The Martial Unity

1961 Departure

The two quickly packed up all their essential needs, restocking their supply of high-quality food pills from the Elder Tree, taking everything they needed for a long journey to the Mellow.

His stoic eyes slowly returned to the Elder Tree. "Once again, thank you for saving our lives."

What should have been a pleasant, warm expression of gratitude turned into what was almost an intense face-off.

"Thank you for telling us where the Divine Doctor went," Rui continued, devoid of warmth. "Thank you for bequeathing a millennium's worth of knowledge and experience with the biosphere of the Beast Domain."

…Thank you for knowledge from another world. The Elder Tree returned his gratitude. I look forward to you keeping your word in regard to aid from the Kandrian Empire.

"I will." Rui nodded slowly. "You know that."

I do. Be sure to plant a grove of connector tree species in the Kandrian Empire.

Rui nodded. "Well then. It's been…enlightening."

"Bye-bye!" Kane waved at the enormous tree. Good luck finding the Divine Doctor, and goodbye.

Kane's eyes widened as the Elder Tree transmitted a private message to him just before they were teleported out of the Garden of Salvation.

Look after him, Kane. He needs you. He needs you more than you realize.

WHOOSH!

world around them magically shifted in a

of the Garden of Salvation. Rui narrowed his eyes sharply as his expression grew cold.

the Elder Tree's message close

didn't understand what he could do to fix his friend. Or

knew that he could

months left," Rui remarked with a flat tone. "We need to get from the North of the Beast Domain to

"I mean, just getting from the West to the North took three months.

I sucked as a navigator. With our tremendous speed,

navigation

"Yes."

bother elaborating. However, it

a fundamentally deep understanding of how to navigate the Beast Domain. The Elder Tree had given him a map of the Beast Domain that was exponentially

dangerous. Rui was hardly surprised that adventurers

Tree's knowledge and his grandmother's prophecies, two extraordinary trump cards to not feel like he would die in the Beast Domain at any given moment, and even then, they would have, if not for the

the journey was a lot safer than Kane had expected. They didn't run into countless ambushes or attacks and were rarely caught off-guard. For the first time since entering the Beast Domain, the two of them truly lived the philosophy 'the only way to win a fight is to

paths that efficiently avoided danger in the Beast Domain. They traveled at a far greater pace than Kane had ever imagined possible. Rui didn't talk much during the journey.

to crack even a smile at anything not related to his Martial Art or his Martial Path. Not for lack of trying, Kane had tried his damndest to make

he had undergone. Unsurprisingly, Rui

BAM BAM BAM!

SPLAT!

exploded upon contact with Rui's attacks,