"WOOOOAAH" An adolescent cooed in excitement.
"Look at them fight!" Another kid beside exclaimed.
"They're so cool!"
"I wanna be a Martial Artist too!"
"Alright alright." Julian chided. "Settle down for now."
He got them to calm down, before glancing back at the ongoing matchup in amazement. It wasn't that he had never seen a Martial Apprentice, he had Rui, and he had also worked with several Martial Apprentices in studies, surveys and experiments conducted by the Kandrian Insitute of Sciences.
But he had never seen them in action going all out. Their performances were usually controlled and regulated for the sake of research.
This was truly the first time he had seen Martial Apprentices going all out. And the sight had left him speechless.
Furthermore, these Martial Artists were not ordinary run-of-the-mill Martial Apprentices he had interacted with in his time as an assistant scholar, they were the very best of their entire generation. They would likely go on to become the best of their Realm one day.
The sheer prowess the first six Martial Apprentice representatives had shown him had truly opened his eyes into the power of Martial Art.
"Big brother Julian." One of the adolescents called out. "When will Rui fight?"
"The fourth match is about to commence, which means he'll be fighting very soon." He replied. He inwardly grew tense. He had no idea how strong Rui was, he just hoped he would be fine holding his own in this group of monsters.
Somewhere else in the Martial Colosseum in the 1 st class seats of the Martial Colosseum.
"Man, this is more intense than I expected." Kane sighed. "I'm so glad I don't have to deal with this.
"They've all grown incomparably stronger than when I knew them." Fae remarked. "Especially Ian. Truth be told, I didn't think he was this strong. His talent as well as his age and the many years he's spent as a Martial Apprentice have led him to grow much stronger than I expected. Rui will have a an extraordinarily difficult time defeating him in the semi-finals, if he makes it that far."
"Indeed." Hever said. "Frankly, I would probably lose a majority of my fights against Ian Nepomaniachtchi. I wonder how Rui will fare against him."
"There's a chance he'll lose." Fae sighed.
Kane snorted. "Are you doubting him?"
"My, just being level-headed." Fae replied perfunctorily. "Besides, forget about the third round, he still has his first round to clear. His first opponent is not weak." Fae's eyes narrowed.
Kane nodded. "He would have been called a prodigy if he was just a little more talented than he is."
"I am rather interested in seeing how far Surman Marliak has come in the development of his niche Martial Art." Hever replied. "He will be formidable without a doubt."
The three of them had purchased 1 st class seats to be able to inspect the Martial Contest up close. With the wealth of their families, the cost of this luxury was nothing.
The fourth match was to begin soon.
"Aaaaand onto the next match we go!" The host announced. "In the fourth match, we have representative Surman Marliak and his Enchanting Willow Style representing the Verlain branch. A fearsome Martial Artist known as the Mindbender! Keep your eyes open for this fight folks!"
The crowd erupted in cheers and applause as Surman entered the arena of the Colosseum.
Surman was a nimble man in stature, there was nothing physically aesthetically threatening about him. Yet anybody who spent too long looking at him felt like they were going dizzy. His aura exuded a strange effect on people's minds.
"His opponent is representative Rui Quarrier of the Hajin branch." The commentator declared. "A dark-horse entry into the ranks of the reprentatives, how far will he go? How far will his Flowing Void Style go? Stick aound to find out!"
Up in the first-class seats, Fae frowned. "Flowing Void Style? I didn't know he named it that. It's such an abstract name."
"It's perfect." Kane grinned. "I bet the name symbolized the fact that his Martial Art and fighting style lack a form, they're constantly and smoothly evolving and adapting to his opponent. It lacks an inherent fixed style or affinity for a style. Hence the Void."
Kane was incredibly confident his interpretation was quite accurate. His logic was quite sound indeed, after all.
Yet he was completely wrong.
In reality, Rui realized that there was no way he could incorporate the full-form of the VOID algorithm; the Variable Objective Inverse Deductive algorithm into the name so he used the phonetic word of the short form; Void and then used the Kandrian dialect version of the word Void instead.
Thus, came about the Flowing Void style.
Even before the commentator could finish, people had noticed Rui.
Not because he stepped out earlier, no.
Not at all.
The sheer mental pressure that radiated from the weight of his concentration alone drew eyes to him even before he made he was visible.
"Fuuu..." Rui exhaled as he appeared. His eyes were narrow and lock onto his opponent.
He saw nothing else.
The extended period of time he had invested into honing his focus had paid off. He was able to enter into a focused state of mind he had been cultivating rather easily and quickly.
And it reflected.
Surman Marliak eyebrow raised at the sight.
He had initially wondered if Rui was truly qualified to be among them.
Now any question about that matter had been put to rest. Rui's unadultered focus on him was heavy. Surman had seldom experienced such pressure from a Martial Apprentice.
Just gazing into those black eyes that sucked in the light of the world greedily made him feel almost transparent.
Almost.
He was not a light man.
His mentality was backed by the confidence that came with true power, true success and having overcome true failure. He had come along way, he did not intend to stop now.
No matter what.
