The Martial Unity

A week passed since Rui entered the Mellow Dungeon. The two men had developed a bit of a routine where they spent most of the day investigating the dungeon.

The biggest time-consuming factor was the fact that Rui insisted on collecting all the data on a species before they were ready to move on to another species. The only times he didn't was when he confirmed that the species had yet to even crack the Senior Realm.

This meant that even if they faced Apprentice-level species, Rui would painstakingly develop predictive and SOUL models on all of them. What would have otherwise been a millisecond's work to wipe out a weaker species had been stretched to about an hour's work.

That was one of the reasons that their job took longer than Kane would have liked.

However, Rui had been crystal clear.

Safety was paramount this time.

He didn't mind spending an entire year on reconnaissance if that was what it took.

"…I have several templates of a strategy in mind," Rui stoically told Kane one time after they returned from their reconnaissance of the Mellow Dungeon. "I don't know which one will end up being the chosen strategy, but even based on the data that I have collected thus far, there are several possibilities. The first that comes to mind is the trance-release plan."

"Trance-release?"

"…Yeah," Rui quietly replied as his dark eyes sharpened. "Trance-release plan. It's a model of a plan that involves gaining access to the core entity maintaining the Mellow Manifold. As the name suggests, we break the trance on all the creatures, including the Master-level creature at the core of the Mellow Dungeon. Once they break out of their trance, there's a good chance that they will stray from their previous roles and habitats."

"Oh, your plan is to use that to get the Master-level creature away from the core of the dungeon by breaking it out of the trance that it was in?"

Rui nodded impassively. "There's a good chance that the creature will cease protecting the core if we break it out of its trance."

"How would we do that?"

"…That is the tricky part," Rui's stoic voice grew more severe. "However, I know that my hypnosis is partially effective on Master-level creatures."

When he accidentally cast the Tree of Life hypnosis on the populace of the Garden of Salvation, it had been effective even on Master-level creatures. Naturally, they were the least affected by it, certainly not nearly as impacted as the Senior-level creatures were, for instance.

"…However, it wasn't ineffective, either," Rui frostily remarked. "That means there exists a certain non-zero probability that I can break the Master-level creatures out of their trance."

The fact that Rui was able to, to any extent, impact a Master-level creature was rather surprising to him in hindsight. After all, his hypnosis would bounce off of a Martial Master, unable to budge them.

It made one thing crystal clear.

Martial Masters were of a far higher caliber fundamentally. It was no wonder that despite being far fewer in number, they were able to rival the net entirety of Master-level fauna and flora.

They were built different.

"But if it's only partially effective, that means you cannot go all the way by yourself in most cases, right?"

"…Correct, that is why I would approach the Divine Doctor for his cooperation in the event I choose to go for this plan," Rui impassively replied. "He clearly has the ability to concoct some powerful drugs and steroids. I'm sure he can whip up something that can potentially aid in breaking the trance."

Kane nodded as he came to appreciate Rui's plan.

He had initially been dumbfounded at trying to overcome a Master-level threat with sheer brains alone, but Rui had shown him how it was done. He provided a viable plan that wasn't patently absurd and was not unrealistic in its expectation that they could break out of the dungeon through it.

"I have many other ideas, but they will need fleshing out before I present them to anybody," Rui impassively stated. "Additionally, our data is still incomplete, so I will continue adapting our plans to suit our circumstances."

His eyes sharpened. "While all this tangential information collecting will be quite significant, the most significant source of intelligence will be our given target itself. I don't think we need a plan for any of the other creatures, and we can just eliminate them one by one."

Rui had reached such an astonishing degree of power that nothing short of a Master-level beast was beyond his ability. It was almost an insult to even call him a Martial Senior at this stage. If he ran into quasi-Master-level beasts, he would leap into battle without any fear for his life.

That was especially true in a dungeon that was filled with tranced monsters and beasts. The ease of employing the SOUL System had risen tremendously. Before, he was often delayed because of complications arising from timing the domain application correctly. Now, he could start collecting SOUL data far prior to what he normally would be able to do.

"In this dungeon, I am far stronger than I would be outside."

"Yeah, it's sort of like what the Thundering Valley was to me," Kane turned towards him with a curious look in his eyes. "But you don't seem to like it."

"I am pleased that it increases the probability of our escape, however…" Rui closed his eyes. "I don't like it for my long-

term progress."

"Why not?"

"Because, unfortunately, I don't live in a world where all my opponents are in a trance before the fight begins," Rui impassively replied with a displeased tone. "Spending more time in this place will make me weaker, not stronger."

Of course, it felt good. Rui couldn't deny that with a straight face. Yet, it was that that worried him. If he spent too much time here, he would grow accustomed to not having to use Soul Void and be completely blindsided when he returned back to reality.

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