The Martial Unity

The man accepted Rui's hand, pulling himself up before lowering his head to Rui.

"I'm sorry... I did think you would be strong, but to be this strong was beyond my expectations." He sighed. The others quickly followed through issuing quick apologies.

"It's alright, as long as you understand." Rui nodded before walking away towards the food gathering. He didn't want to interact with anybody beyond what was necessary. He simply procured a meal while ignoring the attention that he was still receiving.

The mood had gotten better because the spat had ended amicably and also because of the confidence boost they had received thanks to him.

"Mind if I sit here?"

Rui glanced at the woman who had approached him, recognizing her. She was one of the few Martial Artists who had not attacked him back then.

"Feel free." Rui shrugged.

She smiled, taking a seat beside him, holding a plate of meat, rice, and some greens. "I appreciate you holding back against those hot-headed fools earlier. It might have gotten bad if things had escalated."

"It's nothing at all." Rui dismissed.

"I'm Vemy, by the way." She told him. "What's your name?"

"Falken." He replied straightforwardly, using his official alias.

Deny to the face without moving even an inch." She noted, before peering at

replied. He hadn't even used Inner Divergence to dispel the impact, his inherent toughness was enough to withstand the impact of the blow. Meaning most Martial Squires should

all of his performance parameters were better thanks to autophagy supplying him with energy and other sustenance that one could get only from multiple high-grade

makes me want to become a Martial Squire even more." She laughed. "It's the reason why I wanted

after all. The secret to the Squire Realm was something that he had tried to pry out of Martial Squires himself, thinking back fondly to all the times he had spoken to Squire Dylon

were at our prime before the Britannian Army had invaded." She sighed. "I keep thinking to myself if we Martial Apprentices had been stronger, if I had been a Martial Squire, we would not have

understand her perspective. Martial Apprentices were physically human, there was a limit to what they could do. In fact, prior to the age of Martial Art, Martial Apprentices were controlled via force or coercion because they alone weren't enough to turn the tide. That changed when the first Martial Squire was born. Martial Squires truly

his eyes

her, before

the martial Union provided to them

about the secret of the Squire Realm before the Martial Union briefed him about it thanks to Julian explaining the research data that Rui had provided him. However,

Vemy asked with

it would get me in

tell

are genuine, this is an extremely sensitive and important matter to the Martial Union and they aren't half-assed about their efforts to keep the information you're asking for a secret. I

"I see..."

tell you," Rui explained. "There's nothing you can do about it, trust me. Rather than wanting to know exactly how Martial Apprentices break through to

"Meaning only some Martial Apprentices

('Well, no shit.') "Correct."