The Martial Unity

2166  The threat of Waning Dominance

The Panamic Martial Federation had a powerful bureaucracy with many employees and staff members who were able to process the requirements, demands, needs, and desires of all Martial Artists within a short amount of time.

His briefing had already been rapidly processed after he arrived at the Panamic Martial Federation with all arrangements prepared at a rapid pace. Within a day, it was already time for his briefing as a Martial Master.

Previously, he had been deeply interested in what revelations the Panamic Martial Federation would show him. Now, however, only half of his attention was focused on it by the time he reached the venue designated for his briefing.

Master Gern, his assigned briefer, clearly noticed.

“Something ailing your mind, young Master?”

Rui stirred as his attention snapped back to reality, becoming conscious of his surroundings.

He was in an empty lecture hall, sitting in the first row. Before him was an elderly Martial Master with a deeply aged visage and a diminutive aura. He was clearly retired, no longer an active Martial Artist.

That didn’t mean he couldn’t fight, of course.

Age affected martial artists differently than normal humans.

The Martial Body was designed to minimize any loss of physicality to age, allowing Martial Artists to remain combat-worthy even if they were the effective equivalent of a ninety-year-old.

“Ah…” Rui shook his head apologetically with a melancholic smile. “I’ve been a little…consumed. However, I apologize, please begin.”

“Mmm,” the elderly man regarded Rui with a warm smile. “You are the equivalent of a young man, it would not do for you to be so worn down with mental burdens. Leave that for old men like myself. Hoho.”

“Thank you, elder.”

“Young Martial Artists should pour their all into pursuing their Martial Paths while they can,” he advised with a knowing tone while he fiddled with the projector stand, preparing for the briefing. “Your youth won’t last forever, so you better hope you can fulfill the desire or objective that server as your Martial Drive. Though, in your case…”

His eyes shifted towards Rui with a knowing gaze. “…I suppose your youth will last for far longer than it will for your peers.”

“…Perhaps, but my Martial Drive isn’t easy to fulfill. Even with such an advantage, I cannot be certain whether I will achieve my goal.”

“Ambitious, indeed,” the elder Master mused. “We are ready. Now, I shall commence the briefing, if you are willing to go through with it. We can reschedule it for later if you so wish.”

“No, let us go through it now,” Rui shook his head. “I do not wish to delay it any further. However, this does seem more informal and less serious than I expected it to be.”

The elder Martial Master laughed aloud at his words. “Ah, informal perhaps; after all, I have given this briefing many a time to many a Master. But less serious…?”

His eyes narrowed as his demeanor grew more severe. “…I’m afraid not.”

Rui regarded him with intrigue as the man began.

“The Age of Martial Art gives many a Martial Artist the illusion that Martial Art is invincible, that it will always be invincible. That it cannot be challenged and suppressed by those that seem to infringe on it.” He began. “After all, even the most potent of esoteric technology seems to be unable to overcome its equivalents as much as merely deter them. Furthermore, beasts and monsters seem clearly to be far weaker than Martial Artists as individual combat assets. After all, it takes many a Master-level beast to stalemate a single Martial Master due to how effective at combat our entire existence it geared to be.”

“…” Rui waited for the inevitable ‘but’ that was coming. And it certainly came.

“But what if I told you that much of this is merely an illusion?” His tone grew a tad more macabre as he plainly denied the truth of his prior statements. “What if I told you that Martial Art’s position in this world is…fragile?”

Rui listened to him patiently, waiting for him to continue.

These concepts weren’t exactly new to Rui, although for particularly unique reasons. His concerns stemmed from the sheer amount of power that esoteric and non-esoteric science could yield if combined. He truly didn’t know whether Martial Artists would be able to cope with such a rapid spike in power.

“The fragility of Martial Art was not something that did not exist for most of the Age of Martial Art,” the man remarked. “It was only realized after the Transcendent Realm was discovered and reached. The fact that Martial Transcendents are simply not assets of the Martial World means that Martial Art cannot achieve the rapid growth that it once did with spikes in power upon the discovery of a new Realm, which is one of the reasons that Martial Art has outpaced the development esoteric military technology. However…”

His expression grew more serious. “…the Transcendent Realm has eliminated that cause for growth. Every time a Martial Transcendent is born, a Martial Sage is merely lost. This is a limit that affects not just Martial Art, but also all of human civilization. In the political sphere, this phenomenon is referred to as the Great Limit.”

Rui narrowed his eyes. “The Great Limit?”

The elder man nodded. “However, the Great Limit is only a limit for growth driven by Martial Art. It doesn’t apply to the rise in power due to esoteric technology. In other words, if esoteric technology continues the trends of history and continues growing stronger and stronger while Martial Art stagnates, it may…surpass the latter.”

Rui fell into thought at the man’s words. “I suppose it’s not absolutely impossible, but…”

His gaze returned to his briefer. “…Esoteric technology has massive resource limits that Martial Art doesn’t. One of the reasons that it was able to grow as fast as it could was because Martial Artists were able to drive up the supply of precious resources. In other words, a constraint that impacts the growth of esoteric technology is Martial Art.”

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