The Martial Unity

In that moment, Rui may as well have forgotten that he had come up with a companion. His eyes sharpened as the entirety of his mind focused on the extraordinary Martial Art that he had come across.

“This is truly incredible,” Rui murmured aloud. “I don’t think I have ever seen an earth-bending this precise and fine. I have no idea how he created a clone of himself conjured from the rock; it’s truly spectacular.”

“It’s very beautiful!” Amare brightly concurred with an excited expression. “To think that Martial Art truly is art, how wonderful!”

Rui nodded with an enthusiastic expression. Of course, he was more interested in the extraordinary earth-bending that was entirely different from anything that he had ever seen before, but the philosophy was quite intriguing to him as well.

He was familiar with the concept of an artistic form of martial arts; there were both modern and ancient forms of martial arts back on Earth that were largely aesthetic or interpretive.

However, he had never seen a philosophy that regarded Martial Art as an art form while simultaneously also using said Martial Art as a serious combat style to be used in actual combat.

“Martial Art is rarely pretty or beautiful in combat,” he remarked. “You would still consider it to be an art form? Or are there performative and combat versions of the same style?”

Sage Kyria directed a disapproving glance at him. “Something does not need to be superficially beautiful for it to be art. Art is expression through mastery in any given field. The expression is what makes art art. We, who have mastered Martial Art to extraordinary degrees, also use it to express ourselves. That is what makes Martial Art truly art.”

Rui grew fascinated by such an interesting perspective of Martial Art that he had never heard before. He was aware that some Martial Art, even in this world, were more pretty than others. But this was the first time that he had run into a culture where Martial Art was truly an art form.

“…It’s a truly unique philosophy,” Rui remarked. “But what intrigues me more is the level of precision, control, and accuracy that that Martial Master displayed. I have never seen any Martial Artist carve a lifelike, accurate clone of themselves made from rock. That’s… truly incredible.”

Sage Kyria allowed herself a proud smile at his compliment. “The Nest of Terra may be less Martially focused than other nations, but when it comes to earth-bending, we are unrivaled across all of Gaia.”

Rui’s eyes lit up with deep interest.

Unlike with the Solaris Kingdom, he wasn’t sure his knowledge of high principles would allow him to replicate this level of mastery. What he was witnessing was a level of mastery of earth-bending that wasn’t simply due to high principles.

They had created an earth-bending control interface from a variety of principles, some middling and other high principles to ultimately allow one to manipulate earth like it was part of their own body. “This place is amazing.” A smile emerged on his face. “Let’s explore more of it.”

“I want to learn more about creating art with Martial Art,” Amare grew mesmerized by the philosophy of the Nest of Terra. “It’s so wonderful that Nest of Terra has managed to create a philosophy where Martial Art is a productive and wonderful art form that people can appreciate and learn not to fear!”

“Then, let us descend. If you’ll allow me to guide you, I can show you around Martia to help you explore our Martial philosophy and culture more,” Sage Kyria offered as she began slowly sky-walking down the city.

“That sounds just perfect.” Rui nodded. “Ideally, I wanted an expert in Martial Art to explain all of this to me rather than some stuffy non-Martial guide.”

“Can we learn how to do Martial Art as an art form?” Amare asked enthusiastically. “I, too, want to learn how to create art from my Martial Art.”

“That could be an interesting mix,” Rui pondered aloud. “Your Martial Art, which is an incarnation of Genism, becoming an art form? Everything is Martial Art, and Martial Art is art? Doesn’t that mean everything is art?”

“Isn’t that wonderful?” Amare cheerily exclaimed as they descended along with Sage Kyria. “I can’t wait to show Grandma what I have learned when I get back.”

Rui smiled warmly at her. “I’m sure she’d be quite proud of you.”

“Come this way,” Sage Kyria directed them to a large field where countless humans trained in a routine of movements. “This is where the Martial journey of Terran Martial Artists begins.”

“HA!” Millions of humans stomped their feet on the ground at once, sending tremors through the ground as they continued about with the movements they made.

“These are our initiates,” Sage Kyria explained patiently. “We inculcate them into the human version of the Dance of Terra, allowing them to grow intimately familiar with the art form. We sear movements that are commonly used in earth-bending so that when a portion of the initiates discover their Martial Path, they will already have come to have gained some preliminary mastery of earth-bending.”

“Fascinating,” Rui murmured. “But… forcing everyone to focus on the same sets of movements, does that not greatly limit the expression and exploration of individuality?”

“You are right, that is why this is merely the initial dance form,” she explained. “Initiates are expected to develop their own individualistic art form that is not only an expression of one’s self but also useful in combat. We believe this helps them gain the modicum of self-awareness needed to discover their Martial Path.”

Rui grew fascinated by such a unique method of training one’s aspiring initiates. He didn’t know that one could have them focus exclusively on Martial art forms and get them to discover their Martial Path through this method.

“I suppose it makes sense if art is expression; it could help them discover more about themselves, such as their Martial Path,” Rui realized with a hint of interest before skepticism entered his face.

“But… it doesn’t seem to be helping the low breakthrough rates of the Nest of Terra.”

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