Rui had fully mastered the boost in physicality that he had received in the past two weeks under high-pressure combat, and both of them knew that this would be the last sparring session between them.
"Why do you say that?" Rui asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I've never seen someone as deviant as you, eh?" The man replied straightforwardly. "Your Martial Art, your techniques, and even your Martial body and your grade as a Martial Artist. They're all more than just a little confusing,"
Rui shrugged. "I have a high-grade Martial Art, and my body has received non-standard empowerment. That's all."
The man snorted, before shaking his head. "Your body is definitely strong, much stronger than I would expect of an eighteen-year-old Martial Squire who hasn't even spent two years in the Squire Realm. And the potion alone isn't enough to justify the difference."
Rui was surprised. The man had also noticed the boost in power that he gained thanks to the Mind Switch technique increasing his stamina beyond human limits, which he had then managed to sacrifice for greater physical parameters when he underwent the Squire evolution breakthrough procedure.
"Yet despite the fact that your body is stronger than someone who has only spent a year and a half in the Squire Realm, your body is actually weaker than what I would expect from a grade-four Martial Artist."
"Hm?" Rui couldn't help but frown. Despite the boosts that he had received, his body was weak for a grade-four Martial Artist?
"You are aware that Martial bodies grow stronger as time passes, correct?" The man asked, turning to Rui.
Rui nodded. He was aware of this basic fact, although he hadn't been informed of the specifics.
"Normally, Martial Squires with your youth in the Squire realm have bodies that are quite weak and immature. All Martial Squires would start out with what is informally classified as a grade-one body," The man explained. "You should have been in that category as well. Yet you have received empowerment that made your body stronger than that of someone of your age in the Squire Realm. Still, this would at most make your physical body as strong as that of the average grade-two Martial Squire. Yet your Martial Artist grade is grade four."
Rui immediately understood the source of the man's confusion surrounding Rui. Ordinarily, Rui should have possessed a body that the average grade-one Martial Artist would have because he had spent only eighteen months in the Squire Realm. However, due to the Mind Switch technique making his Martial body stronger than normal from the start, and the Benetein Blood potion he received recently made him stronger than a Martial Squire of his youth in the Squire Realm should have been.
Which meant that his body was probably much weaker than the average grade-four Martial Artist!
('Back then in the Zurtun mission, the Martial Squire I fought back then definitely had a powerful body. He could negate my strikes easily with a single technique and his body. Part of that must have been due to his superior Martial body in addition to synergy. No wonder he seemed so invincible!') Rui realized.
Rui knew that victory would have been quite unlikely had he failed to get a good strangle on the man and maintain it, a tactic that the VOID algorithm had given him.
That was also when his Martial Artist grade had upgraded.
('The Martial Union gave me a Martial Artist grade higher than my youth in the Squire realm would warrant because of the strength of the VOID algorithm!') Rui realized.
That's why he started out with a grade-three evaluation despite only possessing the equivalent of a grade-two body!
Rui narrowed his eyes, absorbed in thought. A lot of things that he hadn't given much thought to in the past were making much more sense with the information that Rui had managed to extract from just a short conversation with a much more experienced Martial Squire.
"You must have a truly potent Martial Art." The man noted. "That's what allowed you to keep up with me, even if barely."
Rui snorted. "I probably would have lost if the fight prolonged. Your stamina is greater and eventually, it would have been game over."
Rui now understood why Senior Ceeran had told Rui to restrain his expectations of being upgraded to grade five as a Martial Artist. In fact, he felt he was rather na?ve and ignorant for making that strength in the first place.
"True, but... it has been both humbling and inspiring to see you fight. Makes me more motivated to work harder and finally lay foot into the Senior Realm." The man got up. "That challenges that need to be surmounted in order to step into a higher realm of power for a third time are not... trivial."
Rui raised an eyebrow as he looked at the man. "You know what it takes to become a Martial Senior?"
Rui hadn't heard so much as a peep about the actual breakthrough to the Senior Realm.
The man nodded. "It is truly profound."
"Why do you say that?" Rui casually said.
"Nice try," The man chuckled. "You're hoping I will divulge what I know, eh?"
"Tsk,"
"You're a tricky brat. Do not be impatient, when you become a grade-five Martial Squire, you will be eligible to learn more." The man nodded. "With your rate of growth, I suspect that that day isn't that far away."
Rui shrugged.
He was glad that he didn't need to wait until he became a Senior candidate or something, to learn more about what it took to become stronger. Now that he had witnessed the power of a grade-five Martial Artist, he knew that it wouldn't be easy to reach that level of power in a short amount of time, that was for sure. All he needed to do was progress forward, one step at a time and he was sure to reach not only higher grades but also a higher realm of power.
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