The Martial Unity



"Take care man," Kane clasped his hand in a partial hug. "Don't get lost."

"Will do," Rui smirked. "Figure out your path forward."

"I will," Kane nodded. "Good luck.

Just like that, the two of them split ways. Kane was number one on the list of two people that Rui would be seeing off.

"You have collected all the documentation you need, correct?" Senior Sarak asked.

Rui nodded.

He was referring to information surrounding Senior Xanarn's condition. Rui had memorized all the information surrounding her condition, but he also had a copy of the information in case he needed it to have a third party verify that whatever solution he was considering on acquiring was actually able to treat and cure Senior Xanarn.

"Good, before you leave, I have something for you," Senior Sarak noted as he reached for a drawer in his desk, pulling out a well-crafted badge with the symbol of the Floating Sect engraved on top of it.

"This…" Rui murmured as he studied it.

"It makes you an official ambassador of the Floating Sect," Senior Sarak smiled. "It means that you may wield the name of the Floating Sect to fulfill the objective centering Senior Xanarn."

Rui raised an eyebrow.

That was a considerable amount of trust. Senior Sarak was giving Rui a lot of power that could be misused to bring harm to the sect. For example, if Rui ran around making powerful enemies in the name of the Floating Sect while wearing that badge, the Floating Sect would suffer greatly as it would end up gaining more enemies for absolutely no fault of its own.

This kind of power was normally given to highly qualified and trusted diplomats. 

Rui hadn't ever disclosed to anyone that he had undergone diplomatic training and had been deemed a qualified foreign service officer by the standards of the Kandrian Martial Union, so Senior Sarak did not have much of a foundation to place such trust in Rui.

However, Rui wasn't a fool. Although it seemed as though this gesture was one that indicated deep trust, it was actually the other way around.

It was to get Rui to trust the sect with this gesture.

He could tell that Senior Sarak was keen on making Rui join the sect on a more permanent and committed basis. However, the Floating Sect by its nature was loose. It was scarily meritocratic and the cost of not being as competitive as external competition that sought a spot in the sect was death.

It meant that it was hard to get guardians to truly consider the sect their home. Home was not a place that watched its residents die at the hands of outsiders.

That was no home, that was a battlefield.

It was that trait that hampered emotional investment.

And for the most part, it was fine for the sect and functioned just perfectly. It was a highly effective way to maintain quality standards and was one of the reasons that the Floating Sect was unshakable in the war when it came to Squire-level conflict.

However, there also were talents who shined so bright that they were worth anchoring to the sect no matter what.

Tokugawa Ieyasu was one such guardian who was worth investing in the island. Rui was most certainly another of similar value. Rui was sure that Kane too fell in this category.

He had made sure Kane understood this and was entirely cognizant of the manners in which they would try to integrate him into the sect.

He wasn't sure how well Kane would be able to handle such things without Rui's presence, but he had already decided to distance himself from Kane for some time and let him handle his own problems by himself.

Regardless, trying to get Rui to have greater faith in the Floating Sect for expressing so much trust in him when they handed him the keys to their political capital. By giving him that power, he was sort of conditioning him to get used to it and normalize possessing and using that power, making him less inclined to leave the sect in fear of losing that normalized power.

He didn't necessarily fault Senior Sarak for employing such means to try and get Rui to become attached to the sect. At the end of the day, the man was a leader of a powerful force and had to look out for its interests, including but not limited to securing incredible talents.

It was simply unfortunate for him that even this degree of manipulation was too crude and elementary to work on the likes of Rui. 

"I appreciate the aid and trust that you are showing me by giving me this power," Rui replied with a smile. "I will make sure to use it to help Senior Xanarn."

The man nodded. "I look forward to that. Good luck."

That was the last person on the list that he was supposed to see off.

Yet it appeared that there was one person who wanted to see him off before he left.

"I believe this is the first time we've actually spoken, guardian Ieyasu," Rui offered the strongest Martial Squire of the Floating Sect a nod. 

The man had interrupted Rui just before he was about to leave the island.

"What do you want from me?" Rui asked impatiently.

The man stared at Rui silently for a few seconds.

Rui had to admit that his passive aura possessed a depth that he found hard to understand. It was no wonder that he had momentarily mistook him for a Martial Senior the first time they stood in each other's presence.

"Uhh…" Rui tilted his head at the silent man. "How can I hel-"

"You… are the answer," He spoke softly.

Rui's eyes widened as he unleashed a maelstrom of pressure.

Ieyasu's eyes narrowed. "You are the answer. You are the final piece of the puzzle. You are the final step I must take to reach a higher Realm of power."