The Martial Unity

Ria and Runark glanced at each other before shifting their attention back to her. That was a mistake.

Because she was gone by the time their eyes turned back to her.

“You shouldn’t take your eyes off your opponent.”

Chills crawled across their skin as Arastia’s voice emerged from behind them. BANG!

A powerful kick blasted into them, flinging them away.

“Rgh…!” Runark grimaced as he tumbled across the floor.

Ria, on the other hand, managed to remain on her feet.

SSSK…

She skidded away as her arms came together in a guard, blocking the kick just before it could reach her. Her amber eyes were blazing with a fierce glint within their depths. Arastia’s blood-red eyes lit up with appreciation. “You managed to out-react a maneuverer like Runark despite not being specialized in speed. Very good.”

“Damn!” Runark cursed as he got to his feet, taking a stance that allowed him to remain light on his feet. “How did you manage to move that fast?”

Arastia smiled as her raised leg came down smoothly. “Many years of training, little Runark.”

WHOOSH

She blurred hazily as she emerged right before them in the blink of an eye, her sharp palm jabbing at both of them. WHOOSH

WHOOSH

Runark evaded the attack while Ria intercepted with a smooth interception, absorbing the momentum that Arastia had poured into the attack before using it to fuel a powerful kick that flew straight at Arastia’s jaw.

BANG The powerful attack forced Arastia to block, much to her surprise, while Runark charged forth, his hands sharpened into surgical instruments, targeting her vitals at blindingly high speeds.

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!

Vital after vital, nerve after nerve, he struck her various target points across her body, only to find that she was completely immune to the effect of the attacks.

“I’m a hemosapien, I am much stronger than a normal Martial Artist,” she reminded him, before promptly launching a powerful kick straight to his solar plexus.

WHOOSH

He shifted aside at just the nick of time, evading the kick, as he spun past it, charging forth with a powerful blow.

BANG!!!

The blow, armed with all the momentum he could muster, managed to get Arastia to defend with an arm while her other arm prepared to strike him.

Only for Ria to attack her at just the right moment, drawing her attention away from Runark with a powerful onslaught of blows that peppered across her body.

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!

Given that Arastia was a blood human, the blows should have meant nothing. There was a qualitative gap between a homo martialus and a homo hemosapien from the very start, and since both underwent bodily evolution, it should have been impossible for the former to pressure the latter when they were operating with just their bodies.

And yet, much to her surprise, Ria’s blow shook her body.

BOOM!

Arastia’s blood-red eyes widened as an upper-cut blow lifted her off the ground despite her defending it with both arms. And yet, even then, she didn’t miss Runark’s sneaky ambush from behind.

WHOOSH

Arastia simply twirled as she evaded his attack, allowing him to crash into Ria, hoping to see a cute scene between the two of them. Instead, Ria simply intercepted his body, spinning him and throwing him back at Arastia like he was a cannonball. WHOOSH!

“WAAAH!” Runark shot towards Arastia faster than a bullet, even as he managed to throw a powerful blow at Arastia.

And yet, Arastia simply smiled, sticking out a single finger to intercept the attack.

BOOM

A silent, yet heavy collision ensued midair as Arastia’s finger never so much as budged despite all the power that Runark had put into the attack.

“How are you doing that?” Runark asked with amazement in his green irises.

“The power of blood, young man,” she smiled at him as she cut her finger with her nail, creating a wound from which blood began to pour through in a manner that defied gravity. Blood began to emerge galore, swirling midair in a misty manner, before coagulating on into little spheres.

Into bullets.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

She launched a series of blood bullets at the two of them. Runark immediately rushed into a sprint, running away from the attack. Even though he was an offensive maneuverer, rather than evasive like his father, he could still avoid attacks just barely well enough.

Arastia, however, chose to confront them head on as her fingers became surgical instruments that precisely struck down each and every single blood bullet that threatened to strike her. Ordinarily, such precision and accuracy, without sacrificing power, would have been impossible, but she very simply managed to pull it off.

She simply saw it.

She simply saw the flow of power.

The flow of power across the world around them, understanding exactly where she needed to be at what point.

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!

Arastia’s blood-red eyes lit up with surprise once more. She didn’t understand how Ria was breaking up her blood bullets strike by strike. The blood should have damaged her tissue upon contact, which was why Ria had used air pressure to ensure that the blood never actually made contact with her skin, completely taking them head on while never actually making contact with them. The two of them weaved through and chopped through the attacks that Arastia threw at them, eventually arriving at her as they began a two-v-one assault upon her.

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!

An onslaught of attacks emerged from the two of them, threatening to knock Arastia out. But, to no one’s surprise, she maneuvered well, withstanding what she could with her raw body, but otherwise deflecting and evading what she was able to.

Arastia’s movements were smooth, clean, and efficient, but they were otherwise not very individualistic, the way that Runark’s movements were. Ria fought head-on, utilizing the very causality of the attacks to strike it with very precise and specific attacks one after another. Runark, on the other hand, made use of his offensive pursuit maneuvering, weaving through her attacks to launch attacks at her vitals.