelled with amazement. “This is so cool! I wonder if we can swim in it!”

While the children squealed with joy at all the illusory water that filled their surroundings, Ria’s longing gaze was fixed in the direction of the inception of the water.

“Papa! Come back!” she began running in the direction it came from. “Come back home!”

She longed for him to come back.

She called for him as tears filled her eyes in the desire to be with her father.

She wondered if he could hear her calls.

Feel her longing.

He could.

Far, far away in the depths of Gaia, at the point of maximum fear in the chamber of creation, Rui’s eyes flared with burning intensity in the two blood-red Suns within their depths.

A single remark escaped him as he charged towards the embodiment of the Noosphere.

“Anti-Martial.”

RUMBLE!!!!!

The world shook as two forces of nature clashed with each other in a devastating collision that rippled through the very fabric of reality.