The Martial Unity

Even as a Martial Apprentice, he was blindingly fast to normal humans, as a Martial Squire, normal humans were so slow in his eyes that they were no different from statues. It was as though he gained the ability to slow down and freeze time. Knocking him out without anyone noticing was an extremely simple and easy task.

The crowd didn't even suspect a thing.

"He drank himself out."

"The young master is a wretched drunkard who abuses his power."

"Well, at least he didn't hurt anybody this time."

Those words affirmed Rui's deductions about the man. He was clearly a local and a resident of the area, most certainly not a newcomer Martial Apprentice associated with the Lowminers. It seemed even his drinking and harassment weren't uncommon.

It was an odd sight to Rui. Yet it showed him how much better the Kandrian Empire was. Martial Artists weren't allowed to run around hurting people with impunity. While it was true that the sentencing penalties for violence were light, this wasn't because of class privilege, but it was because Martial Artists were a crucial part of the state and were too important and valuable to be wasted rotting behind bars for a decade.

Of course, this didn't mean they got away scot-free. They usually signed an agreement with the Martial Union or the Kandrian government where they worked free of cost for certain degrees of limited freedom, depending on how severe their crime was.

This was the way that the Kandrian government and the Martial Union punished Martial Artists that crossed the line while also exploiting them for free Martial labor. It was a ruthless but clever system that squeezed Martial Artists of their value. Not only were no resources wasted in imprisoning Martial Artists in special prisons meant to withstand even the massively superhuman power that Martial Artists were capable of exerting, but positive utility was obtained from such an arrangement.

complain was that the deal was still much better than

For half a second, Rui considered killing the Martial Apprentice, yet quickly reigned in that thought. It drew too much attention, especially as the young Martial Artist appeared to be the son of someone

walked away from the scene inconspicuously, before resuming

large population of Martial Apprentices for him to have to work with. Of course, this was

into the Apprentice Realm was one in a thousand, roughly speaking. Only 0.001% of the population of a country was a Martial

he ran

the chances were much more optimistic. He maintained a decently low profile, did not employ his power recklessly, and did not draw attention unnecessarily through any other

a good shot,') Rui thought optimistically. He memorized the man's seismic signature and began tailing him from a distance. Thankfully, he could tail him even with a

surprise, he was heading away from the commercial areas of the town, heading closer up north. To Rui's dismay, this reduced the probability

he was

man entered a residential area and eventually walked into a house. He was greeted by a woman carrying a child. Rui sighed as they exchanged embraces, walking back down to the south of the town. The man was clearly a local, and not someone who had migrated to the

into a lot of duds, far more

these Martial Apprentices were earnestly shopping, others were commissioned to act as a bodyguard by

detected one more Martial

got a glimpse of

that looked nearly identical to the one that had

bastard...') Rui's