The Martial Unity

Chapter 912 Speed

It wasnʼt too long before they arrived, yet it was a while before they actually began. Ruiʼs paranoia caused him to sweep an extensive radius around them thoroughly with his Riemannian Echo and his many other powerful senses that were ineffective inside the Shionel Dungeon. He did not want to begin without making sure that there werenʼt some spies assigned to him that were keeping tabs on him from a distance.

It wasnʼt until he found nothing he heaved a sigh of relief. He was not worried that someone was perhaps evading his senses with a powerful stealth technique if Kane could not hide from him inside the Shionel Dungeon, then no Martial Squire ought to be capable of hiding from him outside the Shionel Dungeon.

”Are you finally ready now?” Kane asked exasperated.

”All done, letʼs get started.”

Kane sighed, before beginning. ”Okay, so let me begin by going in-depth into the technique.”

Rui nodded attentively. He had always been curious about how the technique worked, but never actually cared to bother finding out because it never pertained to him. The same went for the other grade-ten techniques, they were all special but also highly irrelevant.

Until now.

”What is speed?” Kane asked simply.

Rui considered the question for a moment before answering. ”Speed is the resultant outcome of force, varying based on the weight of the subject and how much force was applied.”

Kane nodded. ”Right, speed is not a discrete thing that exists fundamentally and independently of everything else, it can only exist in a state be possessed by things, and whether one possesses or not depends on perspective. If you and I are moving equally fast, then can you truly say Iʼm moving? Especially if I got rid of the environment entirely?”

”Whether something is moving, and how fast they are moving if they are moving, are all things relative to the frame of reference of the observer, it is entirely subjective,” Rui replied, talking about the principle of relativity that was mainstream physics.

Kane nodded. ”Ultimately, putting aside the subjective nature of speed, speed is a product of force and mass. The more the force, the faster your maximum speed will be, the heavier you are, the slower your maximum speed will be. Speed is equally a resultant outcome of both these quantities, thus in order to truly increase speed itself, both these quantities need to be altered to maximize speed. In order for a technique to qualify as a speed technique, it cannot just increase force, that is merely a strength supplementary technique, not a speed supplementary technique.”

Rui frowned a little. ”But amplifying strength alone does amplify speed, how much does it matter at the end of the day? Results are what matter, do they not?”

Kane shook his head. ”Youʼre not wrong, the results will not change regardless of whether you call it a strength technique or a speed technique. The distinction comes from looking at what it primarily is, and what its purpose primarily is. A strength technique focuses its resources on amplifying the raw power generated, the increase in speed is a favorable consequence, but it is not the intent of a strength supplementary technique. However, a pure speed-supplementary technique focuses on both the quantities that determine speed. However, more speed behind an attack consequently results in more power, even though this is not the intent of the technique.”

Kane paused, before continuing. ”Speed for power, and power for speed. These are as different as they are the same.”

Ruiʼs eyes lit up as realization dawned on him. ”Thatʼs definitely insightful.”

This was one area where some biases from his scientific background and research in combat sports had held him back. Back on Earth, fighters in combat sports were divided between weight classes, what that meant was that weight and mass of their bodies were roughly equal all the time. Thus stronger opponents were also faster because their body weights were all the same.

A stronger flyweight kickboxer was a faster flyweight kickboxer. The same went for heavyweights as well. While there certainly were other variables such as flexibility and wing span that also played a role, this principle held true if all these variables were controlled for.

Thus Rui had subconsciously retained that intuition even when he was reborn in this world, however, that intuition did not necessarily hold true in this world, where Martial Artists of different weight classes fought against each other and broke all the common sense rules of Earth as far as weight classes and speed went.

Kane had just shown him that certain vestiges of the common sense of the combat sports from Earth still remained in his head subconsciously without him thinking of it.

He looked at Kane appreciatingly. He had to admit that the young man was more insightful and possessed a much greater depth of understanding of his own field than Rui had given him credit for.

He looked forward to learning from him.

Kane on the other hand found it extremely refreshing to be the one to share his understanding with Rui and correct flaws in his understanding than the other way around. It definitely came as much needed boost for his self-esteem, given how much he had been deferring to Rui in recent times.

”So tying this back to the Godspeed technique, which is a speed technique, it doesnʼt increase speed by simply increasing the amount of force exerted, it also reduces the weight of the body temporarily,” Kane continued. ”It momentarily accelerates the conversion of food into energy momentarily producing more power in exchange for some stamina, and then forcibly expels the resultant products out via breathing, along with other waste materials, thereby reducing the weight of the body. By increasing force and reducing weight, it truly increases speed,” Kane explained.

Ruiʼs widened. ”Thatʼs unbelievable!”

Rui was truly stunned by the explanation that Kane offered.

”By ridding your body of all the materials and substances that it doesnʼt need at the moment, you can obtain speed beyond your wildest dreams,” Kane smirked.