The Martial Unity

Unlike their last journey, the journey to the floating Ajanta Island was quite substantial. They spent more than a week traveling west. They were constantly reminded how large the continent was.

Despite their remarkable speed, they needed many days of traveling to reach their location.

Rui knew that there were means of transportation that allowed nations to match the speed of Martial Artists, however, he also knew that these means of transportation weren't the norm. The norm was normal standard carriages pulled by relatively normal creatures or engines fueled by some esoteric substance.

The upper class of human civilization was able to engage in travel across vast expanses thanks to these solutions and means.

However, even they were limited, ultimately. This was very different from his previous life in which a flight or two could take you around the world.

Rui preferred the state of the Panama Continent over the state of the Earth. The sense of adventure and discovery had long but gone in the twenty-first century of his previous life.

Back on Earth, not only had all land been discovered, but it had been scrupulously mapped down to every street, and that map was accessible to everyone who could access the internet. Even if one tried their best, it was difficult to feel a sense of adventure in such circumstances.

However, the same wasn't true for the Panama Continent. An extremely minute proportion of elite entities and forces possess a map of the entirety of the Panama Continent. Rui knew that the Kandrian Empire was certainly one. It probably meant that the other three powerhouses also possessed that information.

The same could be said for the Shionel Confederation.

('Actually, I suppose it only applies to Guildmaster Bradt, not the Shionel Confederation as a whole,') Rui mused.

Regardless, the fact that so few possessed a map of the entire continent showed how scarce that information was, and it also meant that a sense of adventure was still very much present in this wide and vast world.

Rui was quite happy to be able to experience it. The two of them had come across all kinds of places in their travels, although they probably hadn't discovered anything that hadn't been long since discovered and known by humans, still, it was quite thrilling nonetheless.

Many days later, they had finally been able to spot the floating island.

"Is that…?" Kane squinted as he peered off into the horizon.

"Seems like it," Rui nodded. "Because the island is at such a height above sea level, it can be seen far before the Kaddar Region would be."

It was still just a small spec in the distance, yet it was clearly hovering above the horizon. It was a fascinating sight to see despite the fact that they hadn't gotten there.

"How is it doing that…?" Kane murmured, staring at it with interest as it got bigger.

"Apparently the core of the island is made up of some really strange esoteric substances weirdly," Rui was completely absorbed into it.

Unlike everybody else, he could sense the warps in space that constituted gravity. He was curious as to what his Riemannian Echo would sense from the island.

After that, it was merely a matter of time before they reached the Kaddar Region.

The Kaddar Region was a region that was densely packed with human civilization. Many nations occupied this little piece of the continent, and while they undoubtedly were in conflict with each other, if there was one issue that they were all united on, it was the matter of the floating Ajanta Island.

That island had to go, there was no doubt about that in any of their minds. However, it wasn't as though they could just deploy their Martial Squires and Seniors, as well as their long-range artillery weapons, and have them bombard the island with attacks, that was suicidal, the island would break and fall, with so much debris that it would be impossible to contain them.

The sheer impact would be devastating for the Kaddar Region.

They needed to take full control of the island, gently begin mining it delicately and extract the esoteric substance that made it float, before slowly letting the landmass down a good distance away from the Kaddar Region in an uninhabited region.

However, the damned Floating Sect refused to allow the nations of the Kaddar Region to do any of that. They were powerful enough to freeze any attempts to do so, which meant that the Kaddar Region needed to defeat the Floating Sect in order to do so.

However, it appeared that the Floating Sect's Martial prowess was great enough to be able to sustain their existence thus far.

('That's not the only reason,') Rui figured.

Another reason was that the Floating Sect had a huge strategic advantage. The fact that they were occupying the floating Ajanta Island meant that they were fighting down, while the nations of the Kaddar Region were fighting up.

Normally, they would simply be making a big target of themselves, but the Kaddar Region did not dare mindlessly launch attacks in the general region of the island, in fear of causing a destabilization that causes the island to break.

On the other hand, the Floating Sect had no problem launching attacks unrestrictively at the nations of the Kaddar Region.

These advantages allowed the Floating Sect to sustain itself in addition to the inherent Martial power of the sect.

Rui's thoughts were interrupted as they finally neared the Kaddar Region.

"Alright stop," Rui froze in his tracks, decelerating quickly.

"What is it?" Kane frowned. "It's too early to eat."

"Not because of that," Rui explained. "But we ought not to enter the Kaddar Region."

"Why not?"

"Because we're going to be going to the Floating Sec," Rui explained. "Do you really think the nations of the Kaddar Region will peacefully let us go to our destination and watch while their enemies gain reinforcements?"

Kane realized what Rui was conveying. "That's sharp of you to realize. It would have been a mess if we tried going to the Floating Sect after entering the Kaddar Region.