The Martial Unity

“Which one?” she gazed at him with eager curiosity as they soared through the air space of the city.

The interest in his eyes deepened. “The City of Martia. The one and only city out of a hundred dedicated to Martial Art.”

“Wow, that should be fun…!” An excited smile emerged on her face. “I wonder what kind of Martial Art they have.”

“Everything is Martial Art, isn’t it?” Rui smirked. “Don’t be surprised if you come across something truly exotic.”

Rui had a feeling that he was in for a treat.

He had already witnessed how a radically different environment and culture could shape the Martial Paths of an entire nation to be just as radically different.

And, of all the nations he had visited thus far, the Nest of Terra was most certainly the most radically different nation, followed by the Solaris Kingdom and Gen Temple at a close third.

And for the Nest of Terra, much to his surprise, it wasn’t too easy to find much information on their Martial Art, compared to any other Sage-level powerhouse. Rui was surprised that a Sage-level powerhouse could even be this good at hiding basic details of their Martial Artists.

But he supposed that this was what separated the Nest of Terra from other Sage-level powerhouses.

He couldn’t even sense the nation underground from the surface. Not even with Riemannian Echo, which had allowed him to dominate the Shionel Dungeon despite the sensory jamming.

“Nest of Terra is simply built different,” he remarked with an excited smile. “I can’t wait to see what kind of Martial Art they’re hiding from the rest of the world. Of course, I have strong suspicions as to what we will see. But first… we need to actually get there.”

They arrived at a large network of tunnels at one of the ends of the City of Nagara.

“Which path should we take?” Amare’s tone was excited. “Maybe we should just take one at random and hope that we get where we hope to go.”

Rui gazed at her like she was dumb.

“That’s dumb.”

“It’s fun!” she protested. “It’s only a real adventure when we have no idea where we are going!”

Rui smirked with a wry expression. “That sounds nice and all, but I really don’t want to get lost in this underground nation; that would be too embarrassing for me to live it down. Instead…”

His eyes sharpened as he glanced backward from the edge of his eyes. “…Could I ask the Martial Sage who has been following us to guide us to the City of Martia?”

For a moment, there was no response.

Amare tilted her head as she closed her eyes. “…Who are you talking to? I don’t sense anybo—!”

RUMBLE

Suddenly, a heavy presence bore down on the world as a Martial Sage emerged from the ground behind them.

Despite apparently being submerged in dirt, her clothes were entirely clean, her pale white skin remained unblemished.

The air tingled as she gazed at Rui with a wary expression. “…Your reputation precedes you, Prince Rui.”

“Gee, thanks,” Rui smirked nonchalantly. “Any idea how we can get to the City of Martia? It will be easy to keep an eye on us without having to hide your presence, you know? Though, I can’t say I’m particularly fond of being stalked when I’m on a date.”

Amare’s cheeks flushed as he gently pulled her to his bare upper body protectively. Their skin and bodies brushed against each other directly, past the scant cloth of the ethnic attire of the Terran culture.

The Sage simply stared at Rui with a pointed gaze. “It wasn’t my intention to disturb your date with your lover.”

“Wha—!” her reaction was choked by her bashful embarrassment.

“That is why I hid myself with a Sage-level technique and maintained a respectful distance away from you at all times,” she explained, ignoring the red Omni-Martial. “I did not expect you to be able to detect me past my Sage-level technique. That, too, without your Heart or Mind.”

Her tone left no doubt that she was mystified as to how he managed to spot her while Rui simply smiled mysteriously. “There is more to heaven and earth than is dreamt of in your philosophy, Your Sagehood.”

“Wow…” Amare gazed at him with an amazed and awed expression while the Sage regarded him with respect. “Indeed, you are even more powerful than I was informed,” she simply stated. “I apologize if I have disturbed your date by underestimating your prowess.”

“It’s alright,” he smiled generously. “You were just doing your job.”

In reality, he was just bluffing.

He figured that there was an eighty-nine percent chance that the consuls would entrust a Martial Sage to shadow him. The reason he took a chance by expressing so much certainty was childishly simple.

He wanted to impress Amare.

It was a stupid juvenile masculine urge, and yet, he found the notion to be thrilling. “You’re incredible!” she told him with excited amazement, her eyes sparkling with awe.

“Hah, it was nothing at all,” he said, struggling to contain a smug grin from cracking at the edge of his mouth.

He was just glad that he didn’t end up looking stupid if it turned out to be the case that the consuls decided not to deploy a Sage to shadow the two of them. “Well, as I mentioned earlier, we’re trying to get to the City of Martia,” he told the Martial Sage. “Could you please guide us there?”

“Very well, I shall do just that,” she remarked. “I, Kyria Killen of the Seventh Legion, will guide you to the abode of Martial Art in our great nation. Please follow me.”

And thus, the three of them departed. Rui and Amare followed the Martial Sage as she led them through an entire network of tunnels, roads, and corridors as they wound about through the Nest of Terra as they surged towards the City of Martia, the one and only land of Martial Art in the nation.

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