The Martial Unity

The Kingdom of Dermile, like the Commonwealth Duchy of Vinfrana, did not possess any Martial Squire or Martial Artists of higher Realms, thus the strongest Martial Artists in the kingdom were Martial Apprentices. The twelve Martial Apprentices assigned to the king's immediate security and protection were elite. They were almost all grade ten Martial Apprentices by the Martial Union's evaluation, barring two grade nine sensory Martial Apprentices.

Furthermore, their specialties were well-picked. There were three mid-range specialists, five close-range defense class Martial Apprentices, and two close-range offense specialists. A reasonable balance between protection and counter-offense to eliminate any threat to the king.

Meaning it was absolutely impossible for a Martial Apprentice to complete the mission. Frankly, Rui didn't think even back when he was a Martial Apprentice could succeed in attacking and killing the king in a direct head-on attempt. If he was still a Martial Apprentice, he most likely would not be able to crack the sheer amount of defense and counter-offense that the king possessed.

('This would be much harder than when I was ganged up on by the anti-me teams that the three super-nations had put together in the Serevian Dungeon.') Rui mused.

Back then, he had been attacked by ten Martial Apprentices, and he had won using the chaos of the war. He had also spent a huge amount of time just trying to survive, whereas this time he would need to actively break through and directly overwhelm twelve powerful Martial Apprentices.

Of course, it wasn't impossible, but it didn't particularly matter.

('Because I'm no longer a Martial Apprentice, I'm a Martial Squire.') Rui smiled.

Martial Apprentices were simply not a threat to him unless he was beset by many dozens of the strongest Martial Apprentices with perfect coordination and teamwork and well-balanced Martial Art.

He quickly brushed up on all the other details that he needed to know, adding all of them to his Mind Palace. There wasn't anything left to do, the mission was supposed to be commenced immediately, and the clientele had requested a meeting with him prior to the commencement of the mission.

He quickly headed down to the utility department of the Martial Union. This was the place where Martial Artists purchased the necessary gear and equipment needed for their missions. Rui had grown accustomed to purchasing stocks of the standard regular necessities.

"One Skydrop healing potion and four Sunspark rejuvenation potions please," Rui told one of the attending staff of one of the potion stores.

Unlike the Martial Art library, this department wasn't filled with products that were developed and owned by the Martial Union and Martial Artists. The Martial Union was not involved in the industries and sectors surrounding the gear and equipment that Martial Artists generally used. After all, almost all of them had no exclusive connection with Martial Art.

Anyone could use a potion, anyone could use a compass, a monocular, rope, etc. In fact, a vast majority of the consumer market for these items were not Martial Artists, which were only a small portion of the consumer market.

Thus, the Martial Artists purchased the things they needed, as recommended and mandated by the Martial Union from other private and public manufacturers.

The Martial Union allowed the largest and the most popular companies and brands to set up a branch outlet inside the utility department of each Martial Union branch., allowing Martial Artists to be able to purchase the equipage they needed for their mission out of reach of prying eyes that could use the potentially sensitive information maliciously.

Rui even wore his mask for good measure when procuring cheap but useful potions from a popular brand.

And soon enough, it was time to be dispatched. Rui filled up some of the registration and checkout paperwork before setting out in the direction of the Kingdom of Dermile.

The Dermile Kingdom was three hundred kilometers northwest of the Kandrian Empire. It was a great distance for ordinary humans, a significant distance for Martial Apprentices.

But for a Martial Squire like himself, it wasn't more than a warmup.

Fortunately, the border of the Kandrian Empire through the shortest route to the Kingdom of Dermile was also quite close.

He immediately took to the air, escalating as he stepped higher and higher, basking in the euphoric sensation that sky walking gave him. The only disadvantage of sky walking was that it was slower than walking on solid land, far slower. He could not travel massive distances in a very short amount of time like he did when he was on the ground.

Still, considering the fact that the Kandrian Empire was too populated to run too fast without committing mass murder and that he really enjoyed sky walking, he didn't mind the delay. King Fujilin was certainly going nowhere, not until Rui killed him himself.

It was only after he passed the transit port, wisely not sky-walking past the border to run into the Kandrian Border Patrol Force, that he landed on hard ground.

BOOM!

The very atmosphere recoiled as a sonic boom rippled past it. He sped at such a rapid speed that the ground, along with the sound barrier, broke with every step.

A little under fifteen minutes.

That's how long it took him to reach the Kingdom of Dermile.

He saw the paltry fence that ran along the perimeter of the Kingdom of Dermile. It was a pitiful and sorry excuse for border security, even a child could infiltrate the country. He simply walked past it, not even bothering to avoid breaking it as he simply trampled it under his feet.

If the Kingdom itself didn't give a fuck, which should he?

He quickly infiltrated and put on his mind mask, reducing his presence to that of an ordinary seventeen-year-old boy. Before traveling to the location where the clientele had requested a meeting at. Although the request had come from the official client, Rui had no doubt that he would be meeting his true client in this meeting.