The Martial Unity



"Tell me you are a Virodhabhasa seed without telling me that you are a Virodhabhasa seed." Master Deivos remarked with a wry smile as he gazed at the barrier that Rui had destroyed.

Soon after Rui had destroyed one of the long-range target practice barriers of the training facility that he had been assigned, he had immediately been stormed by the town guard force.

He did not like being treated heavy-handedly, but this time even he cooperated with the elite Squire officials who suspected an attack within the town.

However, they did not believe him when he said he had been the one to destroy the target practice barrier. Rui almost wanted to cry when they simply refused to believe the simple truth that he, a young Martial Squire had destroyed the barrier.

"Cease these lies. We will find you in contempt of law if you continue spouting that nonsense. Our record states that while you are abnormally strong for your age, you are only a twenty-three-year-old Squire. The estimated output that we see here is not possible from a Martial Squire."

"I can prove my statements." Rui declared.

And, he did.

It took Rui every ounce of self-control to stop himself from bursting out laughing after he saw the expressions of the Squire official heading the investigation. 

The man's jaws dropped in a cartoonish fashion, dropping any and all elegance and bearing that he had been putting up.

Yet he quietly accepted everything Rui said with a humble expression, simply nodding and not saying a single word.

Thankfully, it wrapped quickly, and they left him alone after giving him an official warning for the public disturbance before retreating.

The incident could not be covered up. Nor did they particularly have any reason to. It spread like wildfire across the entire town instantly. 

The tale of Martial Squire that busted up a quasi-Senior level barrier spread through the town. Squire Falken instantly became a legend in the town. What shocked people was that the officials of the town guard were the source of the rumors, it made the rumors quite credible as these were not untrustworthy actors.

Rui knew that the situation had gotten out of hand when Master Deivos stood before him half a day later.

"I had to cancel some engagements and appointments when I heard the news," He remarked as he stared at the barrier. "To think that it was not exaggerated even in the slightest…"

He turned towards Rui. "Is the technique you mentioned you had been working on?"

Rui nodded. "Yes sir."

"Hm," He scratched his chin. "Unless the circumstances of the technique are truly exceptional and non-replicable. I am certain that you'll easily be able to win the preliminary contest for the representative of the town, based on this technique alone. This is the kind of power that only Martial Seniors at their peaks, without their Martial Hearts, can possibly exert."

"Do you think I'll be able to win the main contest as well?" Rui asked with a curious expression.

"I can't say," The Master shook his head. "Trust me when I say that there are some monsters out there. The current reigning champion will be participating again this year, and she is nothing short of a monster in human form. She is not the only one that is beyond the norm."

He turned towards Rui. "My instincts told me that you are of the same caliber, and my instincts were correct."

The man looked appreciative of Rui's capabilities.

"I appreciate that," Rui blandly responded. "…What about my training facility?"

"Ah," The man considered the matter. "That's right, this is no longer fit for you to train. You'll just destroy everything eventually. Hm."

The man was immersed in thought, before eventually sighing. "No choice, I guess we'll have to assign you a Senior-level training facility."

Rui's eyes widened in shock. "But surely the Martial Seniors of this town are occupying them.

"They are," He nodded. "But it's fine, I'll kick one of them out and give their facility to you."

That was not a small gesture, Rui knew that. Master Deivon was attempting to convey that Rui was currently more valuable to him than a Martial Senior.

That was not a small gesture. While it did not mean that Rui was stronger, equal, or even remotely comparable to a Martial Senior employing their Martial Heart, it did mean that Rui served greater utility to the Master than a Martial Senior did.

The only reasons this was true was because of Rui's potential for growth, and the gains that he could bring not only Master Deivon but also the entirety of the Seonmun Town by performing well in the Martial Contest.

Motivating the bishops and the various religious leaders to find powerful unique Martial Squires that were also Virodhabhasa seeds with resulting rewards was something that Rui already knew that the religion did.

Rui could not help but wonder what they were dangling in front of Master Deivon. Considering that the man was a Martial Master, he highly doubted any ordinary resources were enough.

('Could it be… something that would help him become a Martial Sage?') Rui wondered. He couldn't help but feel that he was right on the mark.

At the Master Realm, he was sure that the difficulty of making any progress was probably much more difficult than in the lower Realms, if not for no other reasons barring the fact that resources were scarcer, and there were fewer reference paths with established paradigms that aided people to get to higher Realms.

It was possible that the whole reason Master Deivon stayed in the church was because it was powerful enough to gather resources that could help Martial Artists in all Realms grow stronger. He could then imagine that the true Martial Contest was not between the Martial Squires, but actually between all of the religious leaders that patroned them!

The one who found the best warrior to patron was the true winner, they would probably make gains that exceeded that of the Martial Squire.