The Martial Unity

"It has been a pleasure watching you grow into a fantastic Martial Artist, Your Highness."

A profoundly powerful voice escaped Sage Sayfeel.

It reverberated in his heart.

Rui stared at the Martial Sage with unadulterated shock. "So all this time…you were a hidden Martial Sage."

Rui felt weak in his legs at the weight of this new revelation.

He recalled the incident quite clearly and deeply in his mind. He had yet to become a Martial Artist; he hadn't even had a real fight with his life on the line at that point. That had been his first conflict.

The very memory of it embarrassed him.

The man who had saved him was a Martial Squire or was supposed to be. He had taught Rui that neither fear nor failure disqualified him from being a warrior. It was what he did after that decided whether he was a warrior or not.

This man had done much to set Rui down his Martial Path; if it weren't for him, let alone a Martial Artist, Rui would have died long ago.

"…Thank you," Rui whispered, bowing his head deeply. "Thank you."

"I was simply doing my duty, Prince Rui," The man smiled before gazing at the Emperor reverently. "It was His Majesty truly saved your life."

Rui turned back to his father with gratitude in his eyes, earning a nonchalant dismissive wave from him before turning back to Sage Sayfeel.

The bewilderment in his eyes had yet to dim.

wasn't just the fact that this man was

that this wasn't any of the known fourteen Martial Sages, the

was a new Martial

he had

frightening implications of this revelation

that he had been bombarded with that he no longer had

He was utterly drained.

could pull a Martial Transcendent out of his ass, and he doubted

The fifteenth Martial Sage of Kandria. Everybody who knows of his existence is standing in this

Sage Sayfeel, stunned speechless. "The fifteenth Martial Sage of

trump card that could help me overcome the resistance of my allied siblings who sought to keep me from reaching the throne," Emperor Rael calmly informed

realized he

as his

he might have had more in common with the Emperor than he had

weight

was an unspoken gesture of trust from the

just been entrusted with a secret

with askance. "You said you protected me until

growth. A sheltered Martial Artist is a weak Martial Artist; you saw that with Prince

Rui nodded.

any resentment or hostility towards the Emperor for not protecting him when he became a Martial Artist. Prince Raijun was actually the perfect example of what a

of course," The Emperor remarked. "Yet you managed to overcome every tribulation that you faced thus far. I've even taken the personal liberty of dubbing some of your successes with a

his eyebrow in confusion. "What is that supposed to

Emperor's face. "Voidbringer. Voider. Voidreaper…Did you think it's a coincidence that these nicknames that belong to you all suspiciously share the theme of 'void' even though they were supposed to

at Rael with a stunned