The Martial Unity

The progress Rui made was unsteady, but it was definitely there. He made remarkably quick progress at certain stages while stalling for longer than he would have liked at other stages.

However, he definitely made progress, he was sure that.

While he was mastering his technique, he came up with his modus operandi for how he was going to take down his target. The most important part of the execution of the assassinations was ensuring that no one ever caught on to the cause of death.

The medical technology of Gaia was quite impressive, however, that was largely due to the fact that they had magical substances that could accomplish magical feats with relatively little ingenuity and rigorous science from the people who used them.

Based on everything he had seen, he was not only certain that they did not possess the ability to determine the cause and the time of death but also that there were no magical substances that could help them out this time.

Esoteric substances could not analyze and process information and spit out the answer, as magical as they were. Neither could the medical community of humanity.

Thus as long as he took them out at discreet moments, they would essentially never find out how he died. As long as Rui did not go overboard and turn the brain to mush, he just needed to cause enough damage inside it, which was enough to do the trick.

The worst-case scenario was that they might detect that the cause of death had something to do with the brain. However, that still wouldn't give them insight into what actually killed them.

He refined his modus operandi as he came close to perfecting Project Death's Sympathy over the span of several months. Because of how little the tolerable margin of error was, he could not allow for any mistakes or imperfections.

It required him to spend extra time refining every motion until he had truly achieved an initial level of mastery over it.

By then, half a year had already passed.

THWOOM THWOOM THWOOM

Rui fired three Mighty Roar Flash Blasts in rapid succession. They flew across the fly at extraordinary speeds, crossing more than a dozen kilometers in a split second as they merged into a single multi-layered attack.

BAM!

It struck a large spherical target.

Yet the target didn't crack despite being hit with a Squire-level attack, it simply shuddered, vibrating at incredible speeds, blurring in the eyes of anybody who beheld it.

Rui activated his Martial Heart as he crossed the distance in a single step, arriving at the target, before splitting the sphere open with a single swing of his arm, before smiling. At the center of the sphere was a crumbled rock, one that should have been perfectly intact.

"Nice." Rui grinned as he picked up the sphere, inspecting the multiple layers to it. This was a simple construct that he had requested from the Beggar's Sect to practice his technique.

The sphere's layers were perfectly intact and fine, just as they were supposed to be.

He glanced at the fifty other cracked spheres that lay in a neat line to the side, nodding.

"I think I'm done."

He heaved a sigh before leaving the barren region and heading towards the Derschek Region once more.

He had left the Derschek Region once his training began intensifying. He did not want any chance of being spied on so he actually went quite a way, even using the Martial Heart discreetly to throw any potential trackers off his tail.

However, it was time to return and get on with his job. He was actually looking forward to wiping out all of the assassins in the Shadow Isles.

The issue was that it was possible could get into trouble with the Panamic Martial Federation if he wiped out Martial Squires or Martial Apprentices. Although Senior Sarak did say that it wasn't prohibited, it was frowned upon.

Rui did not want to get into trouble with the organization.

'Oh well, I could just get them to leave and never come back.' Rui shrugged. 'Or the Beggar's Sect will intervene with the lower Realm Martial Artists.'

Regardless, he didn't care to bully Martial Squires or Apprentices. Not only was it meaningless to him as experience, but it wouldn't even count as very heavy as a commission payment.

Besides, he did agree with the principle. He was glad that he never had to fight a Martial Senior as a Martial Squire beyond a single strike.

It wasn't long before he found himself back in the Libraries of Gehu, scouring through random books in the educational section that was closest to the corridor leading to the professor's office.

[The Case of the Missing Stars]

[The Gaia Theory]

[The Diablo Trench]

"Sir." A voice drew Rui's attention as he randomly scanned through the various books. "The professor is ready to speak with you."

Rui nodded, following her to the familiar office among many. "Professor."

"Ah, come in." The man remarked, not taking his eyes off his work.

It was only after the doors shut and Rui felt the oppressive subjugation of his senses that the two of them got to business.

"What will it be this time? Another hundred sets of those multi-layered spheres?" The professor sarcastically remarked.

Rui smiled, having come to grow familiar with the strange professor over the months. Unlike Sian, the man wasn't unshakable professional in their interactions, which made Rui suspect that he wasn't a part of the sect for a large portion of his life or for too long, or that being of the Beggar's Sect was central to his identity.

Still, he appreciated it more than Sian's courteous facade.

"I don't need any of those this time." Rui shook his head. "I'm ready to begin."

Professor Carl raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Then we'll get you started off immediately if that's the case."

"No problem. I need a list of potential targets in the Senior Realm with relevant information. I'll choose after I go through all of them."