The Martial Unity

He made his way to the Martial Union with a pounding heart. He was going to be crossing one of the most important checkpoints of his life and his Martial Path. He was understandably a little tense, especially because he had very little agency and control over the success of the procedure beyond this point. Everything that could be done had been done.

Rui considered everything even as he passed security, showing them his Martial license. He couldn't think of a single thing he could do while still a Martial Apprentice that would aid him in the evolution process to the Squire Realm.

"Excuse me." Rui addressed one of the staff members. "I have an appointment for my breakthrough process to the Squire Realm."

He handed over his Martial license.

"Apprentice Rui Quarrier, you do indeed have an appointment scheduled today, soon." She nodded. "Facility SRB-001 in the west wing, the maps will help direct you to your location."

"Thank you." Rui nodded before making his way to the designated room.

It took him longer than he had expected, after all, the Martial Union was huge, Rui had to refer to the various maps that were planted at multiple locations across the Martial Union.

"Excuse me?" Rui voiced out, drawing attention to himself as he entered the designated facility. "I believe I was told the procedure to my breakthrough to the Squire Realm would be taking place in this facility."

The room inside was large, it gave Rui the impression of a futuristic medical facility. There were strange contraptions and machines. Among them was a small chamber that was large enough to accommodate a man in it.

There was also a medical team within. Several nurses and assistants and a few elderly doctors.

"Welcome." One of them said. "I am doctor Menun. May I see your Martial license for verification?"

Rui duly handed over his Martial license, which was promptly verified by one of the assistants.

"Welcome Apprentice Rui Quarrier." Doctor Menun said, smiling courteously. "I will be the doctor overseeing the evolution breakthrough procedure to the Squire Realm."

"Pleasure to meet all of you." Rui offered a bright smile, eager to earn some goodwill from the people who he would be placing his life in the hands of.

"The final preparations for the Squire evolution breakthrough procedure are being completed." Doctor Menun explained. "There are certain measures that need to be taken before you are ready for the procedure. We will begin them shortly, please take a seat at the table."

She gestured for Rui to sit opposite to her at her table.

"Now then, time for a few standard procedure questions." Doctor Menun informed him. "Have you consumed alcoholic beverages since your measurement process?"

"Not at all." Rui shook his head.

Forget since the measurement process, Rui had yet to put even a drop of alcohol into his mouth in his second life. But he had no real intention of doing that. He wasn't a drinker in his previous life, and he had no intention of starting the habit in his second life.

"Have you consumed any hallucinogens since the measurement process?" She asked, after scribling on her notepad.

"No."

"Have you undergone as much natural sleep since the measurement process till now, as we advised you?"

"Yes."

Sleep was a good way to burn time so that the agonizingly long wait for the evolution process to the Squire Realm. He could cut more than a dozen hours out of his waiting time that he would have had to sit through if he had used potions to keep himself awake.

He was delighted when, among the guidelines to follow for the breakthrough to the Squire Realm, was the necessity for natural and organic sleep.

"Have you suffered any injuries since the measurement process?" She asked.

"No."

It was hard to get injured when he simply sat around in the Quarrier Orphanage, doing nothing asides from training Mana and Max to while away time.

"Have you engaged in the training or mastery of a technique since the measurement process ended?" She asked with a flat tone.

Obviously, the answer to this was no. It was absolutely impossible to master any technique in the span of a few days, even if it was the lowest of grades of difficulty.

"And lastly..." She paused, before bringing out a printed sheet of paper with writing on it. "Do you consent to partake in a procedure that is inherently quite painful, strenuous, and risky and agree that the Martial Union holds no liability in the outcome of the procedure?"

Rui glanced down at the sheet of paper that she had placed in front of him, as well as the pen.

He would need to sign it to express written consent. This was something he had expected and been informed of. He signed it without hesitation.

"We'll need to take some blood in order to ensure that your answers to some of these questions are indeed accurate." Doctor Menun explained. "Sometimes it is possible that there are issues without the Martial Apprentice's awareness."

Rui readily offered his arm to the nurse who had a syringe prepared. Soon enough blood was drawn and was taken away for testing. Fortunately, blood testing was remarkably quick in this world. It usually took a few days on Earth. Here, the process was highly expedited when it came to Martial Artists in order to ensure the timely delivery of the necessary data and information.

And sure enough, it took a little over an hour for the results to come.

"Good news." Doctor Menun told him as she studied his results. "You're suitable to undergo the breakthrough process to the Squire Realm."

She turned towards him. "All preparations are complete now. Strip all your clothes down."

She stared at him, almost as if expecting a protest. Yet Rui obliged wordlessly, handing his clothes to an assistant who collected them. Although the hormones of his youthful body were annoying in such situations, he was too old and strong mentally for any embarrassing 'mishaps' to occur.