The Martial Unity

“Yes, you can.” The teacher smiled at him, rustling his hair. “Now then, everybody, come here and let us begin. Make sure to follow what these people say, ok? It will be very fun.”

The staff at the aptitude-testing facility made each of the students stand on a distinct, one-meter square tile upon a platform, informing them not to move from it if possible and to maintain their balance for as long as possible.

“And now, we shall conduct the test,” the test supervisor remarked, pressing several buttons on his terminal to activate the machine.

VMMM…

“Woah!”

“It’s shaking!”

“This is fun!”

The square tiles began randomly tilting in different directions at a slow pace, testing their dynamic balance. It was initially slow enough that most of the students could handle it, managing to remain standing even if a few of their peers fell off.

“Hahaha!” Runark boisterously laughed. “This is so fun! This is fun, isn’t it, Ria?”

“Mmm!” She nodded with a enthused smile. “This is more fun than the classes!”

“Now I’ll be increasing the difficulty,” the supervisor informed them. “Be careful.”

VMMM…!

The speed and degree of tilting increased substantially, causing several more kids to destabilize and fall off as they failed to maintain their balance.

“Gah!”

“Oh no! I can’t become a Martial Artist!”

“Nothing of the sort, my dear,” the teacher coaxed the young boy who had fallen off as he began crying. “Martial Art is broad and diverse. Not being good at one thing doesn’t mean you can’t be a Martial Artist.”

However, it was true that the students who remained standing were likelier to become Martial Artists.

“You’re doing quite well, Ria!” Runark remarked, even if his eyes were scrunched with concentration. “Let’s keep going like this!”

Ria turned to him with an intrigued expression as she effortlessly maintained her balance. She didn’t even need to think about it. She smoothly shifted her center of gravity, and her legs perfectly aligned with the tilting ground underneath her.

What was surprising, even to the supervisor, was that her head remained completely still. Why was his voice so strained?

Her legs and her lower body perfectly matched the changes in the ground beneath her, but her head didn’t so much as even twitch or shift from its place. A level of dynamic balance that was impossible in humans, only seen in birds.

The test supervisor raised his eyes, shifting his spectacles with amazement.

“We have something special this time.”

The second round of difficulty eliminated a significant majority of the remaining students, leaving only seven or so of them able to maintain their balance, and none as easily as Ria did.

“Then, I shall move to level three,” the supervisor remarked with an amazed expression.

VMMM!

The tilting and rocking became violent, flinging five of the remaining seven off immediately.

“Ahhh!”

“Oh no!”

“Help!”

The only remaining two were Runark and Ria. Runark’s expression crumpled with straining effort as his teeth were visibly gritted, his eyes intensely sharp, struggling to maintain his balance. There were even several moments when he almost fell off, barely managing to salvage his balance.

“This…!” The testing supervisor lit up with amazement. “We have two geniuses! The young boy is impressive for being able to keep up at all. But this young girl…!”

He turned towards Ria.

Her breathing was deeper as she exerted her body a lot, but her face wasn’t even slightly strained.

Her head remained perfectly level at all times. Her balance was perfect.

“Incredible!” The testing supervisor exclaimed. “Let us move to the next level! Be careful, nobody has ever managed to last even a second on this level!”

VMMM!!!

Level four was just absurd, the rocking and tilting exceeded the reaction speed of a child, it should have been utterly impossible for anybody to keep up on.

The moment it began, Runark was completely flung off the tile, causing him to collapse on the ground. Yet, he got up with an expression of concern and worry. “Ria, are you oka—!”

His eyes widened with wonder at what he saw. Her amber eyes were sharpened, but she maintained her balance. Not only did she manage to remain on the rocking tile, but she kept her center of gravity perfectly level. Her head, despite all the tribulations her center of gravity were subject to, was perfectly level.

She no longer even relied on her sense of balance, for her sense of balance was delayed due to the fact that it existed within the ears, meaning it took time for the rocking tiles to affect it.

She had needed to bypass her sense of balance in order to maintain her balance.

She relied exclusively on her hand-eye coordination, or more broadly, oculo-pedic coordination. The moment the tile shifted, her reflexes shifted her legs to match the shift in the tile to maintain her center of gravity and keep her head perfectly stationary. It wasn’t something that she trained for.

It didn’t even feel like she was doing anything special.

It felt like the sort of thing she would have assumed everybody could do, but seeing the more athletic Runark fall off made her frown with a hint of confusion.

CLACK

The pad of notes in the testing supervisor’s hands fell to the ground as he slowly removed his spectacles, staring at Ria with unadulterated awe. “This… this is unprecedented! You’re truly amazing!”

He shut the machine off.

VMMM…

Ria heaved a soft breath, turning towards the testing supervisor with a curious expression. “Isn’t there a level five?”

The man smiled at the little girl wryly. “Level five is beyond human limitations, I’m afraid. But I have a feeling you would succeed even if I were authorized to allow you to try it. For now, know that you may very well be a genius unparalleled in the history of human civilization.”

The teacher widened her eyes with shock. “That much, sir?”

He nodded with an enthusiastic expression. “There’s no doubt about it. I want to see her try all the other tests as well. Let’s get going.”