The Martial Unity

“This… what are they doing?” Rui’s gaze grew bewildered. A bunch of Martial Masters were just lying on the ground flat in odd positions, seemingly asleep if not for the fact that their Martial Heart and Martial Mind were active. It was a truly strange sight, unlike anything he had ever seen.

“They are searching, Your Highness,” Sage Kyria replied. “Simultaneously, they are also training their senses.”

Rui frowned. “Searching for what?”

She turned towards him with a profoundly powerful gaze. “For the Scriptures of Terra.”

Amare and Rui threw each other perplexed glances.

“The what?”

Sage Kyria’s eyes grew deep.

They grew intense.

“The Scriptures of Terra are a legendary artifact containing divine Martial knowledge,” her tone grew reverent. “First discovered by the Shield of Gaia a hundred years ago, it helped him reach the Transcendent Realm. It is said that anybody who reads the Scriptures will gain extraordinary and godly mastery of earth-bending. For the past hundred years…”

Her attention returned to Rui and Amare. “…We have been tirelessly searching for it.”

“Wow…” Amare’s eyes sparkled with curiosity and wonder. “That sounds so mysterious and thrilling!”

Rui, on the other hand, was stunned. “…Scriptures that helped the Shield of Gaia reach Transcendence? Scriptures that give you extraordinary earth-bending? I don’t mean to be rude, but are you sure this is real?”

Sage Kyria nodded with firm confidence. “The Shield of Gaia offered it as a path to gaining the power that we need to accomplish our mission. Our ultimate objective.”

Rui’s eyes narrowed. “…Ultimate objective?”

A mysterious smile cracked at the edge of her mouth. “I’m sure that someone with your intelligence has already figured it out.”

Rui’s expression grew severe. “You…”

He paused, shaking his head. “Never mind, it’s none of my business.”

She was right. He had deduced their ultimate objective, their plans, and their thoughts simply by chaining inferences and deductions on top of each other, derived from his observations and conversation.

And frankly, what he had arrived was a tiny bit unnerving.

The Martial faction of the Nest of Terra was more ambitious than anyone could have realized. More importantly, he was getting a little sick of Sage Kyria’s subtle attempts at influencing him.

“If you have something you require of me…” His eyes narrowed. “Then just tell me. Did you really think I wouldn’t notice your attempts at trying to direct me in a certain course of action with your words and your decisions?”

First, going out of her way to mention the plight of the Martial Artists of the Nest of Terra.

Then, bringing him to show him Martial Masters searching for the Scriptures of Terra.

“I was aware that someone with your keenness would see right through me,’ she remarked. “However, if I’m not wrong…”

She smiled at him. “…It doesn’t matter if I’m directing you in a certain direction as long as that direction is the direction you go in anyway, correct?”

“Tsk, you’re more foxy than you appear, you know,” he tutted with a hint of irritation.

And yet, he couldn’t deny the interest that had already begun growing within him. “Tell me more,” his eyes lit up with hunger. “Tell me more about this so-called Scriptures of Terra.”

Sage Kyria smiled slyly as she revealed her true colors, having succeeded in at least part of the mission that she was assigned to when Consul Notera had her shadowing him. “By all means,” she replied. “Unfortunately, we know very little about it. The only person to have actually found it was His Transcendence. And all we have from him is the message that he gave us a hundred years ago when he first found the Scriptures of Terra and reached Transcendence with the power that it gave him. He told us that it is within the Nest of Terra, and he told us that it will give us the power that we seek. That’s all.”

Rui’s interest only grew deeper and deeper in this matter as he grew completely immersed in it. “So, he found it, told you to find it, but doesn’t want to tell you where it is?”

“I’m sure His Transcendence has fine reasons for what he told us a century ago.”

“He sure is helpful, isn’t he?” Rui scoffed. “I suppose you should be grateful that he specified that it’s within the Nest of Terra rather than somewhere on Gaia. That would have been a nightmare of a mission. Still…”

A fire lit up in his eyes. “I wonder what’s written in the Scriptures of Terra. I wonder what kind of power is contained in its depths.”

He had already deduced that this was part of Consul Notera’s plan. She undoubtedly wanted Rui to learn about these so-called Scriptures of Terra because she knew that he would get deeply invested in the matter. As for why she wanted this to happen?

“She thinks I can find it.”

His tone betrayed a mix of irritation at being manipulated and a hint of smugness that he had seen through all their attempts at manipulating them.

Sage Kyria regarded him with a solemn expression. “We have searched for this treasure for the past hundred years, Your Highness. And we haven’t gained so much as a clue of where it might be hidden. We have made no progress as to where it is.”

“…Fascinating,” Rui murmured faintly. “So the only information that you have gained was that it’s within the Nest of Terra. Searching for it in the past hundred years has led to absolutely no progress whatsoever. That’s even more fascinating.”

“It is because we have made no progress whatsoever that we have decided to seek help,” Sage Kyria remarked. “Consul Notera has long realized, after a century of absolutely no progress, that something needed to change. That we needed a powerful change. When you announced your voyage through human civilization in the Human Summit, she realized that you were extraordinary enough to serve as that powerful change. You, the Dawnbringer, one of the most extraordinary Martial Artists in the history of human civilization, could help us find the Scriptures of Terra.”

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