Senior Leonil sky-walked up behind Senior Sarak who stood in the sky, looking away into the distance.
"How long have they been at it?" Senior Leonil asked, yawning.
"A few hours now," Senior Sarak replied, sighing.
"It's impressive that their Martial Hearts are not giving out." Senior Leonil remarked. "Still, they should be keeping careful."
"They're far too competitive for that," Senior Sarak snorted. "It can't be helped given the rivalry that they have. The pinnacle of talent and potential. The most powerful Martial Paths that I have come across, and the opponent against whom they broke through in a battle that ended up being a draw. Expecting them to regard each other as an ordinary sparring partner is unrealistic."
"Haha, true. More importantly..." Senior Leonil gazed over with interest. "...Who's winning?"
"So far, all their battles have been stalemates." Senior Sarak stated. "They end up in a draw when their Martial Hearts run out and they're in their base forms."
"At this point, they're just fighting each other to win. They probably have long forgotten about any notion of simply acclimatizing themselves to the power of the Senior Realm."
"There's no doubt about that." Senior Sarak chuckled. "Still, I am not averse to them fighting out in the open where the Kaddar Treaty Organization can see."
Senior Leonil narrowed his eyes as he caught the man's drift. "...You're using them as a deterrent."
Senior Sarak nodded. "If Kaddar nations think we have gained two extra Martial Seniors on retainer, then they will never even dare to think about attacking us again."
"Makes sense." Senior Leonil nodded.
"The Kingdom of Graheria has already backed out of the Kaddar Treaty, along with a few others." Senior Sarak remarked. "If we can get a few more key nations to walk out, then Ajanta Island will finally be safe forever."
The two of them watched silently as Rui and Ieyasu clashed with each other in the distant sky.
POW POW POW!
The two of them furiously exchanged barrages of blows against each other, looking to gain an advantage. Rui narrowed his eyes as Ieyasu shifted his weight ever so slightly.
WHOOSH!
He managed to avoid a surprise spinning high kick from a rapid change in Martial Art, having predicted it.
Over the past few days, he had managed to develop a predictive model to predict what Martial Art Ieyasu would choose, allowing him to slowly overcome the small advantage that Ieyasu had gained by chaotically shifting the Martial Art that he used.
POW!
Rui grinned as he managed to land a clean hook to the face, knocking the man backward.
Yet Ieyasu was not sitting still either.
BOOM!!!
Rui grimaced as he leaped back from a clash. The two of them panted as they took their distance, pausing momentarily. Their Martial Hearts were nearly out, the battle had nearly come to a close.
Rui's eyes furrowed. "Damn, you did manage to copy Hypertrophic Surge. Or something approximating."
"I don't need to have the exact technique replicated," Ieyasu remarked. "As long as I understand the output of the technique, I can replicate using my own principles. In this case, you are simply sacrificing other performance parameters for more strength. I can replicate that principle with ease."
Rui sighed as a hint of pride appeared on Ieyasu's face. "Guess today is a draw as well?"
"There's no point in continuing without the Martial Heart, it defeats the purpose of the sparring," Ieyasu noted. "We have grown smoother and cleaner in our movements."
"True, yet the rate of growth has been reducing, so we've probably come very close to being acclimatized considering diminishing returns," Rui remarked. "My time on this island is coming to an end."
He glanced at Ieyasu. "What do you plan on doing from here on out? You've been at the Floating Sect for six years."
"That is none of your business." Ieyasu snorted.
Rui heaved an exasperated sigh. "I meant how are you going navigate your path to a higher Realm?"
Ieyasu paused for a moment, before relenting. "...I plan to return to my Master and gain some insights before setting on another journey to gain more power."
"You have a Master?" Rui raised an eyebrow.
"What about it?"
"Nothing... Just didn't expect you to have one. I thought you would be too prideful."
"I am not. I merely state fact. People interpret that as pride." Ieyasu declared in a detached manner. "There is nothing wrong with seeking guidance from a Martial Artist much further down their Martial Path and in a much higher Realm of power. It allows you to grow stronger much faster."
"Hmmm..." Rui simply stared at him with an interested expression.
He had a few Master acquaintances.
Headmaster Aronian. The good elder Master had always served as a guide, without being too overbearing. However, the distance between them was too great. Greater than Rui had ever imagined.
Of course, he understood that Masters were unimaginably stronger than Apprentices back when he was an Apprentice himself. But it was only now that he had reached the Senior Realm that he understood how astronomically superior Masters.
Even today, after all the power that he had accrued he was helpless against Masters. He had felt their power up close and knew that it truly was in a Realm above.
He suspected that the jump between Senior and Master was probably quite important. There was a fundamental difference between the Upper and Lower Realms, and he had a feeling he knew what it was.
Now that he had activated his Martial Heart, he could truly feel that his body had nothing left to offer. There were no further deeper wells of physical power that he could reach to access even greater power.
Whatever the Master Realm was based on, it was not physical power. Perhaps he too ought to get himself a Master to gain a bit of guidance on the Master Realm. It was truly a shame that he didn't get to hang out with Master Deivon as a Martial Senior.
The man would be truly proud of Rui when he learned about his breakthrough to the Senior Realm.
