The Martial Unity

He had activated Forestep to a minor degree than he normally did, the Forestep technique boosted his movements to a much less degree than Kane's Godspeed did because it inherently spread the boost over time and because Rui had only mastered the Godspeed amplification technique to a partial degree due to lack of affinity and Kane's talent.

Even still, that almost entirely compensated for the significant gap between them, albeit Rui's moves were still less fluid than Kane's, his reaction was longer than his as well. He still did not want to waste this application of the Forestep technique.

Even if he did not make much progress today, he was determined to gain more experience and then use that experience to identify what it was that he was lacking, and what he could to do make it better.

In time, he hoped to become more effective in dealing with lightning.

The two of them immediately jumped back into training as they maneuvered across the outer layers of the Thunder Valley. Rather than just statically dodging lightning from place to place, the two of them decided a run course across the outer section of the Thundering Valley.

This increased the difficulty of the challenge because they needed to dodge lightning while moving at high speeds. It was much more difficult to dash off in a direction perpendicular to one's running than it was to do so when one was stationary. It allowed them to make it more challenging without increasing the risks too much by going too deep into the Thundering Valley.

Kane had it easier as he had to hold back since he was still faster than Rui due to the Forestep technique being limited in order to last longer. Furthermore, Rui himself was acting more cautiously and carefully, since he was moving faster than what he was most comfortable with.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

The two of them engaged in all kinds of maneuvers to evade lightning from all directions. One of the tricky parts about lightning was the fact that not only did it not follow a straightforward trajectory, but it was capable of moving in all kinds of wacky directions.

Rui had to dodge a lightning bolt that seemingly was going to completely avoid them but then suddenly change trajectories and race towards them. Dodging such bolts was extraordinarily difficult.

The first time they ran into a Martial Squire was quite surprising since they had forgotten that this was a place where Martial Artists trained. As they circled around the valley, they ran into several Martial Squires. Thankfully, they each minded their own business. No one wanted to do anything that could be misconstrued as hostility and get into a fight in such an environment, that was concretely detrimental to both sides. It was not possible to fight all out here without getting hit by lightning bolts, thus all of them pretended the other did not exist.

However, Martial Artists weren't the only creatures they ran into.

Rui's eyes widened as something moving in the distance caught his attention. 𝑏𝑒𝘥𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝑙.𝘰𝑟𝑔

Most of his attention was focused upward since that's where the lightning came from. He had purposely minimized his awareness of what was ahead given that he was preoccupied by the lightning, he only needed to make sure that he was tracking the terrain.

It wasn't until both of them felt a sense of threat that was different from the lightning did they direct more attention ahead.

It was smaller than Rui had expected. About the size of a tiger, yet vastly more perilous. It resembled a fusion between a lion and a wolf, with one of the most eye-drawing traits being the fur coat that sparkled with lightning. In fact, the mane of the creature looked like it was made of lightning!

"Is that…?" Kane's eyes widened as he gazed at the fantastical beast ahead of him.

"It's a raiju," Rui paused in his paths, prompting Kane to do the same.

The creature had intelligent eyes.

It was a magnificent creature with an otherworldly appearance. It possessed a grace and a fierceness that co-existed. He knew that they were not going to be able to evade.

[Outsiders. Leave.] It growled at them. Rui's widened as he instinctively understood what the beast was telling them via Fauna Flow.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Rui didn't need any more confirmation as he watched several lightning bolts land on the creature without so much as fazing it. It appeared that it was truly immune to lightning!

Before Rui and Kane could even turn away, the creature lashed out at them!

"Shi-!"

ZZZZT!

"Rgh!" Rui and Kane grimaced as webs of lightning emerged from the creature's fur coat, striking them. Their bodies burned as an immense sensation of pain enveloped their entire body, they struggled, before finally retaining control over their body.

They both leaped away, dashing away from the creature as they did their best to avoid lightning bolts on the way back.

THUD!

"That… HURT!" Kane cursed as he fell to his knees. The attack had done a number on him as he realized that he truly could have died there, due to his weak constitution. "Oof, what was that creature's problem?!"

"It grew impatient that we were still standing before it," Rui groaned. "This lightning is harder to deal with than I expected. We're going to need to find a way to deal with it more concretely."

Rui had already come up with a branch-new idea on how to be able to evade lightning more efficiently and effectively than normal. Their current rate of success was simply too unacceptable at the moment. Rui wanted to actually accomplish something in their time in the Thundering Valley, make progress, even if it was only by one step and nothing else. He didn't want to simply get bullied by lightning and leave the place with unsatisfied grudges against the natural phenomenon.

"What do you plan on doing?"

"What I've always done…" Rui narrowed his eyes. "I'm going to overcome it.