The Martial Unity

Inside the building were children and Martial Artists sitting on the ground, carving into sheets made from fabric woven together.

They were doing basic arithmetics, using the same numerals that were used in the international numeral system on the Panama Continent.

It was the same thing that he had taught K’Mala twenty years ago when he educated on math and physics for eighteen months on all the knowledge needed to use the Pathfinder technique.

It was actually a remarkably short amount of time to learn a huge amount of mathematics and science.

It was a pity that she hadn’t received all this knowledge in a proper education at a young age; she would have been touted as a genius herself. But alas, the Martial culture ruined most of her potential in this dimension. She was far past the age for rapid growth and absorption.

However, that wasn’t true for the children of the G’ak’arkan Tribe. Their life trajectory had yet to be set. They didn’t need to live a meaningless and destructive life of daily strife and war where they fought for their lives for no real purpose or gain.

Perhaps that was why K’Mala assimilated the other tribes on the island under a single banner. Without different entities, there would be no more war on the island. Without war, the opportunity to change their life was feasible.

However, there was no doubt to be a deep amount of resistance to her actions and her desire to change the destiny of war for the people of Vilun Island.

If that was the case, he could understand why she felt the need to use her unparalleled might as a Master to force them to change.

“I see.” Rui closed his eyes. “I’m starting to understand why you did what you did.”

“Right?” Her eyes lit up with delight. “I knew you would!”

“However, I disapprove of your methodology even if the outcome is desirable,” Rui calmly remarked as he gazed at the children immersed in their education. “You have become an object of fear and hatred by the people of the village. You are correct that they would benefit more from not living a life of daily violence, but from their perspective, you are eroding everything they ever knew and replaced with something alien that they are unable to understand. Do you understand how horrifying that is from their perspective?”

The warmth in her eyes disappeared once more as a hint of cruelty replaced them. “No, and I don’t care to. They deserve it.”

There it was.

A deep apathy that was highly uncharacteristic of the woman he once knew.

For a second, he had wondered if he was mistaken.

That perhaps she hadn’t suffered a tilt to psychopathy.

Yet, as he gazed into her eyes, he could see that he wasn’t mistaken.

She did indeed suffer from anti-social personality disorder caused by the Martial Mind.

One might think that it was contradictory to want to help the tribe while suffering from psychopathy, but that was an oversimplistic view of the matter.

The human mind, compassion, and psychopathy were extremely complex.

It was possible for psychopathy to manifest in a myriad of different ways.

“Oh well,” Rui shrugged. “You’re the leader of the tribe; it’s not in my place to tell you what to do.”

Her eyes grew crestfallen. “Don’t say that. None of this would have been possible without you. I wouldn’t have reached the fourth rank without you. If it wasn’t for you, I would never have discovered my affinity for thought.”

Rui stared at her.

“I want to repay you.”

Her voice grew soft as she drew closer.

“I want to show my gratitude to you.”

Her hands ran down his torso.

“I want to—”

“If you want to repay me, then you partake in the war.” Rui interrupted her with a deadpan tone.

“…”

“Well, I’m glad that we were able to handle the issue this quickly.”

“…I suppose.” She smiled bitterly. Rui simply stared at her knowingly. He wasn’t stupid. He could sense her emotions, so he knew what she was about to say.

He had no intentions of entertaining it. For him to even consider a romantic relationship, it would have to be someone with the ambition to pursue power and the aptitude to keep up with him. Anything else, and the romance would just crumble under the weight.

Unfortunately, the only two people he personally knew that were capable of that were male.

In the case of K’Mala, she was too tied to her tribe to be a prospective partner for Rui.

Of course, Rui knew that there was no such thing as the perfect partner, but he had no intention of starting a relationship without the confidence that it had any chance of lasting.

Regardless, on a more fundamental level, he knew that he was not in the frame of mind to pursue a romantic relationship when he still struggled to understand who he was. And while romantic fiction had worked hard to sell the power of love, he didn’t think it could help him in his current predicament.

He felt bad for cutting her off and trying to leverage her gratitude to gain her support in the war, but he didn’t have the luxury to be considerate of her feelings. Winning the war was more important.

“If I leave the village, though, then all this progress will come undone.” She frowned.

“Don’t worry about that, and the Kandrian Empire will ensure it gets handled,” Rui reassured her. “We’ll send some powerful Seniors to ensure that nothing goes awry once you leave the village. I’ll even have teachers and trainers to help accelerate your work even while you’re gone.”

Her eyes lit up. “In that case, I’ll go!”

“Good, let me tell you about the incentive program we have in place for all enlisted Masters…”

He patiently explained to her all the things that she could earn for herself if she chose to partake in the war and contributed significantly.

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