Bang—
Kanoh Agito was sent flying, crashing onto the dojo floor with a dull thud.
He rolled with the impact and sprang back to his feet, immediately assuming a stance. But the man across from him had no intention of continuing the attack. Instead, he walked to the side and tossed Kanoh a bottle of water.
"Mr. Luke, where exactly do I fall short?"
Kanoh asked curiously. This was the first time he had encountered someone like Luke. The man had utterly overturned his worldview.
Kanoh had once believed he stood at the summit of the world. Like a mountaineer who had conquered the highest peak and challenged K2, he had become lonely in his invincibility. There were scarcely any interesting fighters left for him to face, and his evolution had long since stagnated.
But now, he had discovered an even taller mountain—one far greater than any he had climbed before. It reignited his fighting spirit.
"Where do you fall short?"
Luke took a drink of water and smiled. "In every way."
He was not trying to tear Kanoh down, but ever since arriving in this world, Luke had felt a little disappointed.
The mutation brought about by the Origin Seed had not been especially drastic. Or perhaps not enough time had passed yet. At present, people like Kanoh still broadly remained within the realm of humanity.
That was why Kanoh's stats were lower than Luke's. As for technique, if he used Endspace's proficiency rankings as a comparison, Luke felt that Kanoh had only just touched the threshold of Master-Level.
As for Raian, he was probably only at the peak of Expert-Level for now.
Yes, Luke had discovered that Endspace's ratings for combat proficiencies carried an unexpectedly high degree of value.
Judging solely by how sparring and combat felt, Luke had enjoyed his fights at Shin'o Academy in the world of Bleach more. After all, quite a few people there had stats higher than his, and some had trained for centuries.
After being tempered by the Captain-Commander in the world of Bleach, fighting his final battle against Instructor Unohana, and using the training ground's mirror function within Endspace, Luke's combat proficiencies had advanced by leaps and bounds.
Several of his core proficiencies had already surpassed Level 25 in the Master-Level realm. By comparison, Luke estimated Kanoh was probably below Level 10. After being trained by Luke, Raian could barely be considered Master-Level.
Endspace provided numerical references for combat proficiencies—for example, higher-level combat proficiencies provided greater damage bonuses—but simple numbers could not represent a martial artist's realm.
A fighter's understanding of martial arts, judgment in battle, instincts, perception of the flow of power, and other such factors were what truly determined their strength. Kanoh was not weak, and his stats were not that much lower than Luke's in his normal state, so why could Luke catch his punches so easily?
The answer was realm. They stood at different levels in the domain of martial arts.
The instant Kanoh threw a punch, Luke could use his instincts to grasp the flow of its force and vaguely catch the force's "point."
His master had once told him that the old masters of ancient times could see through an object's core and discern the principles behind the flow of force. Upon reaching that realm, even a tiny amount of strength could easily shatter a massive boulder.
Conversely, when faced with a punch carrying enormous force, if one could analyze and grasp the movement of that force and pinpoint its "point," one could effortlessly suppress it.
So when Luke caught Kanoh's heavy, powerful punch, his body did not retreat—not because Luke was overwhelmingly stronger than Kanoh, but because he had mastered martial arts.
He had not suppressed Kanoh with brute force. He had blocked that punch with technique.
To ordinary people, such a thing might seem too profound to comprehend. But Luke could do it.
And the cruel part was that this kind of skill was difficult to teach. What it required was not experience or tempering, but talent.
Therefore, even an Explorer with the same Level 25 Master-Level Martial Arts Mastery as Luke could not necessarily accomplish this. They would be unable to catch the points of force; they would lack that kind of vision and instinct.
It was precisely this combat talent that had allowed Luke to accomplish the impossible in the world of Bleach. Otherwise, Captain Unohana herself had been a swordsmanship genius tempered by a thousand years of training. How could he possibly have surpassed her in technique?
In terms of proficiency ability, she was unquestionably far above him. Yet he had still won, because his combat instincts were superior.
"In every way... I never thought the day would come when someone would say that to me."
Kanoh did not sound discouraged. He had never been much of a talker, nor was he skilled at expressing his emotions, but after a full day of sparring, he had truly experienced his own shortcomings.
He understood that the man before him possessed a superhuman physique comparable to Wakatsuki Takeshi's, yet had not neglected the refinement of his techniques. That was what had forged such chilling, unrivaled strength.
He could not change his physique, but he believed his techniques could still advance further. A new mountain had appeared before him.
"You two really are obsessed with fighting. You have been going at it since this morning, have you not?"
A pleasant female voice came from the dojo entrance. Luke and Kanoh turned toward it. The newcomer was Katahara Metsudo's daughter, Sayaka Katahara.
"My apologies. I was the one asking Mr. Luke for guidance."
Kanoh apologized honestly. She was the daughter of his benefactor, so naturally he treated her with respect.
Luke looked at Sayaka. She was only in her twenties, tall and curvaceous, with healthy bronze skin and an energetic air about her.
He remembered that she would serve as the announcer for the Kengan Annihilation Tournament. She was a capable girl, and excellent at firing up a crowd.
Still, seeing her up close for the first time, he could not help wanting to remark on it. The old man Katahara really had some stamina. This daughter must have been born when he was already in his seventies, right?
"Luke, here is the information you asked for."
Though they had met only twice, Sayaka addressed him with surprising familiarity. It was not unpleasant, though. Perhaps that was one of her talents—she seemed able to get along with almost anyone.
"Thanks, Sayaka."
After thanking her, Luke accepted the file. He flipped through several pages, and immediately understood the situation.
This report was the joint result of an investigation by the Kure Clan and Katahara Metsudo. It was comprehensive and extremely reliable. With these two major forces working together, their efficiency was unquestionable.
Less than twenty-four hours had passed since Luke made his request last night.
"Someone within the Kengan Association has indeed been acting rather abnormally lately. Is there a reason you are looking for them, Mr. Luke?"
Sayaka asked curiously. She knew what Luke was investigating.
Kanoh also glanced at Luke, wondering what his objective was.
"Of course. I am here to eliminate abnormalities."
Luke put away the report. He already knew whom to find. Although the Kengan Association's fighters had all improved to varying degrees recently, the most abnormal of them was the new fighter recruited by Kouou Academy—Kiryu Setsuna.
Luke remembered this character quite well, not because of his strength, but because of how utterly deranged he was.
In the original story, Kiryu Setsuna had been the protagonist's obsessive stalker. He was powerful, emotionally twisted, and killed without hesitation. When Luke had read the manga, he had thought Setsuna was destined to be the protagonist's rival, that the two would fight all the way to the finals.
Who would have thought the manga would refuse to follow the usual script? Just when he thought Kuroki Gensai, who initially seemed like a background character, was about to serve as a stepping stone for Setsuna, the old master mercilessly put Setsuna down instead...
If Kiryu Setsuna had obtained the seed, then he had become even more dangerous. Luke could not judge him based on his strength in the original work.
Combined with the recent string of Explorer hunting incidents, everything suddenly made sense to Luke. He had initially assumed a Rulebreaker was behind it, but now it seemed more likely that Kiryu Setsuna was the killer. After all, his "beloved" Ohma was dead.
Luke would not get so arrogant as to assume Explorers were all weaklings. If Setsuna could repeatedly kill Explorers with high attributes, then he had clearly gained considerable power.
Fortunately, this time Luke had used his head. By borrowing the power of others, he had quickly locked onto his target. It had taken only six days, and the Kengan Annihilation Tournament had not even begun. At this point, Setsuna should not have grown absurdly powerful yet.
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