?
Four months passed soon enough.
Rui spent the entirety of the four months training on the two remaining projects. His blades and scabbard had been prepared and given to him in time, and he got to train with the real deal.
His basic swordsmanship had reached a solid satisfactory level in the six months that he had spent training it, and he was confident of, at the very least, not failing due to incompetence. The sword was his close-range solution against the beasts and was really the only thing that was going to be protecting him from a horde of Squire-level monsters.
The smoking pipe on the other hand had turned into a good long-range barrier that was able to freeze the monsters of the Shionel Dungeon in their spots when he used it against them. In the past six months, he had polished his anti-Shionel monster tactics and strategies as well as he could in the span of half a year.
He had come up with numerous ways that he could take them down depending on the surrounding circumstances.
On top of that, he still had Kane's stealth. Not only was stealth especially effective in the Shionel Dungeon due to the hampered sensory prowess of the dungeon, but Kane had improved his stealth by mastering a few stealth-oriented techniques that he had altered to suit himself.
Rui had also considered improving his stealth, however, it was ultimately a redundancy with Kane around. They had no intention of splitting up by themselves at any given point in time, and it was better for Rui to contribute in a concrete way around issues that they would otherwise be helpless against.
Being able to sense despite the sensory jamming circumstances of the Shionel Dungeon was a priceless contribution and one that Rui had struggled to make, but eventually succeeded.
Mastering the technique that was born out of Project Eyespy was difficult, far more difficult than any of the previous sensory techniques he had mastered thus far, eventually the technique that he came to call the Riemannian Echo was born. This technique's range was even greater than that of his other techniques as well as a higher degree of clarity, thanks to Rui's meticulous eye for detail and precision as well as range when it came to the placement of the esoteric substances.
While techniques like Seismic Mapping and Tempestuous Feel could still be hampered, so far he had not come across anything that could restrain his Reimannian Echo.
The technique was named after Georg Friedrich Bernhard Riemann, a mathematician of the nineteenth century who created the field of mathematics known as Riemannian Geometry that was absolutely vital to Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, and also for the creation and mastery of Rui's gravity sensory technique.
Rui was merely offering homage to him as a Martial Artist, and as a scientist.
With the help of his Riemannian Echo, he was absolutely confident to saunter through the otherwise treacherous and inscrutable floors that had already laid claim to many a Martial Squire who had dared to step in.
He had once read what the Squire-level version of All-Seeing Eye, the only grade-ten sensory technique was capable of, and when he compared it to his Reimannian Echo, even putting aside his personal bias, there wasn't any over superiority, purely based on the information that he possessed.
Of course, he would refrain from judgment until he ran into the technique to compare it to, but even then…
('If I'm not wrong… My Riemannian Echo is not much inferior, if at all,') Rui noted.
At the very least, he was sure that it was impossible to fool his sense at the Squire, and probably even Senior Realm. However, the All-Seeing Eye could surpass his technique in other ways, potentially. For example, it was said to be able to give the user microscopic detail of one's surroundings, this was definitely a parameter that the technique surpassed him in. Riemannian Echo was far below the level that was needed to accomplish such a feat.
('For now, at least,') Rui mused.
The best part of Riemannian Echo was that it was upgradeable, and the path forward to upgrading was quite straightforward and simple. He highly doubted whether the All-Seeing Eye could be upgraded nearly as easily.
('Regardless, I've obtained what I wanted,') Rui mused as he closed his eyes, feeling his environment through the restless esoteric substances in his body, constructing an image of the entirety of his environment far and wide.
"Kane, you're here already," Rui noted as he greeted apparently thin air.
For a few seconds, nothing happened.
"Tsk tsk," Kane appeared out of thin air. "I spent half a year reaching a much higher level of strength, and yet you catch me so easily. It makes me feel like my efforts are useless you know."
"Well, don't worry, your confidence will return when your stealth dominates in the Shionel Dungeon," Rui scoffed lightly.
It was true that with his other senses, Kane had reached a level where he couldn't sense them anymore. However, with Riemannian Echo, it was as though Kane was not even using his stealth ever.
('Not even the formidable Void Step is able to escape my senses,') Rui mused.
At that point, it was probably impossible for anything in the Squire Realm to catch him off-guard with stealth alone. He highly doubted that anything short of a stealth-oriented Martial Senior could bypass his senses or anything of the kind.
"So, what's up?" Kane asked. "You were the one who called me out here."
"We need to discuss our plans," Rui informed him. "We have completed the necessary preparations when it comes to our personal capabilities. However, that isn't necessarily enough, I'm afraid."
"Hm?" Kane frowned. "What do you mean? Can't we just go to the Shionel Confederation and enter the dungeon and clear it? Isn't that what the average Martial Squire is doing?"
"You're not wrong," Rui shook his head. "But you said it yourself, it is what the average Martial Squire is doing."
"However," He turned to face Kane with a smirk. "We are anything but average, and unfortunately that necessarily entails doing things a little differently."
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