The cool breeze of the Kandrian night brushed past them gently atop the mountain as they oversaw the shimring lights of the Town of Hajin. The shrill chirps of insects across the forest atop the mountain filled the silent air.
And yet, Rui was far too engrossed in the insights he had just gotten to appreciate his environnt.
The epiphany was a rather strange one.
Was love the secret of the Transcendent Realm?
"Love is the secret to a lot of things, but..." Rui shook his head, "it is not the secret to the Transcendent Realm."
He was cognizant enough to understand what was happening.
"I found adaptive evolution where I didn’t know it existed."
His understanding of adaptive evolution increased as his perception of what was adaptive evolution had broadened.
Love was now within it.
A previously abstract and unrelated concept was discovered to be a manifestation of his Martial Path.
That was the trigger that allowed him to behold the true higher Realm.
"Love is adaptive evolution..." A faint whisper of amazent erged from him. "Love is Water. All I need to do is do as I have before... I just need adaptively evolve."
He had no idea how that would even work, if he was being completely honest.
He had just realized it and largely thanks to Kane, surprisingly enough.
He directed an amazed expression at his best friend. "How did you co up with that? Since when were you such a poet of love?"
Kane smirked, heaving a sigh.
"Probably ever since I learned I was go to beco a father."
Rui’s eyes widened with shock. "What...? You an Fae is—"
"Pregnant," Kane’s tone was one of surreality. "Happened right after I got back from the Beast Domain."
For a mont, Rui was stunned speechless, before breaking out into an amazed smile. "Congratulations, you will be an amazing father. You should have told this from the very start!"
Kane huffed with a wry smile. "Was going to, but you seed out of it so I decided not to rub it in your face when you just lost a relationship."
Rui’s expression grew a little guilty and lancholic about that.
It was emblematic of a certain dynamic in their friendship.
Much of their friendship and ti spend together had revolved around Rui and Rui alone.
"Next ti, don’t hesitate to share your happiness."
Rui’s tone serious.
Kane smiled wryly. "It’s not that deep. It’s just..."
He heaved a deep sigh. "I didn’t think I’d ever start a family when I was young. Family to had ant pain, abuse, and venom and nothing else. The Arrancar Family was a cesspit of snakes vying for our father’s attention, and he couldn’t be bothered to give to them."
The air darkened even more as the darkness of the night sky seed to grow heavier.
"My father..." Kane’s heaved a shaky breath. "...was all about tough love. Only that he loved the tough and was tough about love."
The atmosphere grew intense as he recollected his early life.
His green eyes sharpened.
"I am determined to not have that kind of family."
Rui gazed at him with a serious expression.
He could sense the sheer determination in Kane’s voice.
His expression grew pained as he thought back to how Kane used to be before he was freed from his family’s grip.
He used to be a lot more serious and reserved back when they were in academy. It was only after his family stopped dominating his life that he grew more relaxed and gained a jovial side to him.
Rui directed a knowing gaze to his friend.
"Do you hate your father?"
It might have seed like the answer was obvious given his prior words.
However, Rui had seen them spend ti together in the Central Highlands of the Beast Domain.
What they had was not a relationship was hatred.
Although it wasn’t exactly a normal father-son relationship either.
Perhaps he would have needed ti to ponder his emotions previously.
But he was a Martial Sage.
He had Enlightennt of Self.
"No."
His response was clear.
"He was a bad father," Kane replied with uncharacteristically serious tone. "He was emotionally distant and contemptuous of weakness. I thought he hated . I thought he hated his entire family. But..."
He shook his head.
"He just has a dented perspective on love."
Rui raised an eyebrow with interest as he detected a clue.
A clue to Damian’s progress to Transcendence.
"Dented perspective on love?"
Kane nodded. "The first ti I realized that was when I confronted him about his tornt of as a Martial Squire. This was after returning to the Kandrian Empire from the Floating Island. He told that all of it was for my sake. To fuel my Martial Drive and make stronger. Since my Martial Drive was and even Martial Path was about evading my family."
Kane snorted with a hint of anger. "He thought he was doing a good thing for as a loving father. Can you believe that?"
Rui recalled this conversation from many years ago.
"I confronted him more during our ti in the Beast Domain and learned more about why he acted the way he acted," Kane remarked. "He truly believed that the best thing you could do for soone you loved was to destroy their weakness and forge strength in them. Can you believe it? He didn’t even think he had done anything wrong in all the years that he tornted . In his eyes, that was normal fatherhood."
Rui winced at those words.
Damian was a piece of work, that was for sure.
"What you are making that expression for?" Kane raised an eyebrow as he turned towards Rui. "You realize you’re as insane as he is right?"
Rui did a double-take at those words. "Ouch. Where did that co from?"
"From knowing you my entire life," Kane reminded him. "It has beco clear to that the path to Transcendent is a path of madness and insanity. Only madn who allow their Martial Path to warp their sanity and lucidity can beco Martial Transcendents. And frankly..."
He turned towards Rui with a determined expression.
"I don’t want anything to do with this power."
Rui’s eyes widened as he understood what Kane was telling him.
A lancholic smile erged on Kane’s face.
"This is the end of the road for , buddy."
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