The Martial Unity

Rui sat there, trying not to let his ego get stoked as she started glazing him.

"…It has been confirmed by Martial Masters that his capacity for thought is so high that he had developed a nascent Martial Mind prototype at the age of fourteen when he broke through to the Apprentice Realm," she remarked.

This revelation sent a visible wave of shock across almost all the Martial Seniors.

As fellow high-grade Martial Seniors who had been in the Senior Realm for decades and centuries, they each understood how arduous the task of making any progress with the Martial Mind was.

"What…?" The Thunder Viper whispered. "That's absurd!"

Not even the Maneater or the Suffocator could maintain their composure at those words as they stared at the masked woman with shock.

"All of what I have uttered is verified and vetted information," M remarked. "He is a prodigy the likes of which this world has never seen. He may be the most thought-gifted Martial Artist in the history of Martial Art. His potential is considered to be immeasurable. His contributions to Martial Art exceed that of even accomplished Martial Masters. A force that will change Martial Art forever…"

M paused for a moment. "…That is Rui Quarrier. And it is the most important thing to note about him. Do not underestimate him due to his youth and thus weaker Martial Body and Heart. What he lacks in body, he makes up for, and then some with thought. You will be facing a monster of mind who will fight with a degree of strategic and tactical saturation that you likely have never faced before."

"Is that why you have taken such extravagant measures to take him down?" Thunder Viper raised an eyebrow. "Even if he is a grade-thirteen Martial Senior this young, this is overkill."

He gestured to all the assassins that had been gathered in the room.

"We cannot afford any mistakes," M remarked. "To ensure that nothing can possibly go wrong, we have taken every possible precaution, no matter how excessive."

She turned back to the screen. "Now, the other pertinent matter to address. Adaptive evolution. That is his stated Martial Path. Based on our rigorous research, it is a philosophy of combat that, as the name suggests, involves change in his combat that is antithetical to his opponent in any and every way."

"Adaptive evolution…" The Suffocator's voice sounded intrigued.

"However, there are certain caveats," M remarked. It has been identified that he requires information or time to evolve adaptively. In this case, we endeavor to give him neither. That is why we encourage you to ensure that you do not prolong the assassination. The longer it goes, the lower the probability that you will succeed."

The assassins nodded. None of them wanted to face a target that grew stronger with time and allow him the time he needed to survive their assassination attempts.

"I wonder if he can adaptively evolve to me," The Maneater remarked.

Rui didn't respond, of course.

"The details of his known techniques are contained in the information packages that we have provided you," M remarked. "You may go through them in your own time."

She touched up a bit more on the feats that he had accomplished. She was singing praises of his contribution to the Serevian Dungeon War and his accomplishments in the Shionel Dungeon.

"…That is who you're up against. That… is Rui Quarrier," She concluded.

"Heh," A smile saturated with bloodlust emerged on the Thunder Viper's face.

The air crumpled under the sheer maleficent bloodlust of the high-grade assassin. "I can't wait to kill him."

"As mentioned, those reports and analyses we provided you contain everything you need."

"Hah," The Thunder Viper tossed it away. "I believe what I see. I will gather everything I need to know myself."

M didn't respond to that. "That brings us an end to the briefing. Now, if there are no objections, we shall sign the contract. Each of your contracts has been personalized to the personal demands that you've made prior to coming to the Kandrian Empire."

A stack of sheets was handed to Rui, who promptly skimmed through all the terms and conditions.

Frankly, there was only one clause he gave a damn about.

[Persuant to clause six, in the event of a successful assassination as expounded in clause one by Party B notwithstanding the condition of the cadaver, Party A hereby undertakes that it will divulge its true identity in person, with documented proof and evidence of the truth of said identity prior to the handover of the corpse as specified in clause one.]

This was what he cared about. The identity of the one behind these assassinations. Half of the reasons for all of his deductions, plans, and machination thus far were for the sake of the ones who sought to kill him.

'I can't wait,' Rui mused.

Yet he may not have had to.

This was not the extent of his machinations.

"With that, this briefing comes to an end," M remarked. "The assassination is precisely in two weeks. Please follow the pre-

operation protocols that we agreed upon prior to the assassination. Any failure to comply with them will result in an immediate voiding of the commission as specified in the contract. We cannot afford any mistakes."

Immediately, like clockwork, the staff team immediately began packing as the various instruments folded into portable carry-alongs. In just a minute, the entire place was cleaned up of any evidence that they were there.

"Farewell," M lightly remarked before the entire team disappeared.

'A stealth Martial Master…' Rui narrowed his eyes. 'I bet nowhere near as good as Master Reina, though. Still, more than enough to evade my senses.'

Yet a smile emerged on his face. '…Enough to evade my senses in the present, at least. But the past…'

"They didn't even bother telling us to leave," Thunder Viper snorted, getting up. "I guess they just wanted to leave without leaving any trace more than anything. Paranoid bunch, aren't they?"

"I suppose that means we can remain here until the assassination," the Maneater smiled. "An unnecessary arrangement."

Yet despite that, none of them remained to stay, getting up to leave.