The Martial Unity

"That is also true." The colonel nodded. "There is a great debate within our faction regarding the nature of the union, after all, we need a clear and precise objective. It would be foolish of us to chase after the ambiguous principle 'united we stand, divided we fall'. There are a lot of issues that need to be resolved and ironed out that we still aren't as united as we wished we were." He sighed. "Frankly, a lot of the more technical issues are beyond my understanding and area of expertise, I am a Martial Artist and a military man, after all. But the principle alone is strong enough that we are able to come under one banner, a banner I am willing to lend my power and influence to."

Rui was clearly unconvinced. There was an argument to be made that the checks and balances that the Martial Union and the Royal Family placed on each other kept the nation stable. Neither side could be domineering as it would inevitably clash against the interests of the other, which meant that the former would not be allowed to go too far before the latter began exercising its power to contain the former.

For instance, the Royal Emperor could not be as exploitative of Martial Artists as perhaps a ruler would like to have been due to the Martial Union's powerful presence. Going too far against the Martial Union was not good, for if it decided to employ its vast Martial might, resources, and intelligence, the Kandrian government would not be able to remain stable. It could not afford to push the Martial Union too far lest the latter decide enough was enough and threaten civil war.

Furthermore, the Martial Union could not be as overbearing in its influence over society as it may have liked to be due to the Kandrian Empire curbing its influence. It still had to abide by the laws of the nation that it wasn't specifically exempt from in the Kandrian Martial Covenant.

unchecked power poured into the

and authority within the Martial Union yet, which is why you may find the principle and objective to

raised an eyebrow in doubt. "I don't think the difference would be that tremendous. The net resources haven't increased, after

government and Martial Union waste a tremendous amount of capital of various sorts due to each other. Although it may appear that the impasse between the Kandrian government and the Martial Union isn't, it truly is taxing on

so?" Rui's

war provoked by their enemy." The colonel explained. "If such an outcome occurs, the most desirable wish in this scenario would be to know that it is coming. To know when it is coming, to know how it is coming. Both sides employ a large number of funds and resources in intelligence and information gathering. The Martial Union

one that he approved of, it was important to be able to detect the earliest signs of

explained. "It keeps track of the most powerful Martial assets of the Martial Union; its Martial Sages and Martial Masters as much as possible. There are entire departments within the Kandrian Intelligence Agency that are solely dedicated to keeping track of a single Martial Artist. If you become powerful enough, you can assume you'll have your own department as well. It also keeps track of the rate of acceptance of commissions of the Martial Union, the number of Martial Artists outside

between the Martial Union and the Kandrian Empire drained their capital a lot. Espionage, tapping, surveillance, tracking, infiltration, and other covert intelligence-gathering missions were no doubt quite