The Martial Unity

Rui was determined to minimize energy waste, so he went all out on refining the image. He had already seen that his rate of progress far surpassed that of what was to be expected.

And not by a small amount either. When one combined his powerful mind with the continuously improving Mind Palace, one ended up with a rate of growth that was almost entirely unprecedented.

The speed at which he created and refined the video of Master Zeamer's was exponentially greater than anyone else could have. A month of progress was accomplished in a matter of days.

'I wouldn't have taken on four projects at once if not for the fact that I have a particularly high rate of progress with mental images,' Rui mused as he refined the image.

Within a week, he had already refined the image to a point where the returns on effort had diminished too much to be worth it.

"Fuuu..." He exhaled deeply. "This should be fine."

In his mind, an extremely sharp and refined two-dimensional GIF of a rotating hypnotic spiral drew his attention. Even he was impressed just by how attention-drawing it was. It reeled in any beholder with a nigh-irresistable force.

Furthermore, it was far less mentally taxing than the Greater Primordial Void was. Which was one of the primary goals when approaching the three Hypnomatrix projects.

'Now that those are out of the way, I should do some detailed training on how I approach each of the principles needed for each of the techniques.'

The maneuvering-sabotage hypnotic technique relied on speeding up one's perception of time, causing them to perceive everything to happen faster, including their own body, than they were capable of processing. Rui needed to learn how to apply image embodiment to generate non-verbal communication that would impact the subconscious to sabotage one's perception of time.

For offense, he needed to learn some amount of body sabotage, some amount of pain induction, and some body-sabotage for defense as well.

Thankfully, he had already learned the principles of each of the three techniques, so he didn't need the Hypnomaster's aid in this regard. The Hypnomaster had also given him a breakdown on how to self-train hypnosis in the best of ways.

Because of his sheer experience, expertise, and mastery of hypnosis, he showed Rui the best training methodologies and principles that he had. This helped Rui get off the right foot with his first dip into training hypnosis.

Hypnosis techniques consisted of misdirecting the consciousness and then manipulating the subconscious mind. He had already completed the first half of that, and now needed to master the second half which was entirely new to him.

He would be lying if he said he wasn't excited.

Hypnosis was almost magical in what it could do. To be able to manipulate minds with Martial Art was something that he had never expected to do in his entire life. It was new territory that he was excited to explore, especially when he possessed an affinity for it.

'The first step towards manipulating the subconsciousness after manipulating the mind is developing the right image embodiment for the non-verbal communication needed for manipulation of the mind.' Rui mused.

Thankfully, he had already had some in mind when he first embarked on the project. For the offense-sabotage technique, he was quite content relying on breathing sabotage, and he intended to make full use of his previous life's asthma for that.

He closed his eyes. "Fuuu..."

His mind delved back into his previous life. A life of hampered breathing. He had been diagnosed with a rare form of asthma that could only be treated, not cured. On top of that, he was a particularly severe case, and he would need to be permanently bedridden and attached to all kinds of contraptions if he wanted to breathe properly.

He had decided he didn't want to lead such a life. He would rather suffer hampered breathing if it meant actually living a life.

And so began a life of gasping, wheezing, and strained breathing. He carried around three inhalers of different kinds at all times. There were many times, particularly during winter, when his asthma got so bad that even walking was difficult, he would often spend time in a wheelchair.

He was often bullied because of the frailty and fragility that came with being an asthma. Those instances generated immense frustration, perhaps he would have gone down a darker path if not for his discovery of the greatest thing humanity had ever created; martial arts.

Now that was something worth dedicating his life to.

He persevered through school, getting perfect scores before going to college for a bachelor's in science, a particularly tiring period of his life with his condition. His lungs burned and fought back against every breath he took, yet he managed to push through and get a perfect GPA.

He went on to get another degree in sports science while also getting diplomas in relevant courses and later on even a master's and a PhD in combat sports sciences.

Every step of the way, his lungs fought back, but he persevered. As he grew older and exited his physical prime, his general health dipped even more, exacerbating his already poor health.

It had gotten particularly bad during the last decade of his life. He visited the hospital so many times that he practically had a room for himself. It didn't help that the healthcare system of his nation limited options. Even while he was working on Project Water, coordinating with his team from a hospital bed many times, he still struggled to breathe.

When he arrived at death's door,, he certainly was frustrated that he hadn't fulfilled Project Water. However, he was also relieved from the bottom of his heart.

Relieved that his suffering would finally end.

Rui opened his eyes, sweating and panting. His hand flew to his chest, feeling his racing heart.

He had gotten a little too immersed in his own memories, causing his own breathing to grow strained.

'Tsk, ended up partially hypnotizing myself without trying,' Rui shook his head.

His mood grew a little pensive as he reflected back on his previous life.