The Martial Unity

"And they'll contact me through my accounter, I presume?" Rui wondered.

"They can." The staff member nodded, "But they can also choose to communicate with you through other ways, such as arranging a personal meeting with you. It all depends on the client. It is recommended to get two separate accounters for your two separate profiles on the Martial Union database. On the other hand, you may also take the initiative to communicate with them as the client has chosen to divulge a means of contact through their comms. You will receive a verification code that can be used to verify your identity."

"I see..." Rui muttered. "Thank you."

He walked away as he considered the matter. The client, Fauche Virgil, had chosen to approve the Martial Artist who applied to accept the mission, in spite of the extra fee. That alone told Rui much.

('It seems like he has conditions for the Martial Artist who will be attempting to complete the mission.') Rui thought to himself. ('Conditions that the profiles and the information about the Martial Artist offered by the Martial Union aren't enough for him to know whether the Martial Artist actually fulfills those conditions.')

Rui was pretty certain that the public profiles offered a general understanding of the Martial Artist's capabilities without getting too specific. There were probably plenty of clients who wanted to get a much more precise understanding of the commissioned Martial Artist's capabilities personally.

('Or he could simply be the paranoid type in general.') Rui shrugged.

Rui wasn't sure which one it was, but there was definitely a high chance that it was one of the two.

Just as he walked out of the branch office, his accounter beeped.

[This is Fauche Viril. Be there at a restaurant called Grill Feast in the town of Vermeen within the next three hours.]

Rui mused as he closed

town that Fauche was talking about, albeit not the restaurant. Not that was a particularly problematic roadblock. The town was within the

as he donned his mask. All he needed to do was spot the path that led from Hajin to the town and follow

minutes to reach his destination. He found himself standing before the designated restaurant after having asked

town of Hajin was, it was a much more down-to-earth residential area of sorts. Rui found it strange that the man would choose this town instead of the town

commission. The man was rather young for someone who occupied the position of vice president in a company that was large enough to have a board of directors. He had a certain degree of gravitas about him, well-groomed, and smoked a cigar, which was the tell-tale sign that a person was

two Martial Apprentices,

dialect. "I am Squire Falken, the Martial Artist who applied

to get an impression of him. Rui pulled a

Well, here I am."

of smoke before leaning forward to Rui, opening his mouth to utter a single

memorized it

uttering more than a word. "So,

across Rui once more. "I hear you've applied

"Indeed," Rui replied.

"Why?"

the question for a moment, he could just give some generic reply to that question, but he didn't particularly

test my capability, having grown stronger recently," Rui replied, refusing

"Stronger how?"

none of your business, I'm