The Martial Unity

Kane shuffled through the maneuvering section of the Apprentice library, with a lethargic expression on his face. In the fight against the golden-haired bandit in the mission he had just completed, he had noticed that he wasn't able to maintain his top speed while performing non-linear maneuvers or attacks, which hindered his non-linear evasiveness and offense.

He had already resolved to purchase a high-grade fluidity maneuvering technique that would allow him to maintain his top speed even in really sharp curves or turns for attacks or maneuvering.

"Sigh..." He huffed a large puff of air as he nonchalantly sauntered across the section. All of the techniques that suited his needs had high difficulty grades, his head fell back as he stared at the ceiling, he couldn't be bothered.

"Hah. What happened to 'I can't let him let him surpass me that easily'?" A voice asked him from behind.

His expression contorted with disdain as he turned to meet Fae's eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"I said I was going to train too, no?" She shrugged.

"What are you doing in this section, the maneuvering section?" He asked. "Go take your muscle-brain Martial Art to the offense section of the library."

"Hmph, juvenile as always, aren't you? You could learn a thing or two from Rui, you know?" She said. "If you had his work ethic, you might even grow faster than he does."

Kane's sheer raw affinity with Martial Art was unparalleled, it was what had led him to discover his Martial Path at the tender age of eleven, and what allowed him to absorb techniques remarkably quickly.

"Hmph, he and I aren't the same. I don't love Martial Art. It's a pain in the ass that allows jerks who are good at it to do whatever they want, and the only way to avoid becoming a victim is to pursue Martial Art yourself." he spat contemptuously. "It causes immense suffering and many problems whose only solution is itself. Has there ever been a more hateful thing? I pursue Martial Art only so that I can be freed of its shackles."

He put his hand on a technique scroll just as he finished, having decided which technique he wanted to learn.

[Axis Earthing]

It was a technique that allowed the user to maintain top speed during curving maneuvers by shifting the user's balance in the direction of the curve at extreme degrees, the acceleration due to gravity provided by the lopsided balance aided in the curve without the user having to sacrifice speed.

He turned to glance at her. "It's not like you love Martial Art either. You and I are both in this for Martial Art can do for us." He said with a knowing tone.

She had a sympathetic expression on her face.

In many a way, Fae's circumstances were the exact opposite to that of Kane's. Despite being born in a Martial family like Kane, she grew up in very different circumstances.

Her grandmother was Her Honour Martial Sage Leila Dullahan, her family was extremely prestigious, just like the Arrancar Martial family.

Unlike Kane, Fae loved her family, and everything it stood for. Her family was not a large polygamous family like his was' a family that was created by his father's desire to find a worthy heir. It was a rather normal family in comparison. With the love and pride that she had been raised with by her grandparents and parents, her family had come to mean everything to her.

She desired to bring glorious honour to her Martial family, that had contributed to the sovereignity of the Kandrian Empire for nearly a century, with many historical Martial Artists with immense power.

Her desire to obtain power was to do her family justice, and to maintain its prestige.

Because her family was small, she was the only heir to her family. Her mother had turned away from her Martial Path despite being the daughter of a Martial Sage and chose not to become a Martial Artist, and her father was a civilian.

She had voluntarily accepted the burden of being the future pillar of the Dullahan Martial family.

Martial Art was everything to her. But she did not love it, to her it was no more than a tool for fulfilling her goal.

Alas, not everybody born to Martial families was a Martial prodigy. She had to work like a madman to obtain the power she currently had. Sweating blood and crying tears, she persevered to be worth of her heritage.

She was the exact opposite of Kane in many ways. The differences between them had been the true cause of friction between them.

Kane, a genius boy longing for freedom whose talent shackled him to the fate of being the Arrancar heir. And Fae, a free yet driven girl longing for the power to be worthy of being the Dullahan heir.

Everything about them was so polarized, that they could never stand each other when they met. Their parents were part of the Fire Sect within the Martial Union, and were close informally. Kane and Fae had known each other since they were three.

Fae sighed. "Love or hate Martial Art. We are born in the circumstances we're born in, and we can only make the best of them."

"Hmph." He said. "Spoken like someone born in the right circumstances."

She threw an irritated look at him. "Don't act like you're only growing stronger for the sake of breaking away from the Arrancar family. Do you even remember your own words?"

Kane eyes lit up. ('I can't him surpass me too easily.')

"You're just afraid Rui will leave you behind at the rate he's growing." She said as her expression turned melancholic at her own words.

Kane didn't respond.

But that was answer enough.

He had grown more attached to Rui than he had ever expected he would have when they first met. Rui was his first true friend. Someone he truly enjoyed spending time with. The only other children he knew in his age group were his many half-brothers and half-sisters who hated him with venomous intensity, and other children from other Martial families who either kissed his ass treated him like a stepping stone.

Then he met Rui. At first, he was ordinary outside of his weird eyes and hair. Kane didn't think much of him, just hoping he wouldn't be too annoying when he reached out to Rui.

It was the first time someone was unaware of his family.

It was the first time he felt like a normal person.

When Rui looked at him with those dark eyes of his, he did not see the genius heir of the Arrancar family.

He saw Kane, his friend.

"He makes even Martial Art fun." Kane murmured softly. "I didn't think that was even possible."

He did not want to be left behind as Rui pursued his Martial Path.

He turned around and walked away.

"Where are you going?" Fae asked.

"Training."

A hint of determination flashed through his eyes.