The Martial Unity

He thought of his own species.

“Homo antithesis.”

It was unfortunate that his reproductive system would not pass on the genes of his new species but those of his old species, of homo martialus. But alas, not everybody had the privilege, or curse, of the Blood Goddess.

“Wait, given that genetic adaptive evolution is also the shtick of homo evosapien, doesn’t that mean that my species is quite similar to that of homo evosapien?”

They were both species of adaptive evolution.

He turned his attention to the single living stem cell of Anthea that he had in his body with an intrigued expression. “It might be more genetically compatible with me than I realized.”

Still, even Project Evolutionary would not allow him to spread his species to the next generation.

“I will have to be satisfied with spreading the martial art of adaptive evolution to the rest of the world, for now. My children with Amare will be homo martialus, I suppose,” he remarked, shaking his head.

He didn’t intend to start a family with her.

At least, not before fulfilling Project Water.

Before then, they would only take away from his life’s, or lives’, greatest goal and ambition, and he wouldn’t be able to give them the time and love that they deserved.

A variety of thoughts flashed through his mind as he traveled to a certain point in the northwest of Genora.

The embassy of the Panamic Alliance.

He needed to speak to his father.

WHOOSH

He appeared midair in the skies above a more sophisticated settlement that clearly diverged from the kind of architecture that he had grown familiar with among the dark elves.

It was human.

Or martialus, rather.

STEP

He arrived before the Martial Sage guards at the very forefront of the establishment, who immediately knelt before him.

“Your Sagehood!”

“Your Highness!”

He didn’t recognize either of them, which hardly surprised him as the rate of new Martial Sages in the Panama Continent had increased ever since the Beast Domain, causing them to sprout up more frequently.

They were low-grade Martial Sages, which made sense, since the dark elves had proven to be trustworthy allies with whom they didn’t need the most protection.

“At ease,” Rui instructed them. “You may rise. Don’t worry about the formality, I simply came here for a confidential call back home.”

“Yes, Your Sagehood.”

Rui activated Lesser Phantomind Void as he smoothly avoided any attention and made his way to the SCIF, sensitive compartmentalized information facility, in the embassy. It was an isolated room with a table at the very center of the room, illuminated with bland white inorganic light.

Compared to the bioluminescence that Rui had grown accustomed to in the five months he was in West Genora, it was a lot more boring and unappealing. Rui took a chair opposite the one with all the projectors facing it, before accessing the terminal and making a call.

Several seconds later, it connected, and the three-dimensional projection of the Emperor of Harmony appeared opposite him.

His father had had better days.

His golden hair was a little disheveled, while the golden-silver clothes that adorned his body were a little tattered.

His complexion was a little pal,e while little dark bags emerged under his golden eyes.

“Rui.”

His tone was gentle.

One of relief.

“I’m glad to see that you seem to be doing well. I was overjoyed at the news of your return.”

Rui smiled wryly.

“Yes, Father, it was indeed a truly shocking and unforeseeable catastrophe.”

Father and son exchanged a knowing glance, content with not needing to spell out what they both knew. While the connection was quite secure, it was best not to take risks and unnecessarily reveal confidential information.

“It appears that the light elven ambush was extremely difficult to survive,” his father remarked knowingly. “I believe this has been the most taxing of all of your little… incidents.”

Rui’s smile grew wry. “…It certainly was on the extreme side, that was sure. I did ultimately come out largely victorious and, most importantly, alive.”

“Good to hear.” His father nodded. “You have achieved your mission as ambassador for human civilization, both directly and indirectly. Dark elven-human ties are strong and only getting stronger. As I’m sure you have learned, I have taken a dark elf Mother of Nature as a bride, and I plan to go even further to try and integrate our civilizations together, even if we aren’t the best of matches. We have tentatively agreed to a cross-breeding program to produce mutual hybrid progeny on both continents.”

Rui’s eyes widened. “…That’s rather extreme and inorganic, is it not?”

“It is,” Emperor Rael remarked, steepling his fingers as he leaned his elbows on the table. “But it is worth it. It blurs the lines between race and reduces the cause for any future conflict. I intend to father a hybrid heir and raise the child here as a true Kandrian and a true member of the Kandrian Royal Family.”

“Marriage is the best way to seal an alliance, after all,” Rui remarked.

“Indeed,” his father replied. “I presume that you have also fulfilled your personal objectives in Genora?”

Rui nodded. “Yes, I have. Nature manipulation is a power that I can now wield and is a part of my Martial Path.”

“Good, you getting stronger is no different from human civilization getting stronger.” His father was pleased by the development. “What do you intend to do now that you have fulfilled your objectives in West Genora?”

“Kiriket is my next objective,” Rui answered with a thoughtful tone. “I have heard from Mother Vyia that the situation in Kiriket is… not good.”

“You have heard correctly,” Emperor Rael replied with a nod. “It isn’t as bad as the situation in Moridia or in the Imperial Tekvorian Federation, but it is bad nonetheless. The Hawk Faction will grow emboldened by your survival and return, and our continent will be in more danger in the future when they declare war.”