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.

took a kick from Deny to the face without moving even an inch." She noted, before peering at him with curiosity. "That

impact of the blow. Meaning most Martial Squires should be

with Martial bodies of a similar configuration due to the fact that all of his performance parameters were better thanks to autophagy supplying him with energy and other sustenance

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

Martial Apprentices, 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

to myself if we Martial Apprentices had been stronger, if I had been a Martial

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 defied logic in a way that

obligation to fulfill it... but I did have a request." She told him, turning towards him, meeting his eyes with a pleading gaze. "Can you please divulge to me the way to become a Martial

at her, before

candidates needed to sign oaths swearing they would not divulge the information that the martial Union provided to them regarding the Squire Realm before they could be briefed

the research data that Rui had provided him. However, that didn't matter, he would still be considered to be violating his oath if divulged

not?" Vemy asked

it would get me in

won't tell anyone

Martial Union and

"I see..."

said, the information is useless to you even if I did tell you," Rui explained. "There's nothing you can do about it, trust me. Rather than wanting to

She frowned. "Meaning only

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