The Martial Unity

On top of that, while Kane was an assassin, he did focus on a direct approach that was largely overlapping with frontal combat skills.

These were enough rational grounds to dismiss the value proposition that he had to offer as opposed to the risk that he could bring with him.

However, Rui was unable to bring himself to outright refuse Kane firmly.

He knew that he was part of the reason for Kane's Martial drive. In the past three years since Rui returned to the Kandrian Empire and broke him through to the Senior Realm, Kane had isolated himself in rigorous, long-term training and mission-completion to gain more experience.

He had undoubtedly grown much since he had broken through to the Senior Realm, but from what Rui could see, he had yet to reach the threshold of a high-grade Martial Senior.

More importantly, Rui knew that refusing him here would not be good for his Martial drive. Even if it wasn't strictly his fault, Rui would definitely feel very guilty and sorrowful if he was responsible for crippling Kane's Martial drive.

The correct answer was telling him no, but...

"..."

Rui was unable to bring himself to do that.

A tense moment passed before Rui heaved a sigh.

"Fine. You can come along."

"YES!" Kane leaped into the air with delight, reaching hundreds of meters into the sky instantly. "Woohooo!"

Rui felt a tinge of regret even as he watched Kane with an amused expression. It wasn't the right thing to involve Kane in the mess. That was the situation that Rui had put himself in to fix everything wrong in his life at the moment.

But, he appreciated Kane's company. They were undoubtedly best friends.

"Listen," Rui grew serious. "If we're going to do this, we're going to have to be even more careful than we were last time, got it?"

"Got it, chief," Kane grinned. "This is Shionel Dungeon all over again. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, amirite?"

Rui heaved an amused sigh as he felt a mild headache coming about him. It was all nice and well to want to help his friend, but it also meant that an additional burden had fallen on his shoulders.

He needed to plan things carefully. Thankfully, he had a tremendous amount of resources as well as the support of powerful people. Thus, it was possible to pull it off even if he was under far greater scrutiny than he had ever been before in his entire life. His powerful mind had already burst into action, fleshing out a sophisticated plan to allow Kane to tag along with him.

It wasn't long before he sat Kane down, explaining all the details to him and what he needed to do with a flowchart, just for good measure.

"...and then we're done, got it?" Rui asked him.

"Yep yep, I got it," Kane nodded enthusiastically.

"...Let's go through it one more time."

It wasn't until half an hour later that Rui was convinced Kane fully understood the sophisticated and complicated multi-layered plan right down to the very letter. Kane was sharp, but Rui's plans were like mazes.

While Kane set off to begin fulfilling the plan that Rui had put together that could allow him to join Rui without anybody knowing, Rui continued on with his plan, taking his own measures.

"Are the preparations ready?" Rui asked his chief of staff.

"Perfectly, sir," she replied. "We have prepared the most luxurious and comfortable carriage for your journey to the Adventurer's Guild, as well as the finest staff to cater to your needs and all the other goods in storage as you specified. All that's left is for..."

RUMBLE

The world shook.

Rui turned, recognizing the sensation as heaven and earth bent under the weight of the new presence that had arrived at the carriage.

STEP

"Your Sagehood," Rui bowed lightly, greeting the Sloth Sage. "I am grateful for your services. I look forward to journeying with you."

"Hm, let's get this over with," he yawned sleepily. "This looks like it's a comfortable carriage to get some sleep in."

"It is," Rui smiled. "I prepared it with you in mind."

"Well, well, then, I shall gladly partake in it."

This time around, Rui had decided to travel with the Sloth Sage as the sole member of his security detail. Naturally, it meant more work for him, but he was strangely understanding this time, much to the Martial Union's surprise.

It wasn't long before the final preparations were completed, and the enormous luxurious carriage set off into motion, ascending into the air as it bypassed any traffic on the streets of the Kandrian Empire.

BOOM!

It produced a sonic boom, crossing the sound barrier, and just a few hours later, it had already arrived at the western border of the Kandrian Empire, smoothly crossing it. He had already received authorization from the Kandrian Border Patrol Force, allowing for a smooth and hassle-free exit from the Kandrian Empire.

Rui heaved a sigh once they left the Kandrian Empire. He knew he wasn't going to come back any time soon.

The Sloth Sage had already dozed off, relaxing across one of the many wide seats in the spacious carriage.

"Aahhh…" Master Reina appeared out of thin air, relaxing on a seat opposite Rui. "Finally, I can release my technique."

Yet, she wasn't the only one that emerged.

THUD

Rui turned to one of the pieces of luggage in the storage compartment.

It was a human-sized box.

CLACK

"Huff…!" Kane gasped for air. "Man! That was rough!"

"Oh, we have an additional guest, do we?" Master Reina glanced at Kane, amused.

"Wait, who are you?" Kane tilted his head.

"I could ask you the same question." Master Reina huffed.

Rui had almost forgotten that these two had never met.

"Kane, Master Reina, my assassination teacher. Master Reina, Kane, my best friend," he quickly gestured to each of them introducing them to each other.

"Woah," Kane looked interest. "You're a Master assassin? Can you train me?"

"Depends," Master Reina shrugged nonchalantly. "Can you entertain me?"

"I have a good sense of humor, unlike him," Kane remarked.

"What a coincidence, so do I."

Rui tried to contest the assertions, but alas, he stood no chance against the newfound assassin duo.

The Sloth Sage snored the entire journey.