"If the Senior Realm was that easy to break through to, I wouldn't have to go through this." Kane sighed.
Yet his eyes were filled with determination.
Rui understood his sentiment, though. The breakthrough condition for the Senior Realm was harsh. One needed to be subjected to a challenge that threatened the object of the desire behind one's Martial drive. In Kane's case, that meant his freedom from his family needed to be challenged and threatened.
On top of that, the challenge also needed to exceed what Kane could handle with his existing power. Meaning he needed to be apprehended by multiple powerful Martial Squires or a grade-ten Martial Squire even higher than him, but not too much higher. Just higher enough to push him past his limits and activate the Martial Heart.
It was an exceedingly niche and difficult condition to fulfill. Certainly not something that he could fulfill sitting within the relatively safe environment of the Floating Sect. Of course, he would have to risk his life against challengers who sought the first chamber, but the risk of death was bread and butter for Martial Artists, it was far from enough.
That was why Kane wanted to return to the Kandrian Empire, a dangerous place for him, and risk his freedom. All for the sake of breaking through to the Senior Realm.
"However, that means you have an additional drive for power itself, not just freedom since you're willing to risk freedom for power," Rui noted.
"Yeah..." Kane agreed, refusing to elaborate further.
It was a bit embarrassing for him to admit that he wanted to be strong enough to be able to accompany Rui.
"Besides, I look forward to meeting our friends. Fae..." He sighed.
Rui smirked. "It's a shame I won't be able to see that reunion."
"She's going to be super mad." Kane snorted.
"Don't forget to sell them the lie that I am still in the Kandrian Empire," Rui reminded him. "Definitely don't mention the Floating Sect or any of the things we did after leaving the Kandrian Empire."
The two spent quite some time bantering and chatting some more as they wandered around the Floating Sect, since they would be parting ways once Rui was ready to leave the Floating Sect. Rui even sparred with Kane to test his progress with the knives.
WHOOSH!
"Wow," Rui murmured as he evaded a blindingly swift flurry of slashes. "No wonder you got to the second chamber. Daggers give you a level of lethality that you would have to waste too much time to attain otherwise. That combined with your speed and agility, you're an incredible threat."
"Hehe, this isn't my limit. Watch what happens when I use it in conjugation with Fulminata!"
Rui had to admit that Kane had grown truly formidable. He even suspected that Kane could possibly be able to reach the final eight of the Virodhabhasa Contest. He was probably above Frinjschia but below Meera.
It wasn't long before the two of them wrapped their sparring session.
"We gotta do this more often," Kane remarked.
"It does sound fun," Rui replied. it was true as long as he did not create a new predictive model for Kane's new twin-blade offense and also did not use his Martial Heart.
"Well, you better get going," Kane told Rui out of the blue. "I'm sure you have a lot of important stuff to do and plan knowing you. So don't worry about me."
Rui smiled melancholically. "Same time tomorrow then."
The two of them parted ways. Kane was just the first person on the list of people he needed to talk to.
"...Is now a bad time?" Rui asked when Senior Xanarn opened the door to him.
"Is it ever?" She asked with a strange smile. "Welcome back. Congratulations on breaking through to the Senior Realm."
Rui smiled as she ushered him in. The two of them already knew what they needed to speak about, making the air a little awkward unlike normal.
"...I'm going to be leaving soon," Rui told her straightforwardly.
"I'm aware," She replied with a melancholic smile. "I'm sure you'll be able to accomplish more with another Martial Senior by your side."
"You're not wrong... but I don't want you to come with me," He stated clearly.
She opened her eyes, looking straight at him wordlessly.
"I know that you feel extremely burdened with debt." Rui continued. "But I don't want to see you leave the place that you have dedicated yourself to protect for my sake. I know you love the Floating Sect, it doesn't bring me any joy to tear you away from it."
"I get to decide what I do with my life." Her tone grew a little sterner. "I appreciate your concern, but I live by my principles."
"I don't want to control you," Rui shook his head. "It's the opposite. It is because I don't want to control you that I don't want you to abide by me to repay the debt you feel burdened by."
"You saved my life." She declared.
"Then repay me by actually living it." Rui retorted.
Those words took her aback.
"Because you won't be if you follow me out of principled obligation," Rui stated. "You're invalidating it if you follow me purely because of obligation. The kind of life I will be living is very different from the peace that you have found on this island. This..."
He gestured around them. "...isn't for me. Three years ago I was given a choice to choose between this at the cost of my freedom to pursue my Martial Path and life freely, and I firmly chose the latter. I'm doomed to live a life of perilous chaos, and I'm fine with that. I have powerful enemies, and I do not want to expose you or the Floating Sect to them. I enjoy forging my own path. But it will be torturous for someone who is accustomed to and yearns for peace."
She shook her head. "I refuse. I still must repay my debt."
He narrowed his eyes. He could not allow that to happen.
The idea of Master Uma or Chairman Deacon learning about her importance to him by traveling with him if he ever got exposed was too scary. He already had enough of a headache with Chairman Deacon essentially holding his family hostage, he did not need the Floating Sect to join the list.
