The Martial Unity

"Damn it!" A curse echoed through the room.

Had Feron Lowminer known the Hier girl was as slippery as she was, he would have been much more careful than he already was. But he didn't, and here he was.

He had a bad feeling in his gut when he heard that Bella Hier was not at her personal home, and that she had hastily departed once she had learnt of her father's death. It was odd behaviour, what kind of daughter hastily ran away from home without announcing her destination after learning of her father's death?

Why wasn't there a period of mourning? Rather than grief, her behavior indicated fear.

All this strongly suggested that she had already figured out her predicament, and had taken pre-emptive measures to protect herself.

And she had surpassed his expectations, she managed to escape immediate capture and had remained hidden well enough and long enough to hire a Martial Apprentice from the Martial Union, remarkably raising the difficulty of her capture.

Martial Apprentices could not be defeated by ordinary men, not without a huge numeric advantage, and even then, it would require truly remarkable and advantageous circumstances to succeed.

"Only Martial Artists can defeat Martial Artists..." Feron grunted, before glancing at a dark figure at the corner of the room. "Isn't that right, Azazel?"

The shadowy figure nodded mildly, not saying a word.

"Remain on standby, if and when the girl slips up, I expect you to finish the job." Feron coldly stated. "Kill her and the pesky Martial Apprentice."

* * *

slipping and out. Protecting his identity had become an even greater deal now that he knew he was dealing with powerful third parties with whom he had a strong conflict of interest. He was not going to take any chances, a single blunder may very well come back to bite him in

he heard some noises come from the

he was about to open the

realized, as

know her whatsoever, he was here

on anything, especially a teenager. Let alone on something as

deciding to avoid it. He made a big fuss as he was about to open the door, making a lot of noise with something or the other, giving her enough of a forewarning that he

if he knew nothing. She nodded with a steeled expression; an expression Rui

she's pulled herself

the planning to her, if her emotional state was too unreliable, he might decide to take matters into his

have to change

next district is district fourteen, I

suppliers, transporters and consumers. The two of us won't stand out in anyway, and as long as we keep our heads low, the Lowminers should find it almost

in thought. "You mentioned your connection to the director of a small-scale goods transportation company.

the

him?" Rui

father and him went way back having known each other for

thought he was trustworthy,