The Martial Unity

One of the perks of the missions in the Serevian Dungeon was the fact that Martial Artists did not need to write reports on their missions like they would normally be required to. The reason for that was the Martial Union and the Kandrian Royal Army were surveilling the battle with the surveilling facilities that had been erected within their territory. The Serevian Dungeon colonization team already had accurate information on exactly how the battle proceeded.

“The mission was a brilliant success.” Commissioner Feristen announced with a smile. “Frankly, all of you have exceeded even our most optimistic projections. The Sekigahara Confederate has suffered disproportionately high losses and the military has successfully inflicted significant damage on the fortifications that they had erected. I have been authorized to bonus all of you for your meritorious efforts…”

Rui listened to his words carefully as he scrutinized the man.

(‘He’s painting a very positive spin to this.’) Rui noted. (‘What about the Martial Apprentices that died?’)

Around nine Martial Artists of the Martial Union had died. Not too devastating in the big picture, but not insignificant. Yet their sacrifices didn’t seem to be as impactful as he had initially expected.

Each of those Martial Apprentices had fought for the Kandrian Empire and died in the process.

Of course, Rui understood the mindset behind the response of the Martial Union to this. While it certainly was true that Martial Artists dying was a pretty undesirable outcome, it couldn’t be avoided.

It was inevitable.

Conflict killed, regardless of whether it was between ordinary humans or Martial Artists.

Martial Art was a field centered around conflict. If conflict was synonymous with death, then it wasn’t too much of an exaggeration to say Martial Art was a field centered around death. Every Martial Apprentice that had come here had come of their own free will knowing full well the dangers and potential for death in this mission, especially with the entirely accurate intelligence that the Martial Union had gathered for them.

Furthermore, the Martial Union had beefed up the payments on the mission to a ridiculous degree to justify the difficulty and had also waived off the expenses of potions and other expenditures that the Martial Apprentices would normally need for their missions.

With all of this in mind, Rui couldn’t really say the mission was not worth attempting.

It was also not to be forgotten that only under the threat of real death could Martial Apprentices genuinely improve. The most powerful Martial Apprentices in the world almost always ended up being the ones that had persevered through the most. It was physically impossible to nurture truly strong Martial Artists if one only coddled them like they were precious vases.

Soon, they dispersed once commissioner Feristen had finished his address to the Martial Artists.

“Hey, heard you guys were doing alright.” Rui nodded as he met up with all his friends.

“It was hella fun!” Nel grinned.

“I heard you got seriously hurt.” Rui threw a resigned look at him.

“Whoever told you that lied.”

Rui didn’t even bother engaging with him any further as he turned to the rest.

“I was made aware of several shortcomings in my combat style in the circumstances of the battlefield,” Fae replied. “I’ve made improvements that have generally focused on one-on-one battles, but I have soon come to realize that my ability to cope under circumstances as chaotic as the battlefield has reduced. I have focused and invested a lot in my vacuum palm techniques that increased the rate at which I successfully connected my attacks on my opponent. But in turn, it’s a technique that doesn’t work too well against multiple opponents.”

Rui nodded. He recalled her demonstrating her vacuum palms during the assault attack on the Squire breakthrough research facility. She used a breathing technique as well as synchronized movements to create a vacuum in the atmosphere between her and her opponent. This created a suction force that pulled her opponents towards her and made it easier for her to land strikes on them.

The problem with the technique was that it forced her to invest too much in a single opponent. If she used this tactic in a scenario against multiple opponents she would be leaving herself wide open to an attack from the other Martial Apprentices. That was why she couldn’t operate her tactic in circumstances with more than one opponent with the same amount of efficiency that she could against single opponents.

“You should try investing in some passive defensive Martial Art techniques that will reduce the risk of being hurt in combat,” Rui told her. “This way you have more leeway even in scenarios where your active defense is compromised due to focusing on one opponent at a time. I know you’re an offensive Martial Apprentice, however, it is impossible for Martial Apprentices to not rely on defensive techniques. That’s why it’s known as a core field.”

Fae nodded, considering her options. “That does indeed sense. I’ll consider that option once I’m done gaining enough experience with my current Technique base. I’ve also considered getting evasive maneuvering skills. Can you help me out with that, Kane?”

“Of course, not. Go figure it out by yourself.” Kane scoffed with a sneer, earning her ire.

Rui sighed as the two began bickering.

“They’ve always been like that, for as long as I remember.” Fiona giggled.

“Same here.” Rui sighed. “How did you fare in the battle?”

“Oh, it was not nearly as hard as expected, honestly.” She shrugged, nonchalantly. “I was quite curious because my dad told me this mission overall was harder than most grade nine and grade ten missions, but I am a bit disappointed.”

“Curious, eh?” Rui chuckled. “I have never seen anyone walk into a mission that is ranked as one of the hardest among all because they were curious.”

“Well, not anymore I’m not.” She replied. “But what I’m curious about is the fact that we won so dominantly. Was that because of you?” She asked with a hint of interest in her eyes.