The Martial Unity

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

A series of not-so-silent explosions emerged in the depths of space as the two sides collided with each other right outside the omni-ship. The Martial Sages thrust forth with their exo-Martial suits, using their breathing techniques to fuel motion in space.

Martial Artists were used to having leverage, whether it was heaven or earth. In outer space, however, they had neither. The thin cloud of dust that was spread across much of the solar system of Barnard’s Star simply wasn’t enough to allow them to kick off of it.

Thus, the exo-Martial suits they were equipped with had the power to force their breathing into thrust, by expelling gas to move them forward in a manner that was very close to sky-walking. This allowed them to retain as much of their muscle memory of combat in terrestrial environments when fighting in outer space, although they were certainly much more handicapped even then, despite all their raw power, and it certainly reflected.

The astralite octopi alien certainly reacted with hostility towards the Martial Artists that engaged them, whipping their tentacles at the Martial Sages with a rather shocking amount of force.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

Sage Nathan’s eyes widened as an astralite tentacle whip batted him away with a shocking amount of force. The sheer power with which the alien flung him away was much greater than he had expected from any ordinary creature. The fact that it could push him back despite him being a Martial Sage alone was a testament to its physical power.

Of course, the absence of leverage certainly hurt him, but clearly, in the environment of outer space, the strange octopus-like alien had an advantage in combat. Sage Nathan charged back towards the creature, this time, using the exo-Martial suit to maneuver through space in a less direct manner. The moment he approached close, a powerful tentacle whip flung at him, threatening to blast him away.

And yet, it was within his predictions.

WHOOSH

With a brief shift, Sage Nathan evaded the powerful attack, flinging his fist towards the creature with a tremendous amount of power. BOOOOOOOOM!!!

The impact certainly felt heavy. Materia prima flowed through his body like a stream, empowering the collision his fist inflicted upon his opponent. Any ordinary lifeform would have exploded into a confetti of flesh.

And yet, he had already known that his opponent was not ordinary.

VMMM

His eyes widened as the impact of the attack seemed to disappear within the depths of the strange octopus-like alien’s body. It was a sensation that he wasn’t unfamiliar with.

’Kinetic absorption.’

The creature’s body was able to absorb impacts extremely well.

It was able to dish them out extremely well, too.

Faster than he could evade, its tentacles swung at him in an unfurling manner, maximizing the momentum it could inflict as it thrust towards him with the power that he had given it.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!

”Rgh!” Sage Nathan gritted his teeth as he balled up, protecting his body from the force of the impact. And yet, the attacks were only just getting started.

The octopus-like alien fully turned its attention towards him, realizing that he wasn’t merely a small hindrance. It shifted in the vacuum of outer space, turning towards him and moving through space itself in a manner that he didn’t fully understand.

Its tentacles seemed to grip the very fabric of space itself, allowing it to locomote through the canvas of the cosmos like it was a platform for it to travel through. It possessed eye-like appendages that were distinctly not eyes. The creature could sense the very geometry of space and time, rather than simply absorbing light and processing it. It could sense the distribution of mass within his body that bent the very fabric of space and time as it hobbled over the fabric of space, reaching him at a very high speed.

WHOOSH!

Its tentacles charged at him with a pointed intent to grab him and incapacitate him. Sage Nathan’s eyes sharpened.

He knew he couldn’t allow it to get its hands on him. He was not a grappling expert by any means. Even his mastery and specialty of death was not something that could be applied to the creature before him, forcing him to be on the defensive.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

He continued to evade the grappling attempts from the octopus-like alien. Leading it further away from the omni-ship as possible, while studying the creature with his Martial Mind and his systems of thought.

The creature bore some superficial resemblance to the octopi species of Gaia, but even Sage Nathan could tell that these two beings were truly nothing alike. His advanced vision clearly showed him that the creature before him was not made up of small unites like cells.

Somehow, the creature before him was a singular continuous being. It was unfathomable for such a being to exist, as far as he was concerned. Then again, the laminar integuments were also not made up of cells, and were yet very much alive and intelligent. Clearly, cellular makeup was not a necessity for life.

However, it meant that Sage Nathan couldn’t possibly use his existing understanding of the concept of death to kill these alien lifeforms. His understanding of life wasn’t good enough to universalize his understanding of death.

Even though he was in the middle of battle, Sage Nathan couldn’t help but think about the Emperor of Water, about Rui.

Many years ago, when Rui had visited the Virodhabhasa Theocracy as a Martial Master, the two of them had fought for the title of Antithesis. Sage Nathan had lost, but ultimately had broken through to the Sage Realm back then. In the many years after, Rui not only zoomed past Sagehood, but also to Transcendence. He had recently shared his insights into the breakthrough to the Transcendent Realm.

”Phenomenological uniformity.” After he explained, each and every Martial Sage received what felt like divine revelation. They each commenced their journey to the Transcendent Realm with this extraordinary insight.

So did Sage Nathan.

’If I want to become a Transcendent, I will have to learn to see Death everywhere.’

It was a brutal, ruthless condition.

Yet, one that he was determined to reach.

And he would start by killing the octopus-like alien before him.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!

The battle between the Martial Sages and the astralites continued raging on.