Although Rui had immense difficulty with Seismic Mapping, he was quite excited to eventually master it. The technique had an immense amount of utility. If he had possessed the technique when undertaking missions there was a good chance he would have been able to save Be Hier and a good chance he would have been able to ensure the bandit operation in the Shadow Trails would have gone more smoothly.
Furthermore, just being able to sense his surroundings to this degree would give him a lot of security and confidence. Only a Martial Artist with incredible stealth techniques and covert capabilities would be able to sneak past his senses once he mastered Seismic Mapping.
"Alright, enough about that." he said as he stood before the stealth training facility.
It was finally time for Rui get acquainted with the final technique he had purchased; Blink.
The stealth training facility was also unexpectedlyrge. Despite the fact that stealth technique was merely a sub-section in the misceneous section of the Apprentice library.
In many a way the stealth training facility was simr to the sensory training facility. There were specialized environments that he could see Martial Apprentices training in, and specialized forms of training for each technique.
"Squire Helen." Rui bowed respectfully for the fourth time in a day. "I am Martial Apprentice Rui Quarrier. I''vee here to learn the Blink technique."
She was a short middle-aged woman with a demure stature, she turned around, ncing at him.
"Blink huh?" She sized him up. "Good choice." She said. "I hope you understand what the technique is capable of. Most people who purchase this technique have exaggerated ideas of how powerful the technique is."
"I believe I understand the technique well enough."
"Do you?" She threw a skeptical expression at him.
"It''s a technique that exploits the opening created by blinking to achieve more than what they would otherwise."
"Correct, ''more'', not everything." She replied. "This technique cannot end a fight in most cases. Nor is it something that is meant to be abused in a fight. Most Martial Artists aren''t morons, if you abuse it too much they''ll figure it out and will not only counter it but also use it to set up traps. Inbat, this is a trump card, understand?"
Rui nodded. He was already aware that this technique would not make him invincible or allow him to end the fight instantly unless his opponent was a human or a careless Martial Artist. After all, the technique was priced at only three hundred and fifty
She rxed a bit when she saw he didn''t have any fancy considerations about the technique.
"The technique works best against humans. Humans blink for a longer period of time inbat than Martial Artists because of their slower cognition. Against humans, this technique is extremely effective and can allow you to effectively cross even a hoard of people unnoticed if you time it well." She said. "Against Martial Apprentices, it''s more difficult and limited. Martial Apprentices have enhanced cognition inbat, they blink at a simr rate as you do."
Rui nodded in response.
"Against Martial Apprentices, you can only use it as a way to surprise them. In order to understand how this happens, you first need to understand how Martial Artists think inbat."<sub> </sub>
"Humans in general, but especially Martial Artists don''t identify and react to an attack purely after it has beenunched. In most cases, Martial Artists subconsciously analyze movements to partially gauge and partially predict what the opponent is about to do."
Rui nodded. This was a well-documented phenomenon in neurology. Even in the twentieth-century, it was well shown that the human brain was constantly in a predictive mode, trying to infer oues from phenomena.
This could be demonstrated with simple experiments. Why most humans flinch when an object approached them at high speed even at a distance. Because the human brain has already evaluated the motion of the object and plotted out its trajectory and inferred that there is a high chance the object would collide with the body.
"The brain subconsciously looks at the early signs of an attack and partially makes the decision to avoid the strike based on the early evaluation." She said. "When using Blink inbat, your aim should not be to attack when your Martial Apprentice blinks, but to hide the early signs of attack when your opponent blinks."
She paused, before continuing. "This way, when your opponent opens their eyes, they will not be able to rely on the partial prediction their mind makes subconsciously. This will hinder their reaction and in most cases you should be able to perform far better with the attack, at least."
"Hiding the initial signs of the attack during the blink is better than moving during the blink?" Rui asked.
"It''s not about choosing which is better." She corrected. "You don''t have a choice at all. You cannot begin, move andplete an attack in the middle of a blink of a Martial Apprentice" She said. "Martial Apprentices blink too quickly and you''re not fast enough, as a Martial Apprentice yourself. Only a Martial Squire could do that, and maybe some extraordinary peak Martial Apprentices with a maneuvering style Martial Art."
"I see..." Rui nodded, engrossed.
"In the middle ofbat, the technique should be used an opening-creator. Outside ofbat, it is best used as a surveince-escaper. Against a human, the Blink technique, like all Martial Apprentice techniques, is invincible." She said as she put some distance between them.
"This what a well-executed Blink technique looks like."
Rui focused as he maximized his alertness. She stared at him for nearly ten seconds, motionless.
Then it came.
BLINK
One moment she was ten meters away, the next moment shended right in front of him.
The abruptness of it all was so shocking that Rui tripped and fell backwards.
"Woah..." He murmured in amazement.
"Now." She said with a serious expression. "Your turn."N?velDrama.Org content.
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