The Martial Unity

Rui closed the report document. He burnt both of them since he had already committed them to memory, he didn't want this document to be leaked.

('Wow...') He sat back, pondering all the information he had digested. He had wondered about the breakthrough to the Squire Realm for years. And now, he had finally learned about it.

('The question now is... How do I use this to my advantage?') He wondered.

The whole goal of pursuing this knowledge was to somehow exploit it to give himself an advantage by relying on his background and other unique circumstances.

He had already begun to think hard about the matter.

('There are only three ways this can benefit me. I gain an advantage that no other Martial Artist normally has, or I mitigate an advantage no other Martial Artist is able to, or I bolster existing benefits to a degree that no other Martial Artist is able to.') He quickly surmised. ('Or some combination of the three as well, I suppose. I should jot down the avenues where the is potential for benefit.')

The existing benefits of the Squire evolution breakthrough were, of course, obvious and straightforward. Vastly improved genetics for superhuman metabolic parameters. Though Rui wasn't entirely sure how he could maximize his benefits.

Create better cell-straining processes that are used to filter out the genetically most superior cells?

Rui shook his head. All of the cell-straining processes that were used to filter out the genetically inferior cells were based on esoteric technology. Rui could not really use his scientific background to replace them. He would need to either develop conventional technology in his world or familiarize himself intimately with esoteric technology which could not be done in a short amount of time. There was no point in wasting time chasing down that path with no guaranteed returns.

('What about mitigating the drawbacks and constraints or giving myself benefits in other avenues?') He wondered.

This wasn't as unfeasible.

The drawbacks and constraints of the Squire evolution process were the radiation dosage limit and the stamina constraints. If he could somehow mitigate these two drawbacks, then his evolution should boost him to a significantly higher degree than what would normally be expected.

His eyes lit up as a few ideas entered his mind. "Hehehe... This is going to be interesting."

He spent the rest of the day in his room refining his plans for the Squire evolution breakthrough.

A few days passed.

It had been nearly a month since the mission in the Commonwealth Duchy of Vinfrana ended. At that time, the information regarding the shocking mission had been disseminated to a much larger extent. A large number of people with any ears in the general intelligence networks of the Empire had learned of the feat of the five Martial Apprentices.

Many wondered if this feat would set new standards for Martial Apprentices.

Everybody knew that each generation of Martial Apprentices was stronger than the previous generation of Martial Apprentices. This was because of the higher quantity and quality of techniques and trainings. This would inevitably cause the average level of Martial Apprentices to rise. Across a few generations, the difference would become noticeable.

When Martial Artists grew too powerful, the Martial Union would have to set new standards. The Martial Artist grades would be readjusted to account for the increase in power. The grades would all jump up one step. Grade-ten Martial Artists would become Grade-nine Martial Artists and so on and so forth.

Historically, this change would be made only when it became painfully evident that the Martial Artist grades were painfully outdated. This usually happened when an era-defining genius performed a feat so ridiculously impressive that it became extremely clear that the Martial Artist grades needed to be readjusted.

Many suspected that Rui and his feat of leading a victory against a Martial Squire would be the trigger or at the very least a significant contributor to that trigger.

This only made him that much more alluring as a Martial Artist to the many clienteles of the Martial Union. Rui's inbox had been flooded with more than a hundred different personal commissions! He even received personal commissions from international clientele.

The commissions were as diverse as they were many. Ranging from more standard missions to odder and more unusual missions.

There was even a commission for a vial of his semen!

A commission that Rui had promptly refused on the spot.

Many in the Kandrian Empire had taken notice of him much more seriously than they did when he was merely the finalist in the Martial Contest.

The same could be said for the Martial Union. It was even more interested in him than anybody else. The Martial Sects dropped all pretenses and sent open invitations to him.

He got commissions from Martial Sects he didn't even know existed!

The Poison Sect, the Weapons Sect, and the Subterranean Sect.

Rui refused all the invitations, albeit with highly courteous and gratifying responses. He didn't want to piss off the Martial Sects.

He refused all but one.

The Symbiotic Sect.

He hadn't forgotten his interest in Symbiotic Martial Art techniques. Especially the fact that he likely had a high affinity with these techniques. He wanted to explore the possibility of him being able to benefit disproportionately due to a potential compatibility with these techniques. Problem was that he knew far too little about the techniques.

Although the Martial Academy did have symbiotic techniques, it wasn't nearly as extensive as he'd have hoped it would have been.

Thus, he had reached out to the individual who had invited him to Symbiotic Sect; Squire Grillogan.

If he expressed interest in symbiotic techniques, there was a pretty decent chance that Squire Grillogan would at the very least cooperate with him and help him out to increase the probability of Rui joining the Symbiotic Sect. It was practically a necessity if he had any hopes of Rui joining their Sect over any other larger Martial Sect in the Martial Union.