The Martial Unity

1559 Plans

It wasn't long before Miss Vilmentine took her leave from the orphanage. While she had clearly expressed and conveyed the high interest that the Raemina Faction had in winning over Rui, she didn't go too far by dogging Rui about joining her faction.

An overly-persistent approach was unpleasant to most people, it showed a lack of respect for boundaries.

Furthermore, today was just a basic low-effort preliminary attempt to earn his support.

"Huff…" Julian heaved a tired sigh as he watched the royal carriage accelerate away from the orphanage. "It seems she is quite intent on bringing you over to the Raemina Faction."

"It would seem that way," Rui nodded, concurring with the man. "I'm not really surprised."

Rui had an impressive history during his time in the Kandrian Empire.

He had reached the finals of the Martial Contest held during the Martial Festival when he was an Apprentice, earning his first hint of fame through the Kandrian Empire. He had then gone on to perform several incredible feats as a Martial Apprentice.

He had managed to kill a Martial Squire as a Martial Apprentice. While there was context and nuance that made his feat not nearly as absurd and bonkers as it seemed on the surface, the details had been lost in the wind as the rumors spread across the entire nation.

On top of that, he had essentially won the Kandrian Empire the war of the Serevian Dungeon, singlehandedly decimating the armies of all of the three powerhouses of East Panama.

He became a Martial Squire, quickly developing a handful of grade-ten techniques, one of which he submitted to the Martial Union to earn a lot of appreciation and praise. He then went on to serve as an ambassador of the Martial Union to Vilun Island, successfully forming a cooperative exchange with the G'ak'arkan Tribe.

And it had long come to light amongst the upper echelons of society that he was the infamous Voider that singlehandedly dominated the Shionel Dungeon raids against an alliance led by a merchant tycoon comprising of local and international powers.

He also happened to return during a time that was close to the death of said merchant tycoon, which raised questions for many people.

It was not enough to raise an investigation, especially when Martial Artists in the Kandrian Empire had impunity to the law to certain extents, thanks to a clause in the Kandrian Martial Covenant signed between the founding emperor and the Martial Union.

But more importantly, he returned as the youngest Martial Senior in history and was already a high-grade Martial Senior at a young age.

'I should be happy that my achievements during my eight-year hiatus are not known yet,' Rui heaved a relieved sigh.

The uproar would magnify if they learned of the sheer power that he had attained as a Martial Squire, having survived and shaken off an attack from a Martial Senior while he was still a Martial Squire.

Becoming the seventy-second Virodhabhasa Champion. The political capital he gained from the religion would not be enough to singlehandedly turn the favor towards a prince or princess, but it was still extremely significant.

Rui shook his head and turned back glancing at the two envelopes on the table. He could sense the gold-laden cards within the envelopes; invitations that he would need to present to enter the reception hall.

He was curious to hear what Princess Raemina had to say to him. Who knew? Perhaps she had something up her sleeve that could attract Rui's interest.

He was willing to give her one chance. He also wanted to get a good gauge of what kind of person she was. Intelligence reports from credible organizations like the Beggar's Sect and the Martial Union were all fine and dandy, but he trusted his own evaluations even more.

BZZZT!

Rui's attention flew to his communication device that buzzed with a message.

A message from the Martial Union.

The date for his presentation on the Hungry Pain technique had been finalized. Thankfully, they gave him enough time to prepare in a week, as he had requested.

Another headache that he needed to tend to. But he needed the massive funds that he would get once the Martial Union estimated the value of his contribution as he enlightened them on the mechanics of the technique.

Frankly, there were no concerns about whether they would buy it. There were physiological experiments that would lend credence to his claims, the same ones that had led to the discovery of the phenomenon of autophagy back on Earth.

The issue was how he could justify knowing it as a Martial Senior who was home-schooled by his mother and elder brother.

Fortunately, he had already come up with the perfect way to ward off the problem.

"I'm going to need your help with something, Julian," Rui smiled with a hint of mischief.

"I already don't like the sound of this," Julian heaved a sigh. "Let me conjecture based on history, you need help with some big mess that you've got yourself into, requiring my position as a researcher and deputy director within the ministry."

"That's actually exactly right. Quite sharp of you to catch on." Rui mused, impressed. "You are able to start research and development projects at your own discretion with your current discretion, aren't you?"

Julian raised an eyebrow. "…Yes. Why?"

"Here's what I need you to do," Rui scribbled down a list of topics. "Can you conduct some preliminary research experiments into these topics?"

Julian read through the list frowning. "These are topics that don't even pertain to Martial Art. Why do you want me to conduct open research projects into cellular biology?"

"Hehe, just do me a favor," Rui mused.

Julian raised an eyebrow as his sharp mind immediately began dissecting Rui's request, analyzing to gauge Rui's intent.

"You're either interested in the outcome of the experiment or…" Julian pondered aloud. "You gain something from me endeavoring into these topics at all, regardless of the outcome of the research. It's curious why you wanted me to conduct these experiments officially specifically, rather than off the books. The only reason you would want for there to be a record of it is for other people to find it. In which case…"

Julian narrowed his eyes as he stumbled upon the answer.

"You're too clever for your own good, Julian," Rui heaved an exasperated sigh though there was a hint of pride in his tone. He was not accustomed to people keeping up with his thoughts, yet Julian was one of the few who could.