"Wait." Kane did a double-take as he stared at Rui with a shocked expression. "What do you an by ’when he cos back?’ He’s dead, he isn’t coming back."
Rui stared at him.
Kane stared right back at him.
"He’s not dead," Rui stared at him with a strange expression. "He’s just gone."
Kane stared at him with a shocked expression. "What do you an he’s not dead? Where the hell is he gone?"
"Out of existence," Rui replied as his expression grew confused. "Wait, you thought he was dead all this ti?"
"Yes!" Kane grew aghast. "The Arrancar Family even assud he was dead, even though we didn’t have confirmation! Hell, even I was invited and I even attended! WHAT DO YOU AN HE’S NOT DEAD?"
Rui’s palm smacked his face. "I guess my dad didn’t have ti to break the news to the others yet; he must be busy dealing with more urgent matters."
"Break what?" Kane stood as his expression grew aghast.
"He’s just disappeared out of reality for a while," Rui heaved an exasperated sigh. "It is the price of the Transcendent Realm. You cease to exist in reality temporarily. Eventually, he will return. Not any ti soon, though. I can understand why everybody thought he was dead when his body wasn’t on the battlefield. But he will return."
Kane gazed at him with a shocked expression while Rui couldn’t help but laugh at his expense. It was a funny misunderstanding that ca as a result of the fact that nobody knew what had happened in the very epicenter of the battlefield when Rui and Damian were the only ones left.
"Why do you seem disappointed?" Rui asked, chuckling at Kane. "I thought you didn’t hate him anymore."
"I an I don’t, but he is a pain in the ass to be around!" Kane groaned. "And more importantly, I don’t want to let him anywhere near my kid anyti soon!"
"He has a right to see his grandchild, you know?"
"To hell with what he has a right to," Kane growled. "I will fight him to death if he dares try to interfere in how I raise my child."
Rui had to respect the ferocity that Kane showed when it ca to his family. Rui knew that he was terrified of his father, but not even that mattered when it ca to the people he loved.
"You’ll make a good father, Kane." Rui patted his back. "Don’t worry, he’s not coming for a century."
Kane heaved a sigh of relief. "Well, I can definitely do a century or two without him. Still..."
He turned towards Rui with a stunned expression. "The price of the Transcendent Realm is ceasing to exist for a century? What the hell? That’s an absurd price. The Master Realm makes you sleep, and the Sage Realm gives you amnesia, which we deal with by sleeping. And then suddenly the Transcendent Realm causes you to cease to exist? That’s insane."
Rui nodded. "It’s not sothing that soone very attached to the world and to people will want."
"Well, now I definitely don’t want the power," Kane huffed. "It was bad enough before, but this price makes it totally not worth it."
Rui shook his head.
"It’s the power of a god. Or rather, the power of soone who has one foot, or one toe, into godhood. It’s absolutely worth it for . And I will likely need to achieve it if I want to fulfill Project Water."
Kane frowned. "One toe into godhood? What does that even an?"
Rui turned towards him with a wry smile.
"The Transcendent Realm doesn’t exist."
Kane’s eyes widened with shock.
"Although Realms and their categorization are human constructs, they are still correlated with pools of power and potential. And in that regard, Martial Transcendents are simply Martial Sages who have set a single toe in a higher Realm of power," Rui explained. "So they have yet to actually fully break through. They’re incomplete."
Kane shook where he sat at those words as his expression grew aghast. "What the hell? That’s insane. So the actual Realm of power, higher above the Sage Realm, is a whole different beast entirely."
Rui nodded. "Which makes sense as to why no one has yet to fully break through into it."
Kane grew stunned at those words. "...Whoever completes the breakthrough into the Transcendent Realm will be unfathomably powerful."
Rui’s eyes lit up with determination.
Kane heaved a knowing sigh. "Well, good luck with that. I think you have a long way ahead of you, though. If it’s that difficult to break through to the Transcendent Realm, then even you will have a hard ti with it."
Rui nodded. "I’m not even a Transcendent Candidate at the mont, not technically. It’s just that I’m so powerful even without reaching that stage of progress that I can surpass them in power. However..."
He gazed at his hands with motivated eyes.
"I have found the path forward, I think."
He turned to Kane with a smile.
"It’s all thanks to you this ti."
Kane smiled. "Hey, I’m glad to help. I owe you a debt when it cos to helping with progress. You broke through to the Senior Realm and were instruntal to my breakthrough to the Master Realm. So I’m happy that I’m able to help you progress in your Martial Path at all."
BZZZT BZZZT
Kane glanced at his commpad with a knowing expression. "Family calls man. I need to get going. I’d invite you to our ho tonight, but..."
He turned to Rui with a knowing gaze.
"I know you’re just itching to go see a certain heartbroken damsel. You know, the damsel whose heart you broke."
Rui smiled wryly.
"You can co any ti. I’m sure Fae will be delighted to et you after more than a decade," Kane got up, stretching lightly. "Until then..."
Kane grinned at him.
"See you around, man."
Rui got up with a smile.
"...Goodbye, Kane."
His tone was heavy.
aningful.
He didn’t just bid farewell to his best friend for the night.
He bid farewell to a bond of old.
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