The Martial Unity

The next morning Rui woke up peacefully, feeling quite serene. He could hear birds chirping outside and the light of dawn cracking through the fabric of the tent. He felt a warm sensation on the right side of his body. He looked down to his right, Vemy was peacefully asleep on his chest clinging to his body, looking equally serene. Rui sighed, embarrassed. It was more than a little embarrassing for him to have given in to the urge of his hormonal teenage body.

He'd forgotten how good sexual intercourse felt, especially since he had lost all of his libido for decades due to his failing health. But now that he had returned to a youthful healthy body, he was beginning to recall how frightening the power of lust could be.

He sighed, shaking his head as he recalled last night. Thankfully, he had managed to gain a better hold of himself after his initial shot, taking into account her experience as well. It had been so long that he was effectively no different from a virgin.

Yet a part of him wished he hadn't had the experience because he was better off not remembering what it was like to experience it, not just the intercourse, but all of the intoxicating and blissful physical intimacy he had with her after as well. He realized life would be a lot more pleasant if he could have that with someone he truly cared for.

He sighed, shaking his head. He did not intend to spend energy and detour from his path especially, for chasing opportunities for it. If they came, he would take them, if not, then that was that. His determination to elevate his Martial Art to its peak was a dream that had survived the rigors of an entire lifetime and even carried over to his next one.

He would never forsake chasing after it in exchange for chasing after another childish dreamlike love. He was far too driven. He could only hope they could coincide somehow. As for how that could be? Now was not the time to think about it.

('I'm on a fucking mission. I need to get my head back into the game.') He exhaled deeply, closing his eyes and tempering his mental state.

"Mmmmrgh." He heard a soft moan as Vemy woke up.

She turned up towards him before smiling. "Hehe good morning."

"Morning. I should get up now. I'm here on a mission you know." Rui sighed, as he gently placed her head on the pillow as got off from under her.

He pulled a new set of Martial Art clothes from his utility belt and began clothing himself.

"Woah, where did that come from?" She asked.

"They're made from a rare esoteric fiber that shrinks tremendously under pressure, allowing me to travel with a spare change of clothes" He sighed before putting his old clothes into a pouch that shrunk tremendously.

"Wow." She looked impressed. "Wish I had one of those. The Kandrian Martial Union sure is impressive."

"You should get going too," Rui told her. "And try not to let anyone know what happened, I don't want people to think I'm unprofessional."

"Oh relax, we've commissioned Martial Apprentices before. This isn't particularly strange or common." She glanced at her pocket watch. "But I am due to be on standby soon, so I really should go."

She hurriedly put on her clothes.

"Bye-bye, I had fun. Let's do that again if we can." She left sneakily before blowing a kiss at him.

Rui shook his head, trying to get his head back into the game. Once he was fully clothed, he stepped out of his tent, heading towards the main camp. The air was noticeably tenser than it was the day prior and almost all the preparations were completed. Soon, he reached the large tent that served as the headquarters.

"Squire Falken." Fushin Hunfer addressed him without even looking up from all the paperwork he was working on. "I trust you've rested and rejuvenated in the past day? I hope you had a good night."

There was nothing in his tone or words that implied anything beyond what his words conveyed, but Rui could tell the man knew about his nightly affair.

"Just fine, thank you." He said with a straight tone.

"Good to hear." The old man nodded, facing him for the first time. "Have a seat. We have important matters to discuss."

"The attack will commence at dusk." He straightforwardly informed Rui as Rui took a seat opposite to the latter, he pointed at a section of the mountain on a map that he had before him. "We aim to climb the mountain from the south, where the mountain's inclination is gradual. The attack should commence around three hours after commencement."

"Hm." Rui nodded. An attack in the night favored the ambushing force. The ability to surveil and gather information on hostile third parties in the vicinity was hampered due to the darkness, for all parties. Not only did the ability to gather intelligence generally decrease, but the risks in attempting to do so also increased. Thus even attempting proactive intelligence gathering was no longer as easy and simple.

Even though this also affected the rebels, they possessed an intelligence advantage due to their extreme familiarity with the mountain and the fort, their familiarity with the protocols of the battalion of the Britannian Empire stationed at the fort from previous conflicts, as well as the fact that the location of their enemy being very well known, made it easier to gather information.

Attacking during the day when both sides would be able to detect the other was far more beneficial to the Britannian battalion than it was to the Zurtun rebel group. Thus, it simply made more sense to eliminate that factor by operating at the night.

"Tell me about the details, and specifically where and when you wish for me to time my mission and remember, I have the right to refuse if I want to."