The Martial Unity

Exploring the Nest of Terra truly felt like an adventure to both Rui and Amare, for everything that they ran into was new or different from how it was from normal nations. It meant that there was an entire world filled with things that were unlike anything they had ever seen before. They explored the local people and culture, trying new food and even wearing the local ethnic attire.

“How do I look?” Amare emerged from a changing booth with a delighted smile, donning a blouse that wrapped around her chest and a short skirt that clothed her waist and thighs.

Rui’s eyes lit up as a smile emerged on his face. “You look truly beautiful.”

“Thank you!” Her cheeks flushed red as her smile brightened. “Let’s continue exploring this place.”

She placed her hand in his as they soared through the skies and wandered the city to their content.

From exploring the fascinating plumbing and water system that supplied abundant water to a large number of people underground to the massive vents in the ceiling that pumped in fresh air from the outside while holes in the ground expelled air from the bottom of each cavity that hosted a city. The very fundamentals of the structures of the Nest of Terra were so different from anything that the two of them were familiar with. Things that they would have taken for granted, such as water and fresh air, were precious in the Nest of Terra.

But in return, they gained a deeply powerful natural defense and hideout. Of all the powerhouses in the entire world, they were among the very least understood.

“A single city is so large…” Amare murmured with a voice of wonder. “To think that they have a hundred such cities underneath the surfaces. Isn’t that mind-boggling?”

“You’re right,” Rui replied. “It’s truly incredible that this nation has nearly a billion people, with ten million in each megacity, just like the City of Nagara. That’s a tremendous amount of manpower, all hidden away from the surface.”

“…There’s one thing that I don’t understand,” Amare turned towards him, pausing midair. “If they have so many people, then shouldn’t they also have many Martial Artists? They should end up being the strongest, no?”

Rui smiled appreciatively.

Her question was pertinent.

She had very astutely understood that something was off.

“You would expect more people to have more Martial Artists, but unfortunately for the Nest of Terra, that simply isn’t true,” he held her hand as he gazed down at the City of Nagara. “The reason is quite simple, you see…”

He turned towards Amare. “The Nest of Terra has a very low breakthrough rate for all Realms. It is the lowest out of all the powerhouses in the world.”

Her eyes lit up with immense curiosity as she gazed down at the entirety of the city, stretching out as far as the eye could see. “But… why? Look at their technology. They are able to excavate massive holes in earth. Not only that, they are able to carve out a singular city of the ground with intricate detail. They are able to forge a vast and sophisticated civilization with a billion people underneath the surface!”

Her eyes returned to him. “They do so many wonderful things; shouldn’t it be easy for them to achieve what other nations achieve?”

“…It is because they do so many wonderful things that they cannot achieve what other nations have.” Rui smiled at her. She tilted her head. “I don’t understand.”

His gaze returned to the city of Nagara. “Look at these beautiful, bright sky crystals that align the entire sky. Look at the massive vents that chug tremendous amounts of air through the cities of Nest of Terra. Feel the extraordinarily expansive network of water pipes and plumbing that deliver water to all the people across the entire subterranean nation. Do you think all these tremendous systems…”

His eyes turned back to her, “…are easy to maintain?”

Her fascinated gaze returned to the life-sustaining engineered systems of the Nest of Terra. “No… surely these consume a lot of resources, right?”

“More than you can imagine,” Rui calmly replied. “For other nations, fresh air is cheap and costs nothing. But for the Nest of Terra, it costs trillions every year. The same is true for water and light. All these things that are free for all nations on the surface are extraordinarily expensive for the Nest of Terra, so much so that it consumes a vast amount of their fiscal budget each year. Money that other nations would spend on Martial Art is spent on simply surviving.”

Her expression grew sullen and melancholic. “Light, water, and air are more important than Martial Art. These poor, poor people have no choice but to spend a lot of their resources on basic survival.”

“Precisely,” Rui replied. “That’s not the only reason. The Nest of Terra does not have as desperate a need for Martial Artists as other nations tend to have. Having cultivated it so deep underground for centuries, they are entirely impregnable compared to other nations. In other words, Martial Artists are simply not as important to the Nest of Terra compared to other nations. And the result…?”

His gaze shifted back to the City of Nagara. “Their breakthrough rates are much lower than the average for Sage-level powerhouses. Martial Artists are simply special soldiers in the Nest of Terra. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Her eyes widened with fascination and shock. “…What?”

“It’s quite different and unique from what we’re familiar with, isn’t it?” Rui smiled at her reaction. “In this nation, the President of the Terran Ventilation System has more authority and respect than any Martial Sage. While the absence of the latter would mean a weaker nation, the absence of the former would mean the absence of air, as the veteran genius leads the ventilation engineering projects and ensures that this massive system runs flawlessly.”

“That makes sense…” she murmured with a stunned tone. “Still, it’s such a shockingly different nation.”

“That it is.” Rui nodded. “Come, there’s a specific town that I want to check out.”

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