The Martial Unity

He wanted to get the perspective of someone reliable before he made a decision on the information. He would feel far more confident if someone reliable and trustworthy reaffirmed the information. There was a very high chance that the decision he made would, at the very least in part, shape the rest of his Martial Path. He could not afford to take any chances.

“And that’s the reason I wanted to consult you, headmaster Aronian.” Rui told him.

Rui had visited headmaster Aronian.

​ “Hmmmm…” he stroked his beard as he held the document that Rui had shown him. “There’s nothing wrong or misleading here.”

“I see, thank you.” Rui nodded.

“But still, the Symbiotic Sect. It seems that even the unorthodox Sects have gone out of their way to seek you after the staggering results you produced a month ago.” The headmaster mused with a knowing tone.

Rui wasn’t surprised he had found out. It was clear that the news was not something that could be hidden, given the number of people who seemed to have found out. He was more curious about the phrase that headmaster Aronian used.

“Unorthodox Sects?” Rui asked, curious. “What are those?”

“That’s just a colloquial and informal phrase used to refer to Sects centered around Martial Art techniques that are unusual, strange, or esoteric in some manner.” The headmaster explained. “Martial Sects like the Poison Sect, the Symbiotic Sect, and even the Weapon Sect fall under this broad category.”

“Even the Weapon Sect is considered unorthodox?” Rui raised an eyebrow.

“Of course.” Headmaster Aronian nodded. “How many Martial Artists wielding weapons do you see?”

“Very few.” Rui admitted. He had seen a handful here and there and some in the Martial Festival nearly a year ago. “Why is that there are so few weapon-oriented Martial Artists?”

This was an oddity about the world that Rui had shrugged off but never dug too much deeper into. However, since then he had come to learn a lot more about the world and also much more about Martial Art from an anthropological perspective.

The oddity of the high scarcity of weapons was much more confusing than it was before.

“It’s due to a combination of factors.” Headmaster Aronian replied. “One of the biggest reasons is simply because there are far fewer Martial Artists whose Martial Path is weapon-centric. That’s also partly why the Sect falls under the category of Unorthodox Sects. There are simply fewer Martial Artists whose Martial Path involves weapons.”

“But why is that the case?” Rui asked. “Is it because of the overwhelmingly greater number of conventional unarmed techniques compared to armed techniques?”

“No, not quite.” The headmaster shook his head. “The availability of techniques at the juncture of the Exploration Stage does not influence the Martial Path. The Martial Path is already set by that point, one needs to only discover it to become a Martial Apprentice. The reason there are so few weapon-centric Martial Artists is not because of the availability of techniques, but rather because weapon mastery is fundamentally and inherently deviant from the natural application of human prowess.”

“Huh?” Rui tilted his head in confusion.

“Let me explain.” The headmaster told him. “The frequency of occurrence of a certain type of Martial Art centered around a field depends on how much of inherent human capability the field primarily makes use of. Fields that make use of natural human capability primarily are more common Martial Paths than those that don’t. Take, for example, a simple striking Martial Art. This Martial Path is strongly centered around natural human capability; the infliction of damage via the swinging of one’s limbs. It’s a very primal application of the human body in combat. Then look at Martial Paths centered around more esoteric fields like symbiotes, weapons, and poison. Do you see the difference?”

“I see…” Rui pondered aloud. “Because the convention unarmed Martial Art are closer to the natural application of the human body, they’re more common consequently.”

“That’s right.” Headmaster Aronian. “It isn’t exactly clear why, but there is a clear difference in the frequencies of occurrence of certain fields as Martial Paths depend on how close they are to the most natural application of the human body. That’s why offensive, defensive, and maneuvering are the most common Martial Paths. They’re absolutely fundamental to the natural application of the human body. Poison is quite unnatural and artificial in that it requires the introduction of foreign substances into the human body to function. The same is even more true for symbiotic Martial Art. Weapon-centric Martial Art are also in the same predicament, albeit to a lesser degree. If the form of combat is too deviated”

“I see…” Rui nodded. This did indeed match up with his own observations of the Martial Paths he had come across. All-rounders, offensive, defensive, and maneuvering Martial Artists were certainly the most common types of Martial Art he had run into. “What about the other reasons?”

“There are economical and logistical constraints to weapon-oriented Martial Art that most other Martial Art generally do not suffer from.” Headmaster Aronian replied. “For example, the weapons in question need to be able to bear the entirety of the power of the Martial Apprentice. You understand how tall an order that is, correct?”

Rui nodded in response. Martial Apprentices generated a tremendous amount of power. For weapons to be viable, they needed to be able to withstand that power for extended periods of time without breaking. For bladed weapons such as swords and knives, all of that power would be focused through an extraordinarily tiny segment of the sword. The material needed to be durable enough such that even a small portion of it needed to be able to withstand the power without breaking or deforming in even the slightest.

In other words, the material’s tensile strength needed to exceed the Apprentice Realm significantly.

“There certainly are esoteric metals, compounds, and ores that can withstand the power of a Martial Apprentice. However, the supply cannot meet the demands to supply all or even most Martial Apprentices with weapons. At higher Martial Realms, the supply only grows scarcer and scarcer relative to the population of Martial Artists.” Headmaster Aronian replied.