The Martial Unity

"I'm not in the habit of beating around the bush too much, Squire Quarrier." Senior Ceeran eyes narrowed a little as his demeanor grew more solemn. "So I will ask you directly. Is your account of the execution of the mission accurate? Did you truly, with a technique of your own creation, accurately hit the target of the mission from nearly a kilometer away?"

Rui remained silent for a moment, before nodding. "My report is the whole and complete truth. I stand by every word written in it."

The man stared at Rui for a few seconds, trying to assess how sincere Rui was being.

"Your claims are more than just a little surprising. They're frankly shocking. What you claim to accomplish shatters known and established paradigms when it comes to long-range accuracy." He explained to Rui. "If true, they are a cause for celebration. Just discovering a new path to accomplishing high degrees of accuracy is a great contribution to the Martial World. It proves that there are other paths forward for us to pursue in the field of accuracy."

"Assuming, of course, that you're telling the truth." He added. "If you aren't... You will find our implementation of the penalties of deceit in reports and such to be fierce. So, having cleared that, do you still maintain your claims?"

The air grew frostier. The mighty Martial Senior did not even attempt to exert any pressure on Rui. Just the sheer latent sense of danger that Rui felt from him due to his sharp senses alone was greater than even his most powerful Mind Mask!

"Director Ceeran, I am not a fool. Why would I blatantly make up fairy tales and serve them to the Martial Union when I know I would not be able to escape its consequences? I assure you, my report

than my position within the Martial Union. I identify with my identity as a Martial Artist more than anything else." He smiled,

I may ask, what

How does

his reply. "This is a bit abrupt. I thought the Martial Union respected the autonomy and right to privacy of the Martial

measured look. "Are you unwilling to share the

Rui lied. "But I am open to it, I was just a little

the Martial Union does not force its Martial Artists to divulge their techniques and Martial Art." Senior Ceeran. "We obtain their techniques through the carrot,

enough to bully nearly every Martial Artist and extract their secrets from them, this would be highly detrimental in the long run. The most negative consequences would involve a mass migration of Martial Artists from the Kandrian Empire to other sovereign states that were more pliable and less

more than happily accept the influx

in an organization that proclaimed to be for Martial Artists but had no qualms about employing violence against the Martial Artist class to obtain what it wanted. This would reduce the rate at which it obtained

was worth officially breaking this important norm and setting a dangerous precedent that would break the trust that it