The Martial Unity

Of course, the question was; what was the next step, precisely? This was something he had wondered the entire day later, even after he returned to the Orphanage.

Normally, after a training stage, he would undergo some missions to gain more experience with the techniques that he had just mastered and solidify his foundation of those techniques in combat with missions.

This time, however, it wasn't strictly necessary. Each of these was a technique that he previously used for a long time. Although they were less comfortable by virtue of not being nearly as well suited to him as they were when he was a Martial Apprentice, it wasn't as though he needed experience using them in battle. That imperative was missing this time.

Still, he was in favor of completing some Squire-level missions. After all, he hadn't yet completed a mission since he broke through, and it had been nearly nine months since he broke through. Although Rui still retain a great chunk of all of his earnings from the Serevian Dungeon, he still needed to earn money.

A mission it was.

Rui scrolled through his accounter he scrolled through his mission inbox. He had recently indicated that he was accepting commissions again, and he had received some within a reasonable timeframe. However, the rush for him wasn't nearly as strong as it was when he was a Martial Apprentice.

Of course, he wasn't surprised. The answer was obvious.

He was the most powerful Martial Apprentice of the Kandrian Empire when he had been a Martial Apprentice, however, after becoming a Martial Squire, he had once again reached the bottom of the ladder.

The Squire Realm was a different league altogether.

There were an overwhelming number of Martial Squires who were more powerful than him, more experienced, and more reliable than him. This was a fact that he needed to accept. In fact, newbie Martial Squires like himself didn't generally receive personal commissions. However, his fame and reputation as a Martial Apprentice were great enough that some of it managed to rub off into the Squire Realm.

He skimmed past them, examining them.

[Hunter class mission: procurement

Clientele: Ferena Fillisburg

Target of the mission: One kilogram of herpious limestone.

Location of the target: Fatanuy Hills. [876.5, 60.76] +- 10 kilometers

Difficulty grade: two

Mission summary: This mission is a hunter–class mission that requires the Martial Artist to procure a kilogram of herpious limestone; a solid esoteric crystalline substance. Fatanuy Hills is home to many dangerous creatures that are at the peak of the Apprentice Realm and several active and aggressive beasts that are quasi-Squire-level as far as combat prowess goes, raising the difficulty of the mission to the base of the Squire Realm. The target of the mission is a substance that is relatively abundant across the forest, procuring the desired amount will require the continuous collection of smaller amounts of herpious limestone, increasing the probability of encountering a quasi-Squire-level creature significantly. The procurement of the target can be done via special storage devices that need to be rented for the mission,

"Hm..." Rui read through the mission summary.

A hunting mission wasn't bad to kick him off. It was relatively straightforward and as long as he was careful there was effectively nothing to be feared. A proper Martial Squire would most certainly not lose to a quasi-Squire-level creature.

This mission was the kind of mission that was too weak to threaten Martial Squires but was far too dangerous for nearly any Martial Apprentice. Thus, it had been classified as a Squire-level mission. Many of the very low-grade Squire-level missions were only evaluated as Squire-level because Martial Apprentices were too inadequate to handle them.

It was a good candidate for a mission, still, Rui wanted to take a closer look at some others. He scrolled to the next one.

[Defense-class mission: bodyguard mission.

Clientele: Vintar Industries.

Target of protection: Supply shipment.

Location of mission: Trade route from the town of Frentoy to the Kingdom of Farjen. [123.45, 764.3] to [224.6, 564.88]

Difficulty grade: One.

Mission summary: Clientele Vinta Industries has commissioned a Martial Squire bodyguard to escort and protect a supply shipment convoy traveling from the town of Frentoy to the Kingdom of Farjen. The supply route the convoy will be traveling through is the shortest and the quickest by distance, however, it is fraught with danger. The route is home to many bandit gangs that consist of many Martial Apprentices. They often ambush and attack convoys with insufficient protection and deterrence.]

This mission was different in so far as the fact that it could be completed by a large group of Martial Apprentices. However, Rui could see why it had instead been evaluated to be a Squire-level mission. Even he would not be able to successfully complete this mission as a Martial Apprentice. Protecting something else, especially something as large as a convoy, was much harder than surviving by himself, which he was confident of even as a Martial Apprentice.

However, rather than diverting a large number of Martial Apprentices on a singular mission such as this, it was better to evaluate it as a Squire-level mission and leave it to a single newbie Martial Squire. It avoided forcing a large number of Martial Apprentices to go off on a risky mission where a lot of valuable Martial Apprentices would be lost, or waste time if an attack didn't occur. Instead, it gave a newbie Martial Squire some experience with missions at the bottom of the barrel of Squire-level missions.

However, Rui wasn't particularly interested in this mission. No Martial Apprentice in their right mind would attack a Martial Squire, a single attack would mean death or excruciating and incapacitating suffering if they managed to survive. Rui's arms had been mangled and broken all over due to a single strike, a quick reflexive one rather than a proper attack that too, and he had lost consciousness after being launched away by the impact through numerous walls of the facility and through several trees.

It was a particularly painful memory, second only to the Squire breakthrough procedure.