The Martial Unity

Rui heaved a sigh of relief now that his plan had succeeded.

He had already gone into the meeting knowing that the Beggar Sage was not simply going to acquiesce to his demands just because they had a cooperative relationship. At most, the man would be open to potentially making a deal with Rui as long as he could offer something of even greater value to the sage.

And he did.

Rui wasn’t absolutely certain that his memories of Earth would be enough to do the trick, but he was confident that, at the very least, the Beggar Sage would be attracted.

He didn’t know that the man would become a raving lunatic.

“What are your demands?” the Beggar Sage’s eyes flared with greed. “I have two demands,” Rui replied very straightforwardly. “The first, of course, are the Scriptures of Terra. If you know what they are and how to get them, that would be ideal. The second…”

His eyes narrowed fiercely, “…is the truth about Amare.”

The air tingled.

It tingled with peril.

“Hehehe, I knew you would ask about her,” the Beggar Sage grinned maniacally. “The truth about dear, sweet Amare is profound indeed.”

Anger flared in Rui’s eyes. “What have you monsters done to her?”

“You have the wrong person, I’m afraid.” The Beggar Sage shrugged. “I didn’t do anything to her. Nothing at all.”

“Don’t lie to me.” Rui glared at him. “I know it takes all three of you to conduct the soul transference ritual.”

“Ah, but we didn’t conduct the soul transference ritual on her, Dawnbringer.” The Beggar Sage smiled at Rui with a hint of amusement. “That’s why she wasn’t born with her memories accessible.”

“So, you sealed her memories instead of letting her access them easily, big difference,” he retorted sarcastically. “Ah, but it is a big difference.” The Beggar Sage grinned. “It makes a world of difference. Without needing to make the inheritor identify as the person whose memories they are receiving, the process is entirely different!”

Rui frowned. “…What do you mean?”

The Beggar Sage’s smiled widened as he came to the realization that he wasn’t nearly as backed into a corner as he had previously suspected.

He hadn’t realized how much affection and care the Dawnbringer had come to have about Amare.

It could be exploited.

“Hehehe…” the Beggar Sage grinned. “As you said before, let’s talk about price. I have already given you some expensive tidbits for free out of consideration of our cooperative relationship and as a thank you for acquiescing to my request to prepare solutions for the Human Summit. But from here on out, you will have to pay for all the information you want.”

Rui narrowed his eyes. “Fine. I will give you equal weight in information about Earth as the useful information you give me about the Scriptures of Terra and Amare.”

“That’s an acceptable offer, dear Dawnbringer,” the Beggar Sage began. “Regarding Amare, the truth is very simple. She was not put through the same soul transference ritual as you and I were, where a mind and identity are created from the very moment we are conscious. In the first place, the soul transference ritual functions by accelerating the aging of a baby while sequentially implanting all the memories of a person into it, so that we can recreate as identical a psychological profile of the original person as possible.”

Rui’s eyes widened with shock. “What?!”

“Hehehe, genius, isn’t it?” the Beggar Sage grinned. “By ensuring that memories are experienced at the same age as the original, we are able to recreate the original as closely as is technically possible with minimal deviation.”

“But I…” Rui murmured with shock. “I was born right out of the womb with these memories.”

“Indeed, it takes an astronomical amount of power and skill to be able to pull that off. That’s why we aren’t able to, on average, even though the benefits are proportional.” The Beggar Sage’s eyes lit up with curiosity. “Not even a Martial Sage would have the power to implant a lifetimes’ worth of memories in you while you were in the womb, considering how short the timeframe. But it also means you are an abomination that is entirely different from the original person. I assume whoever did this to you did it to give you as much power as possible, without any care for your identity.”

Rui’s eyes narrowed. “My mind.”

“Exactly, your mind is at least half the reason why you are so extraordinary you are,” the Beggar Sage mused with a curious expression. “Your memories constitute the other half. This must have been chosen to impart as much power with you as possible, assuming that your current extraordinary state was part of the plan or part of the hope.”

“…” Rui fell into thought. He didn’t expect to get insights into his condition with this visit, but it was more than welcome.

“Coming back to the point, Amare’s case is different,” the Beggar Sage mused, returning his gaze to Rui. “I can guarantee you right now that she didn’t undergo the authentic soul transference ritual. We have conducted the Martial’s soul transference ritual many times before the Age of Martial Art began, but she was not among them.”

“Then…” Rui frowned. “You have absolutely no idea how she is the way she is?”

The Beggar Sage smiled. “Of course I do. After all…”

His grin widened.

“…I was the one who placed baby Amare before the gates of the Gen Temple.”

Rui’s expression darkened with anger. “You… are you fucking with me?”

“Hehehe, calm down, Dawnbringer,” the albino beggar smirked mischievously. “I was the one who placed her at the gates of the Gen Temple. That is the truth. However, I am not responsible for what has happened to her. In fact, I only learned of her condition at the same time as you did, you see?”

Rui frowned with deep confusion. “…Then why the hell did you place her in front of the gates of the Gen Temple???”

The man’s grin widened.

“Because the Psycher asked me to.”

–