The Martial Unity

"I had sought you out earlier, only to learn that you were away on a mission," She told him as she gestured to the seat opposite to him. "I had an assistant staff member convey my invitation to you when you returned."

She gave him a courteous smile. Despite possessing a higher standing within the Martial Union than he did, she did not put on any airs nor was her demeanor and attitude condescending. Part of this, Rui figured, was no doubt due to internal training and guidelines that reinforced the status and importance of all Martial Artists to the Martial Union.

No Martial Artist would face any disrespect from a baseline human being within the Martial Union. The higher-up Martial Artists that held the greatest sway over the Martial Union were no doubt wary of normal humans consolidating power with the power that many of their high positions gave them.

In fact, one reason that Martial Artists themselves didn't occupy each and every single position of power was that there were far too many of them. Another reason was that Martial Artists were warriors that pursued their Martial Path. They did not belong behind the desk, completing administrative and bureaucratic work all day long. That would be the greatest disservice to themselves, and to the Martial Union.

"I was curious as to what a rank-three Martial commissioner wanted to do with a young inexperienced Martial Squire like myself," Rui scratched his head.

"You don't need to engage in false modesty, Squire Quarrier." She shook her head lightly. "Your prowess is unique and surpasses the limits of your Realm in some parameters. That alone means that there is special value and utility in you that isn't there in other Martial Squires."

Rui smiled wryly, not saying a word.

"As I'm sure you have figured out, I invited you here to speak to you about a mission," She explained. "A mission unlike anything you have ever completed, as far as your record goes.

She leaned in closer. "We require you to be a diplomat,"

Rui jerked his head back as his eyebrows furrowed. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me correctly, Squire Quarrier," She smiled, amused at his reaction.

"I'm not sure I did, commissioner Derun," Rui managed to squeeze out. "After all, that seems more reasonable than believing that the Martial Union would commission a Martial Artist, of all people, to be a diplomat."

"In ordinary circumstances, you would be correct," She sighed. "Unfortunately, the circumstances at hand have left us with no choice."

"Please explain," Rui frowned.

She cleared some documents from her desk before opening a map of the Kandrian Empire and the surrounding nations and geography.

Her finger moved to the Nam Ocean that bordered the Kandrian Empire, before tapping onto an extraordinarily small speck of land barely visible on the map to the ordinary eye.

"This is Vilun Island," She said. "It is an island home to many tribes whose way of life resembles that of human civilization at the dawn of the Age of Martial Art. In other words, they're four centuries behind civilization on the Panama Continent. The tribes are in a constant state of war with each other, fighting for territory, supremacy, and most importantly to them; prestige. Due to the varied topography of the island, different tribes developed different philosophies in combat having dealt with different environmental circumstances, focusing all their Martial Art endeavors in one, or at most, two particular fields to an extreme degree."

She pulled out another document, passing it on to Rui. "The K'ulnen Tribe pursues an aggressive striking fighting style to the absolute extreme, subjecting their progeny to heavy conditioning towards striking to ensure the Martial Path of the Martial Artists that emerge out of them are all centered around striking."

Rui read through the document that detailed information on the tribes of the Vilun Isle.

"What is relevant to the mission that the Martial Union wishes to commission of you is actually the G'ak'arkan Tribe." She mentioned. "This tribe occupies the top of the only mountain, Mt Kelato, of the Vilun Island. Its Martial traditions are entirely centered around long-range offense, specifically, techniques centered around atmospheric manipulation."

Rui raised an eyebrow at that statement, gaining a clearer idea of what the Martial Union wanted from him.

"The underlying goal of your mission is their techniques," She straightforwardly divulged. "The Martial Union has a vested interest in obtaining their techniques."

"The Martial Union, the same organization that allocates a large number of funds and resources for the budget of research and development of long-range techniques, cares about the techniques of a primitive tribe?" Rui asked with a raised eyebrow. "Furthermore, with the number of long-range Martial Artists in the nation, it no doubt receives a lot of original development as contributions from Martial Artists, right?"

"Correct," She agreed. "However, that does not mean the value of the techniques G'ak'arkan Tribe isn't high. The number of long-range Martial Artists of the G'ak'arkan tribe isn't too far behind that of the Martial Union. While this tribe is incomparably smaller than the Kandrian Empire and the Martial Union, almost every single Martial Artist is centered around long-range offense, unlike the Martial Union. Furthermore, they have developed their craft for four centuries, and their rate of dissemination is high. Every Martial Artist has access to the techniques of every other Martial Artist. While they are certainly inferior to the long-range Martial Artists of our Union in some parameters, they possess truly remarkable techniques that allow them to outmatch the long-range Martial Artists of the Union in other parameters."

Rui raised an eyebrow. That was truly an incredible accomplishment and a testament to their dedication to long-range Martial Art. Obtaining those techniques would bring great benefit to the Martial Union, so Rui could definitely understand why the Martial Union wanted them.

What he didn't entirely understand was why the Martial Union bothered with diplomacy as opposed to more heavy-handed measures as it did with the other smaller satellite states in its orbit. He wasn't entirely clear why they dragged him into this either, though he definitely had an inkling. There were many things that didn't make sense to him about this at the moment.