He planned to see how viable grounding the kinetic energy that he absorbed from his opponent’s attack to get rid of it, the same way one did electricity, was. However, his initial failure wasn’t an indication that the option was not viable. He just messed up the execution of the plan.
“Again.”
Once again, she threw a solid jab at him. This time, he managed to absorb and channel more of it downwards than before.
SKRRRRR…
He skidded heavily, and deeply into the ground. By the time he stopped, he was a hundred meters away and waist-deep into the ground.
“That was better.” Rui’s eyes glinted with interest. “However, there might a problem I hadn’t foreseen.”
When he tried to direct his kinetic energy downwards, he was essentially trying to make himself move downwards instead of flying away like he normally did. He hoped that by directing the inherited momentum and kinetic energy down, he could dispel it into the land without any issue.
However, he now realizes that there were likely issues with that plan as well. When he directed his inherited momentum and kinetic energy downwards, it meant that his body was moving fast down, which meant that he was essentially crashing into the ground.
(‘That’s why my body dug in so deeply.’) Rui frowned as he looked at how below the surface he had dug into as he skidded across the ground.
Furthermore, this was just with partial success, if he did succeed in diverting all of his momentum down, how deep would he go?
(‘Shit.’) Rui felt a pang of anxiety. (‘This issue isn’t light, it might make the project unviable if I don’t find a solution.’)
He spent most of the rest of the session trying to divert one hundred percent of the inherited energy downwards, yet when he did succeed, he was quite displeased.
“Are you okay?” Squire Casen asked as she gazed down the deep hole that Rui had created and pushed himself down.
The hole extended down more than a hundred meters. Yet Rui easily sky-walked out of it without any issue.
“Just fine.” Rui sighed. “Let’s take a break.”
She nodded. “What exactly is it that you’re trying to achieve with all of this?”
This was the first time she had asked so straightforwardly. They had grown more familiar with each other over five months. She felt comfortable asking a direct question.
“I’m trying to efficiently pass on my momentum to my surroundings without getting hurt.” He turned towards the deep hole he made. “And without that happening.”
She threw a confused look at him.
“It’s like when you strike, say, a rock,” Rui explained. “Your fist inevitably digs in, right?”
She nodded.
“That’s what’s happening here, I’m digging into the ground because I’m effectively striking it with my body,” Rui explained, before sighing.
“So you’re looking for a way to strike the ground without digging into it, while still passing the energy on to the ground?” She wondered. “If there’s no difference between you striking the ground with a body or a fist, then doesn’t that make it very similar to a striking technique?”
“Sort of.” Rui shrugged half-heartedly. “I want to strike without causing surface damage like digging in, it’s a shame that it seems impossi-‘)
Rui suddenly froze as his eyes widened.
Striking without causing surface-level damage?
Didn’t he have a technique just like that?
(‘What if I use Reverberating Lance to dispel all the energy to the ground?’) Rui grew excited. (‘This way I can permeate the energy deeper into the ground without causing myself to dig into it!’)
Reverberating Lance used vibration to permeate the damage of the impact of a collision deeper into the target, past the surface. This principle was the same principle that was used in modern medicine back on Earth to deal with kidney stones.
His current issue was that he was causing too much damage to the ground, the surface of the land when he tried to impact against it with his body to pass on energy.
What if instead of straightforwardly directing his inherited kinetic energy to the ground with an impact, he used the Reverberating Lance technique to permeate the impact beyond the surface? If the energy was permeated deeper into the land through vibrations rather than through the surface, then Rui could theoretically avoid digging deeper into the ground!
Just like how the Reverberating Lance allowed Rui to hurt his opponent on the inside without necessarily damaging the outside, he could pass on the inherited kinetic energy of Project Bounce deeper into the land without necessarily digging through the surface as he did before!
He grew giddy with excitement as he stood up abruptly, startling Squire Casen, who looked at him strangely.
“Alright, break’s over, we need to get back to practice right now.”
It had only been fifteen seconds since the break began, yet she obliged, she was being paid, after all. She was also curious about what Rui wanted to try since it was quite evident that he had just gotten a new idea.𝑜𝓋𝐞xt.𝑐𝑶𝔪
“Alright, same as before, no changes, okay?”
She nodded, before throwing an identical straight right jab. Rui intercepted, carefully absorbing the energy of the attack as it automatically converted into harmless kinetic energy, he strained himself as he pushed down, crouching and bracing for the impact.
RUMBLE
The ground shook as Rui immediately applied Reverberating Lance downwards to its absolute maximum. The shaking continued for a moment, before subsiding.
“…This is great!” Rui exclaimed.
He had only gone down knee-deep, standing in the same spot. When he did the same thing prior, he had gone a hundred meters deep. The difference made by the Reverberating Lance was tremendous, getting rid of almost all of the piercing and digging through the ground. However, considering that this was his very first attempt at the technique, it was very promising!
“This is the solution!” Rui exclaimed. “This has to be it.”
He intended to grind it out until Project Bounce was effectively a complete success!