The Martial Unity

"Why water?" Master Ceeran asked with a curious expression.

Rui smiled. "There was a wise martial artist once upon a time, he once said: 'Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water.'"

Rui smiled wider as he uttered his favorite quote.

"I see…He must have been quite the Martial Artist," Master Ceeran remarked.

"He was the best martial artist of his time," Rui replied with admiration.

"That saying has much in common with your Martial Art," Master Ceeran gained more interest.

"…I probably wouldn't even be a Martial Artist if I never heard those words," Rui replied.

"Interesting," Master Ceeran remarked. "I would love to meet him someday, if possible."

Rui chuckled. "I'm afraid he is not in this world."

"Ah, that's a shame. May he rest in peace," Master Ceeran regrettably mentioned. "Still, it is interesting that the root of your Martial Path is so…humble."

"Hm?" Rui raised an eyebrow, turning to Master Ceeran. "Ah, I did not mean to offend you or the Martial Artist you were referring to. I just didn't expect that your extraordinary and unique Martial Path would be rooted in origins that are, in comparison, not nearly as extraordinary and unique."

"Must a Martial Path be rooted in origins that are only as extraordinary and unique as the Martial Path itself?" Rui raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, most certainly," Master Ceeran nodded. "There's no doubt about that. Martial Paths are born from the summation of our mind, body, and self. It is the manifestation of the essence of your being. How can an ordinary person yield an extraordinary Martial Path? How can ordinary life yield an extraordinary Martial Art? They cannot."

Rui's eyes lit up with interest. "So the more unique and extraordinary the life experienced, the more powerful a Martial Path?"

"I'm afraid not," Master Ceeran heaved a sigh. "While all extraordinary Martial Paths come from an extraordinary life, not all extraordinary lives yield extraordinary Martial Paths."

"Ah, that's indeed a shame," Rui heaves a sigh.

"Indeed," The Master solemnly nodded. "The Martial Community of the continent learned this the hard way in the earliest centuries of the Age of Martial Art."

Rui felt a chill crawl up his spine as he realized what that meant. "…What?"

"Martial Art families whose bloodline had produced powerful Martial Artists put their progeny through all kinds of experiences across long period of time in the hopes of yielding a unique and powerful Martial Path."

Rui's expression grew disgusted.

"One abandoned their child in poor conditions, hoping to collect them when they grew up so that they could have a powerful Martial Path," Master Ceeran remarked. "Others put them through some amount of pain and suffering. If it wasn't for the rise of the Panamic Martial Federation, we may very well have ground the Age of Martial Ar to a halt then."

"I'm glad it had ended, at least," Rui snorted.

"Coming back to the point. A Martial Path is as extraordinary and unique as yours emerging from a quote from another Martial Artist is somewhat…surprising," He remarked. "I would have expected it to be rooted in something much more fantastical."

Rui smiled wordlessly. His Martial Path was what it was because he had dedicated his life to it in a previous life. Spending a long, long time on Project Water and the VOID algorithm. It was at the age of fifty-nine that he died and was reborn in a new world.

A lifetime of research into Project Water was a good way to make Project Water his Martial Path. This was normally impossible for people since by that time they would bias their Martial Path in favor of any particular direction through a lifetime of dedication. By the time they were done, they were already quite old, and becoming a Martial Artist was almost absolutely impossible at that age.

The only way they could succeed was if they got to start over in a new body by the time that they were done.

Rui did. To this day, he didn't know why or how, but he received a boon that allowed him to crystallize a lifetime of effort into his Martial Path.

That was the reason his Martial Path was the way that it was. But how was he supposed to explain that the origin of his Martial Path was probably more extraordinary than any existing Martial Path in this world?

He couldn't.

Instead, he shrugged, leaving it at that. Master Ceeran would conclude what he would, of course. The Martial Union had a pretty thorough background check on him, but that was it. They couldn't possibly know about his life from another world.

The only person who was aware of the truth was Ieyasu, but he didn't care, and because nobody knew about his mind-reading ability, nobody would believe him either. The former was not something that he was willing to divulge since it was a strategic secret.

They had mutual interests in keeping each other's secret well hidden, thus Rui was hardly worried that he would reveal it. He didn't care about the way that they would rationalize his Martial Art and try and explain why and how it came to be.

"So tell me more about Princess Ranea," Rui remarked, at one point. "What is her vision for the Empire? What will the Empire look like when she's Empress?"

Master Ceeran smiled. "Well, you've already purchased general information on the princes and princesses, so I'm sure that you know the answer to that question."

"I'm still interested in hearing about the perspective of someone who has undoubtedly met her and spoken to her," Rui remarked. "Tell me your personal opinion of her. You don't have to try and be objective, and I'm just interested in hearing the truth.