The Martial Unity

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“You wish to acquire the training resources needed for the Godspeed technique?” Commissioner Reze asked, raising an eyebrow. “Surely you do not plan on training this technique in the Shionel Confederation?”

“I wouldn’t be asking for them if I didn’t, now would I?” Rui calmly retorted. “Please transport the training equipment immediately. You can deduct the expenses for the equipment and other matters from my account regardless of the price.”

Every second he wasted on other matters was one less second he could spend training. He did not want to wait too long for what he needed.

“Alright, will do,” Commissioner Reze nodded, goodheartedly, despite Rui’s colder tone. “I would advise you to be extremely careful though. Chairman Deacon has begun ramping up the investigation with even greater intensity. Furthermore, our intelligence also indicates that the Underworld is displeased with the sanctions from Esosale Suppliers. It has been a particularly difficult task to sniff out their new shell fronts as they have also been ramping up their investments in order to get a piece of the pie that is the Shionel Dungeon that we have restricted. The political alliance and they have both become a pain to our interests.”

“Ok,”

“…”

“So when can you get me my equipment?” Rui asked blankly.

“… I will endeavor to ensure that you get them as soon as possible,” Commissioner Reze sighed in a resigned manner.

Rui nodded before he and Kane got up and left.

“It sounded like he was saying important stuff,” Kane glanced at him as they Void Stepped out of their clandestine meeting. “Maybe you should have paid more attention to what he had to say.”

“It’s the same shit as always,” Rui snorted. “Chairman Deacon this and that, Underworld this and that. I don’t have time to spend chit-chatting about these matters. I am keeping an eye on the investigative progress of Chairman Deacon that the Martial Union is supplying me as per agreements. If I feel the need to take extra precautions, like if I discover they have begun a personalized investigation on me, then I will do so, but beyond that, I don’t care.”

Rui’s eyes narrowed in determination. “If I’m to master the technique that I aim to create, I cannot pay too much attention and energy to other matters.”

Rui knew that the path to a higher Realm of power could not be attained unless he singlemindedly dedicated himself to his Martial Path and Martial Art.

In that sense, it was bad enough that he had to dedicate himself to dungeon clearing. But that was still an acceptable and necessary expense since he knew that he didn’t have much choice. The technique was for the dungeon clearing which he had made a personal commitment to, and thus he did not want to sacrifice the goal for the means.

It wasn’t long after that they received an anonymously delivered package soon enough.

The Martial commissioner had understood Rui’s urgency and had respected it enough to ensure that he abided by Rui’s wishes regarding the speedy delivery.

Soon enough, Rui and Kane arrived at their training location.

Rui spent about ten minutes surveilling the area, before finally relieving his paranoia.

“Ah, it’s been a while since I’ve seen these,” Kane chuckled as he examined the gas mask and the vials of a certain drug.

“It’s about time you explain how these work, Kane,” Rui reminded him.

“Right,” Kane nodded. “Well, it’s simple, really.”

He reached for one of the vials that had been given to them. “This drug, known as Franmalth venom, inhibits energy production and consumption even for the likes of Martial Squires. It’s basically poison. You’re going to inhale it. And it will travel across your body and begin affecting it. Then you need to use the Godspeed breathing technique to increase the energy that your body generates against the inhibition of the drug. The rapid short and high-paced breathing will force the body to generate a lot of power, and that’s how you’ll counter the drug.”

Rui raised an eyebrow. “That’s… actually quite an ingenious way to teach someone exactly how to force their body to momentarily generate more power.”

He immediately understood the purpose of the training. By introducing a drug that inhabits power generation into the body, they would force the subject to push themselves to their limits consciously and subconsciously to counter the drug by increasing cell power generation and consumption.

Then with enough repetition, they would be able to reproduce the same effect when not under the influence of the drug, in normal physical conditions. In that case, without any drug-inhibiting cell power generation and consumption, the generation of power would increase significantly above the norm.

“Then we just keep increasing the dosage, bit by bit,” Kane explained. “Until you eventually reach your limits. And then the training for that stuff stops.”

“Hm,” Rui nodded. “What about the gas mask?”

“That inhabits exhalation, it also forces you to learn how to expel the Franmalth venom in your body via exhalation. You need to learn how to expel temporarily unnecessary substances and matter from across your entire body, and the Franmalth venom basically acts as a substitute instead of your actual body mass,” Kane continued. “Then once we get rid of the gas mask and the drug,

“Let’s begin,” Rui told Kane.

Kane pulled out the gas mask, before fiddling with it himself.

“You should probably read the instructions,” Rui told him.

“Relax, I’ve trained with these for two years. One year as an Apprentice and another as a Martial Squire. I’ll be fine,” He reassured Rui as he swiftly calibrated, before nodding. “Alright, it’s done. You ready?”

Rui breathed deeply before he steeled his resolve, narrowing his eyes. “Yeah, let’s get started.”

“Gotcha,” Kane walked over with the gas mask at hand, handing it to Rui. “The dial on the right controls breathing difficulty, clockwise for increasing it, and counter-clockwise for decreasing it. The button on the left releases the drug so be sure to inhale when you hit it.”