The next day, Rui and Kane got back to training early in the morning at full force after quickly freshening up. The two of them were exhausted enough to fall asleep despite the roaring ocean many kilometers away on account of their exhaustion.
Even for Martial Artists of the same Realm, the weaker ones were divided from the stronger ones. It was too risky to put grade-one Martial Squires near grade-ten Martial Squires, the probability of the latter affecting the former was too low. It could result in the former being hampered, causing the ocean to leak through.
That was why Rui and Kane were far from each other when they were training it was also why Rui was increasingly no longer fitting where he was supposed to fit.
He closed his eyes, before activating the Godspeed breathing technique.
BOOM!
The sheer amount of mass that he exhaled quickly dispersed into the atmosphere due to the pressure difference. He opened his eyes as he came face-to-face with an ocean wave. The speed of the ocean wave was not to be underestimated, any ordinary human would instantly be swept up before they could even react. High-grade Martial Apprentices could react to it as long as they were alert. However, it was still very slow in the eyes of Martial Artists like Rui who had reached a stage where they could think in a millisecond.
He activated Forestep, executing pre-programmed movements with absolutely thoughtless reflexes back-to-back. The Forestep movements activated the Palming technique that he had come up with.
BOOM!!!
Blinding fast movements tore a twenty-meter wide corridor before him extending for quite some distance!
The vibrations conveyed the force generated by the sheer acceleration of the Forestep technique across the entirety of the incoming ocean, dispersing them backward with a remarkable impact.
The sheer ravine that Rui resultantly generated surpassed anything that any of the nearby Martial Artists generated.
The ocean instantly filled up the ravine from all directions as it rushed forward. Yet it was still quite slow in Rui's perception.
('Not bad…') Rui narrowed his eyes as he glanced at his palms. ('Can still get better though,')
The Forestep technique was not particularly time or energy-consuming in this particular regard since he didn't need to rely on the VOID algorithm this time.
He needed to normally use the VOID algorithm because predictions were necessary to be able to use the Forestep technique accurately in combat. However, he did not need the VOID algorithm to predict the ocean. Everybody knew how water moved. Just paying attention to the waves for a while would give one a good intuitive understanding of how the ocean moved in such circumstances.
That was why he could conserve mental energy much better in these circumstances than when he used the Forestep technique on the Root floor.
The surrounding Martial Squires grew remarkably surprised at why a grade-ten Martial Squire had randomly been placed among them. Rui's dispersion of the ocean was so overwhelming, that it also began affecting the sections of the waves assigned to other Martial Squires.
Because the ravine that he created filled up water from both sides to its right and left, it actually reduced the amount of water that the Martial Squires on his side had to deal with momentarily, making their jobs somewhat easier.
By the time he was done, he was even reprimanded by the Martial Senior overseeing his section.
"Underperforming during the evaluation test is frowned upon," The Martial Senior coldly informed him. "It can cause big problems and messes if you interfere with weaker Martial Artists due to stronger techniques. You will be let off the hook with a warning the first time, but the next time will result in being forbidden from training in the Umiana Trench, got it?"
"…Yes," Rui could only lower his head with a sigh.
How could he possibly know that he was going to get that much stronger? Sometimes even his incredible growth rate could be quite problematic. If such a thing happened again, he would be forbidden from returning to the Umiana Trench.
It wasn't long before he returned from the evaluation facility with a grade-ten evaluation. The combined efficiency of permeating an impact with vibrations and the Forestep technique together allowed for a remarkable exertion and application of power.
When Rui reached the grade-ten section after having purchased a grade-ten training slot, he had to say he was impressed.
Grade-ten Martial Squires were certainly worthy enough to be called the peak of the Squire Realm. Each Martial Squire in this section emanated a powerful unique aura. Each of them was allocated a big section of the ocean as a training section, far greater than any of the training sections he had seen prior for the Martial Squires he was surrounding.
Rui had made sure to opt for a much smaller timeframe since he did not have much stamina with Forestep as he did without it.
Soon enough, he stepped in, replacing a Martial Squire. He was faced with a wide area that he alone was supposed to defend.
He widened his hand as much as he could as he rushed forward using all the power he could muster with Forestep and Outer Convergence.
BOOM
The impact permeated so powerfully that Rui could literally see the wave travel through the water at remarkably high speeds.
He just barely managed to push back the ocean to the bare minimum necessary degree.
('Shit, at this rate, I might last less than I had expected,') Rui cursed as he activated Final Breathing to extend his stamina and endurance and last longer than he had expected.
Still, he felt quite euphoric at the idea that he was able to stand side-by-side among the most powerful Martial Squires of the Squire Realm and keep up with them without relying on the VOID algorithm, and only on his techniques.
That was quite refreshing since the VOID algorithm had always been his ticket to hurting people much stronger than him and performing feats that he could not otherwise.
