The Martial Unity

The Virodhabhasa Faith was an absolute no-no for obvious reasons. He would be more than just a fool if he dared to go anywhere near the religion's bases. The religion was spread quite far, but it was quite benign in most places, limited to worshippers who had no real power in the Faith or the Theocracy.

He definitely needed to steer very clear of any of the church towns.

Guildmaster Bradt undoubtedly had a lot of intelligence on Chairman Deacon, but the latter most likely paid just as much, if not even more attention to him than the Martial Union since they were in the Shionel Confederation where Chairman Deacon's primary power base was.

All three options were untenable for now.

He would need to find another source of intelligence, and then purchase that intelligence from them. This was not going to be easy as any strategic intelligence on Chairman Deacon was undoubtedly valuable, and would not be handed out for free.

Still, this was not nearly as much of a problem as it was before.

'After all, I am a Martial Senior. Heh.' Rui smiled, before feeling embarrassed.

He couldn't help it.

It was almost too surreal.

'But the services of a Martial Senior are not trivial.' Rui mused as his expression straightened. 'It makes my bargaining capital greater.'

Senior-level commissions were quite expensive, orders of magnitude above what he got as a Martial Squire. He still remembered that even the titanic revenue he earned from the Shionel Dungeon through Esosale Supplies bought him merely ten years of Senior-level protection when that same sum was enough for a millennium of Squire-level protection.

Of course, an organization that had gathered the strategic intelligence on Chairman Deacon that Rui was looking for was certainly not a weak organization that he could easily charm with his status as a Martial Senior.

'Finding the right source and negotiating the right transaction is not something that can be done quickly or easily. So I should keep it as a general agenda in mind for when I leave the Floating Sect.' Rui mused.

He had developed an affection for this little sect perched atop a floating island, but it had served its purpose. It could not make him grow stronger as a Martial Senior, he was sure about that.

Of course, there were things that needed to be settled before he left the island. He needed an initial destination to travel to, to begin making progress on a long-term plan to solve his problem. He could definitely count on the Floating Sect to at least point him in the right direction to help.

'I need to speak to Xanarn about...our future.'

Rui sighed. He felt awkward with those last two words.

Neither of them had committed to each other romantically, though he was attracted to her and enjoyed her company. She had promised to dedicate her life to him to repay her debt.

But that was not the kind of relationship he wanted. Although a Martial Senior like Xanarn would certainly be a useful asset, he didn't like thinking about her in that light.

'Kane...I would love to keep traveling with him with him but...' He sighed.

They were too far apart now. As a Martial Senior, Rui would be making endeavors that would make use of his power as a Martial Senior or challenge him as a Martial Senior.

He would be leading the life of a Martial Senior, and that was not a life that a Martial Squire could be a part of. If he ever went to a training region similar to the Umiana Trench or the Thundering Valley, but for Martial Seniors, the region would be so perilous that Kane wouldn't even be able to enter.

If he ever went on Senior-level operations, Kane would have to be left behind.

Not only would he be nothing more than a burden to a Martial Senior, but he himself would not be able to accomplish anything productive unless they happened to be in a place that offered Squire-level training and growth resources.

These matters were clear to Rui, but he didn't know if he had the heart to tell Kane the truth when he would meet him again. He might just cave and take Kane along if Kane expressed a lot of enthusiasm for coming along with him.

In addition to Kane and Xanarn, he needed to speak to Ieyasu. The man knew Rui's identity, that was something that they needed to speak about.

If Ieyasu expressed even the slightest hint of revealing his identity or using it against Rui in any way then...

'I'll kill him. I have no choice.' Rui narrowed his eyes.

This was a different bloodlust from the one he had in their fight. One was for the sake of power, the other was to protect his core interests and his family from a threat that had malicious intent. There was going to be no duel in this case. Rui had no qualms about killing him with a powerful poison if those were the measures he needed to take.

"Ah, you're finally awake, Senior Falken." A nurse greeted him, entering his medical room before bowing deeply. "How do you feel?"

"I had a splitting headache but... now it's gone." Rui murmured, noticing that he felt clear-headed quite rapidly.

"That's expected. You did sleep for three days, after all, the brain needs a brief moment to acclimatize to being awake again." She replied as if it was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Three days?!" Rui frowned. "I know I wasn't injured that badly."

"Do not fret, sir," She replied with a smile. "It is an expected outcome in the medicine industry after the breakthrough to the Senior Realm. It is said that the body needs an additional amount of time to acclimatize to the power of the Senior Realm."

"... 'It is said...'?" Rui asked.

"Well, the power of the Senior Realm is quite confidential, and the medical industry is not entirely exempt. I do not personally know the cause, but we have made sure to follow the rigorous protocols for such cases to the T." She replied.

"I see..." It appeared that the forces that ruled the Martial World made sure to maintain tight grip on the secrets of Martial Art.