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.

the face without moving even an inch." She noted, before peering at him with curiosity.

Rui 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 be able to replicate the feat asides from perhaps the most

due to the fact that all of his performance parameters were better thanks to autophagy supplying him with energy and other sustenance that one could get only

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

of her for it. He hadn't been much different when he was a Martial Apprentices, after all. The secret to the Squire Realm was something that he had tried to pry out

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 lost. We would not have

there was a limit to what they could do. In fact, prior to the age of Martial Art, Martial Apprentices were controlled via force

you have no 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 Squire? I'll do

stared at her, before sighing. "I

would not divulge the information that the martial Union provided to them regarding the

Union briefed him about it thanks to Julian explaining 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 the

asked with a dejected

get

won't tell anyone

trust you. Even if your intentions 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

"I see..."

you can do about it, trust me. Rather

frowned. "Meaning only some Martial Apprentices

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