The Martial Unity

What he learned about the Solaris Kingdom didn’t elevate his hopes for the nation. This was the first major polity he had come across that had a particular ethnoracial foundation in this particular world. One of the things that he had noticed throughout his entire life was that the Panama Continent oddly had low racial variance by geography. Unlike on Earth, where different regions had different racial demographics, the Panama Continent was roughly characterized by racial ambiguity regardless of geography, barring some exceptions. And yet, that didn’t mean there wasn’t a variance in genetic features.

There most certainly were. For example, hair and eye color were diverse and varied from end to end of the color spectrum. This was true no matter where one went. It seemed to be the case that no matter where one went on the Panama Continent, the diversity of hair and eyes did not change too much. Rui had always found that to be particularly bizarre. Why was the vast majority of human civilization on the Panama Continent much more racially ambiguous and uniform despite being spread over such an enormous distance?

He didn’t know. At most, he could conjecture that perhaps some major event had happened in the past, causing different racial groups across the continent to spread and mix far and wide, eventually removing the barriers between races.

It would appear that the sol people were among the exceptions, even if this hypothesis were true. The Solaris Kingdom was dominated by people of a specific race, a race that was central to the ethos of the entire nation.

That didn’t sound fun to deal with. “However, if the Sekigahara Confederate and the Britannian Empire could swallow their pride and welcome me as a guest, then surely, these fellows are also able to do just that, right?” Rui’s tone didn’t inspire confidence.

He could already imagine the sheer amount of prejudice that he would be facing from them as a result of his eyes and hair. All he could hope was that the current royal family, the family of the strongest light bender, Queen Lianiala, would be more sensible than the average person.

“Still, light bending, hm?” his eyes lit up with interest. “Fascinating.”

He knew something about light bending; he had created several techniques based on the principles of light and electromagnetic radiation that allowed him to create several powerful and potent techniques that could allow him to manipulate light.

The telescopic domain that he had created for Master Gurren was one, and the modified version of it that he had created against Master Brigsby. He knew that there was plenty more that he could do with light with the Forge of Creation.

“Perhaps I would get the opportunity to do so in the Solaris Kingdom,” Rui murmured with some interest.

Regardless of their ethnoracial-centric culture and state, Rui was intrigued by their Martial philosophy. He found it to be thoroughly fascinating that a nation could develop such a deep inclination towards light bending as one of their primary Martial philosophies.

“Additionally, light is a pretty ephemeral form of energy,” Rui frowned. “How in the world did they manage to get Martial Artists of the Lower Realms to master it?”

That was what he was curious about.

Light was such a high principle that no more than several hundred Martial Artists of a Sage-level powerhouse could normally master it.

Learning more about their Martial Art was perhaps the one silver lining of what was shaping to be an unpleasant visit. “Though, if I’m treated badly, I will just leave,” Rui grumbled.

Why should he stay in a nation that treated him like shit?

Not to mention, why should he bestow them with his gifts if they couldn’t treat him with basic human decency?

With the Britannian Empire and the Sekigahara Confederate, there was strong reason to. The Kandrian Empire would directly and measurably suffer greatly if these two nations fell. And even then, they treated him quite hospitably, all things considered.

With that in mind, he resolved to simply leave the Solaris Kingdom if he wasn’t treated decently.

Regardless, Rui spent the rest of the day learning more about the Solaris Kingdom, nonetheless trying to learn about any and everything that he might aid in making the visit to the nation more palatable.

All in all, it boiled down to one thing.

“Don’t insult the Sun God Solaris, is it?” Rui shrugged. “That’s manageable. It’s surprising to run into a non-Martial religion in this world, but it makes sense that at least some of them exist.”

Religions like the Virodhabhasa Faith and the Gen Temple were Martial centric, fundamentally, but the Solaris Faith was not centered around faith, and the Sun God Solaris was not a Martial Artist.

He was, allegedly, the Sun itself.

Insulting him was a good way to end any hopes of a peaceful collaboration. The only good news was that the Solaris Kingdom was not a kingdom of maniacs who were extremely prone to aggression.

While their sol-centric culture was unshakable, they were capable of engaging with outsiders in a reasonable manner. Given that he was here to help them, he could only hope that they would treat him in a manner commensurate with his gifts.

Eventually, he got some rest to recuperate from his Martial Mind abuse, and after that, it was time to depart from the Commonwealth of Dincarne.

And yet, Amare was missing.

A wry smile emerged on his face as he heaved a sigh of exasperation, immediately setting out to look for her. Of course, he was not concerned. Nobody in this nation could even remotely prove to be even the slightest bit of a threat to her, so she was entirely safe. “I will need to keep her by my side when we enter a Sage-level powerhou—” He froze when he finally found her.

There she was, sitting under a tree.

Before her, tens of thousands of people sat facing her, stretching out into the distance. “Empty your mind.” Her gentle, warm voice was soothing and healing. “Peace exists within you. You need only find it.”

The people relished her teachings, absorbing all of them.

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