The Martial Unity

"Because of practical reasons." Officer Zherkes told him. "As you know, the tree attacks Martial Artists at or above the Squire Realm."

"But surely those attacks mean nothing to Martial Squires." He insisted. "I know they don't. I was able to avoid them when alert. Those attacks are nothing to a Martial Squire."

"They may be nothing to a Martial Squire, but they're everything to the tree itself." Officer Zherkes replied. "Martial Squires would be able to crush the attacks that the tree launches, but the reactive defense mechanism of trees that undergo banyanification, the broad colloquial term of the expansive growth process, is too self-destructive. Although Martial Squires would come out unharmed, the tree itself would not. The fruits would all be crushed and destroyed rendering them extremely difficult to process into potions, if not impossible. The fruits are just as valuable as the actual ore itself, if not more due to their pure constitution. Therefore, generally, nations do not dispatch Martial Artists at or above the level of power that would result in the triggering of the reactive defense mechanism."

"'Generally'?" Rui asked, catching the implication of the word. "This has happened enough times before for there to be a trend?"

"Indeed." Officer Zherkes nodded. "There is an unspoken, and sometimes even spoken and written agreement between relevant human nations to restrict the conflict to the necessary Realms, so that the conflict would not result in a waste of resources. Nations would rather get their hands on such processed bio-resources that are much easier to employ in technological solutions, rather than come back home empty-handed."

"I see..." Rui murmured. "So in this case..."

"That's right." Officer Zherkes replied immediately. "In this case, it is quite likely that Martial Apprentices like yourself will engage in the dungeon wars."

"'Dungeon Wars'?" Rui frowned.

"That's what they're referred to colloquially." Officer Zherkes chuckled. "Because there is a three-dimensional environment including the underground cave network, the surface and the branch networks that are more or less closed off, the environment of the banyanified forest are called dungeons."

"This has happened

address the emergence of a banyanified forest. One of those protocols is urgently summoning the Martial Artist or individual in question who discovered the banyanified tree and extracting a report from them." Officer Zherkes explained. "That is why you and I are both here. Now then, time is of the essence. Please provide a detailed report of your mission. Do not dismiss any piece of information as insignificant

Rui nodded. "Understood."

provided him. Because of the detail that he needed to go into. It had taken him quite a while to write

Rui huffed after he finally finished.

"Good job Apprentice Quarrier. Your completion of the mission was nearly flawless and you have accelerated a process that would have otherwise taken

nodded. "How would the other nations

snorted. "Nations have various information networks that would allow them to learn of it given enough time. Furthermore, the seismic radiation projected by the tree when it attacked you is not

verify that he had the right idea on the issue. "So, if only Martial Apprentices will be involved in the conflict to monopolize the banyanified tree, can I

certainly take some effort into commissioning its Martial Artists into participating..." Officer Zherkes nodded. "As for

Rui. "Though it is almost assured

Rui raised an eye. "Why is

a skillset highly useful in dungeons. That alone is more than enough.

after he bid officer Zherkes goodbye, as he walked

over

was getting a little bored, he gets presented with a brilliant opportunity to participate in a conflict much bigger