The Martial Unity

"I can't really help you with that so spontaneously. Besides, if I'm not wrong, the core of your plan probably ought to originate from you to satisfy the condition of individuality." Julian conjectured.

"Hm, true." Rui nodded. "You've given me a lot of food for thought thus far that has been quite illuminating. I suppose that's enough for a single conversation."

"Well, I'm glad I was of some help." Julian smiled. "You should work on fleshing out the plan by doing research on the relevant topics. If one of your projects is unviable for some reason, then it is best to know that as early as possible. You don't want to realize that after having spent six months on the project, do you?"

"Most certainly not, will keep note of that." Rui nodded.

The two of them discussed the matter more in-depth as they visited a variety of topics before their long discussion was finally concluded, or rather interrupted by the calls from dinner by Lashara.

"Well, that has been pretty fulfilling. Thanks again for hearing me out." Rui thanked him as he got up.

"Anytime." Julian smiled.

The two headed towards the dinner table together, spending time together with their family for the rest of the night.

The next day, Rui headed towards the Martial Union to purchase the necessary reading material he wanted. Particularly, he was most concerned with learning poison techniques when he possessed a particularly delicate symbiote inside his head.

In comparison, the Sniper and Bounce Projects were much more within Rui's background and understanding. The core mechanics for these two projects were centered around classical mechanics which Rui was intimately familiar with. He needed to look within to figure these two projects out, for the most part.

The same could not be said about the Severer Project.

Perhaps if it was an external symbiote like the kind Apprentice Fernan had, he wouldn't be nearly as concerned, after all those had to be tough, otherwise, they would get destroyed quite easily. Brains, on the other hand, were fragile in every sense possible.

He headed straight toward the Martial support counter. It was a department dedicated to exchanging or selling goods, services, or information that the Martial Union directly owned. This was separate from the utility department which had outlets for various esoteric technology companies. The Martial Union effectively served as a safe reliable middleman that ensured that the Martial Artists weren't exposed or exploited.

"Yes?" A staff member smiled. "How may I help you?"

"I wanted to purchase information regarding the compatibility between poison techniques and symbiotic techniques. Furthermore, I also specifically want all data surrounding the compatibility between the Mindmirror Symbiote and various poisons used in offensive poison techniques." Rui quickly surmised.

"Please provide your license for verification of security clearance." The staff member requested.

The Martial Union did sell information, however, only if the customer in question had the security clearance to access and purchase said information. This was done so that valuable intelligence didn't find itself in the hands of those who simply could not be trusted, or were ineligible for other reasons, with whatever information said customer lacked the security clearance to purchase.

For example, a Martial Apprentice couldn't simply purchase any information surrounding the breakthrough to the Squire Realm because they were ineligible to acquire that information.

"Alright Squire Quarrier, we have verified that you possess the necessary security clearance to purchase the information you seek. Please give us some time to collect all the information you seek before we can quote you a price." She requested. "You can take a seat while you wait."

Rui nodded as he took his seat, observing the staff members as they hurriedly left to procure his purchase. Thankfully, it did not take too long.

"Squire Quarrier." She called out to him. "We have procured the information you wished to purchase. The price for all the details adds up to about 5780 Martial credits."

Rui raised an eyebrow at that price as he winced inwardly. That was a little over half the price of a low-grade Squire-level mission. The Martial Union was squeezing him dry!

"You also need to acknowledge and accept certain terms and conditions stipulated by the Martial Union." She said as she pushed forward an acknowledgment form along with a pen toward Rui.

Rui quickly skimmed through it, disinterested.

It was relatively strict, but nothing too extreme. He wasn't allowed to distribute the information he purchased from the Martial Union's authorization and would be held liable for any unauthorized distribution and will be penalized.

Rui felt it was understandable that the Martial Union was as restrictive of the information it sold. All of the information that it sold to its customers was acquired via means that required a lot of funding and resources. All technical scientific information was information that had been painstakingly obtained after years of research. Information outside of science was also acquired through the intelligence department which required a massive amount of funding and resources to function adequately.

If the Martial Union allowed its customers to resell information at cheaper prices than the Martial Union, then it would make it an entirely losing business. It at the very least had to break even, otherwise, it was a liability.

Rui simply signed the acknowledgment form as he glanced at the sheer volume of books and documents that the staff had procured.

"Would you like it delivered to a location or would you rather take it on your person?" She asked, smiling.

"I'll take it with me, thanks."

Thankfully, they were neatly packed together making it less inconvenient to carry in person. But still an important task for a normal human.

Rui whistled as he skywalked home with two giant bags filled with scientific literature centered around Martial Art.

"If the answer isn't in here, then it probably isn't anywhere." Rui sighed as he looked down at the books and documents that he was carrying home with hope.

All he could do was pray.