The Martial Unity

Even as a Martial Apprentice, he was blindingly fast to normal humans, as a Martial Squire, normal humans were so slow in his eyes that they were no different from statues. It was as though he gained the ability to slow down and freeze time. Knocking him out without anyone noticing was an extremely simple and easy task.

The crowd didn't even suspect a thing.

"He drank himself out."

"The young master is a wretched drunkard who abuses his power."

"Well, at least he didn't hurt anybody this time."

Those words affirmed Rui's deductions about the man. He was clearly a local and a resident of the area, most certainly not a newcomer Martial Apprentice associated with the Lowminers. It seemed even his drinking and harassment weren't uncommon.

It was an odd sight to Rui. Yet it showed him how much better the Kandrian Empire was. Martial Artists weren't allowed to run around hurting people with impunity. While it was true that the sentencing penalties for violence were light, this wasn't because of class privilege, but it was because Martial Artists were a crucial part of the state and were too important and valuable to be wasted rotting behind bars for a decade.

Of course, this didn't mean they got away scot-free. They usually signed an agreement with the Martial Union or the Kandrian government where they worked free of cost for certain degrees of limited freedom, depending on how severe their crime was.

This was the way that the Kandrian government and the Martial Union punished Martial Artists that crossed the line while also exploiting them for free Martial labor. It was a ruthless but clever system that squeezed Martial Artists of their value. Not only were no resources wasted in imprisoning Martial Artists in special prisons meant to withstand even the massively superhuman power that Martial Artists were capable of exerting, but positive utility was obtained from such an arrangement.

The only reason Martial Artists didn't complain was that the deal was still much better than being imprisoned. Thus, it was ultimately a win-win for everybody involved.

The Kingdom of Violis was much different in that regard, it seemed. For half a second, Rui considered killing the Martial Apprentice, yet quickly reigned in that thought. It drew too much attention, especially as the young Martial Artist appeared to be the son of someone important. It might also alert his target.

He immediately walked away from the scene inconspicuously, before resuming his search.

The good thing was that there wasn't a large population of Martial Apprentices for him to have to work with. Of course, this was to be expected.

The rate of breakthroughs of human beings into the Apprentice Realm was one in a thousand, roughly speaking. Only 0.001% of the population of a country was a Martial Artist, after all.

In time, he ran into yet another.

This time, the chances were much more optimistic. He maintained a decently low profile, did not employ his power recklessly, and did not draw attention unnecessarily through any other means.

('This seems like a good shot,') Rui thought optimistically. He memorized the man's seismic signature and began tailing him from a distance. Thankfully, he could tail him even with a large distance between them thanks to Seismic Mapping. There was absolutely no risk of being caught for tailing him due to the sheer distance between them.

The man took his time, slowly navigating through the bustling crowd. Yet to Rui's surprise, he was heading away from the commercial areas of the town, heading closer up north. To Rui's dismay, this reduced the probability of him being associated with the Lowminers.

And he was proven right.

The man entered a residential area and eventually walked into a house. He was greeted by a woman carrying a child. Rui sighed as they exchanged embraces, walking back down to the south of the town. The man was clearly a local, and not someone who had migrated to the country extremely recently.

He ran into a lot of duds, far more than he had expected.

Some of these Martial Apprentices were earnestly shopping, others were commissioned to act as a bodyguard by a client, escorting her around as she shopped.

Rui had almost given up hope when he detected one more Martial Apprentice just up ahead in the distance.

It was only after he made he got a glimpse of his face did his eyes widen.

A masked man, one that looked nearly identical to the one that had separated Rui from Bella on his first mission many years ago.

('That bastard...') Rui's eyes narrowed.

He hadn't expected that he would verify a member of the Lowminer gang this fast after detecting a Martial Apprentice.

('I've hit the lottery. I just need to follow this guy back to wherever he goes and I'll find the base of operations of the Lowminers.')

Rui had no intention of letting him go. He would lead him to the base of operations, and he would pay for making Rui fail to protect Bella Hier.

Rui was on max alert as he made sure to follow the Martial Apprentice from a distance as inconspicuously as he possibly could. He wound about through the alleys of the bustling marketplace before he entered the flowering district. A large group of shops with flowers and bouquets set up on the top.

('This is it.') Rui nodded.

This place was it. Not just because the Martial Apprentice had entered it, but also because Rui could sense an underground layout with activity coming from under through Seismic Mapping.

He was about seventy-percent certain that this place was the actual base of operations or one of the bases of operations. It had a limited underground layout that probably served as the inventory for drugs

But Rui wasn't primarily interested in the base of operations as much as he was interested in the ringleader, who actually was the target of his mission.

('Alright then...') Rui wondered. ('What exactly to do now?')