The Martial Unity

2544  A Potential Revolution n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"The Ministry of Research and Development has recently signed many R&D partnership projects with many labs and companies to immediately begin the development of this new industry," Julian informed Rui. "On top of that, an entirely new division has been created within the Department of Martial Technology centered entirely around MECHAs. Frankly, it's rather shocking that such an invention came out of nowhere and has now taken the empire's tech sector by storm."

He glanced at Rui expectantly.

"It was the Esoterist," Rui relented.

"Of course…" Julian's eyes lit up with interest. "That does make sense. It was a possibility that I considered."

He turned towards Rui. "You don't seem to harbor any negativity towards MECHAs. Max and Mana were livid when they learned about it. The same was true for the other Squires and Apprentices of the Quarrier Village."

Rui smiled wryly. "Well, let's just say that a threat to Martial Art could very well be exactly what I need to progress. The stronger I get, the less my interests and the interests of other Martial Artists are in line. I would love nothing more than something absolutely crushing to the existing Martial paradigms."

Julian huffed, shaking his head. "You are probably the only Martial Artist who has ever wished for something like that."

Rui shrugged. He couldn't be bothered if it would be disastrous to every other Martial Artist in the world. He just wanted more fuel for adaptive evolution.

"I, for one, welcome the introduction of MECHA Martial Artists," Julian remarked. "They may be more powerful, but they are also inevitably easier to control."

Rui glanced at Julian with a raised eyebrow. "Interesting that you bring that up."

Julian heaved a sigh. "Not every Martial Artist possesses the self-control, humility, and moral standards that you do, Rui. At this point, you have spent an overwhelming majority of your life as a Martial Artist, so I'm not surprised that you can't relate to it, but there is a real fear that all normal people have around Martial Artists. It is a deep sense of powerlessness and fear. Especially for lower ranked Martial Artists who are, strangely enough, more likely to abuse their Martial Art against random people compared to Martial Artists of the Upper Realms."

Rui stirred at his words.

He was right. Rui had absolutely no idea what that felt like. There were only twenty-eight people in the entire Kandrian Empire who could plausibly or definitively defeat him.

While the Beast Incursion was extremely dangerous in its scope, with his current level of power, there was probably no individual beast or monster in the beast tide raging against the border of the Kandrian Empire that possessed the power to defeat him.

It was precisely this sterile sense of safety that was driving him away from the Kandrian Empire.

"With MECHA Martial Artists, even though their absolute power will be far, far greater than other Martial Artists, they are still easier to control because they depend on the industry and civilization to not just procure their MECHA, but also to maintain, store, and upgrade it," Julian remarked. "A MECHA is not portable like a sword, for example. This can be leveraged against MECHA Martial Artists and they can be deprived of their power, unlike conventional Martial Artists whose power cannot be deprived from them ever."

Rui nodded at Julian's words. He was not a MECHA Martial Artist, so he had no care for these disadvantages even if he knew that all leaders around the world, including his father, would most certainly abuse this feature to control Martial Artists.

"We could potentially see a shift in power away from Martial Artists and back to the state."

Two Martial revolutions in the Age of Martial Art had led to a state where Martial Artists were the most powerful individuals in the entire world as far as political power went, having successfully seized power away from the state.

The first revolution was the Squire revolution that freed Martial Artists from what was essentially slavery, while the second one was the revolution that his father had averted. The same revolution that had destroyed much of human civilization and paved the path for the Kandrian Empire to soar above almost all other nations while they were still recovering from the devastating civil wars.

A third one could occur, shifting power away from Martial Artists and back to the state.

"That's something for the distant future, if such a thing does happen," Julian remarked. "I think it will ensure that the Martial Artists become more firmly integrated into human civilization rather than staying aloof as they often do. And, on top of that, they will become even stronger. The combination of the full potential of esoteric technology and human potential can lead to some truly miraculous possibilities, as far as I'm concerned."

He glanced at Rui. "Do you fear being rendered obsolete?"

A challenging smile appeared on Rui's face. "I look forward to any and all attempts in that regard. Like I said, I don't identify with the sentiments that the average Martial Artist faces when it comes to MECHAs. It is good for Martial Art, all things considered, for more powerful weapons to displace old and obsolete ones, although I certainly understand the alarm that existing Martial Artists might experience in that regard. It isn't something I care about."

His smile deepened. "A weapon so powerful it can bridge the gap between Realms. Now that is something that excites me."

This attitude of his was the result of simply being too strong too much of the time. Too strong for people in his own Realm and a bit too weak for Martial Artists of the next Realms. Rui had spent much time in this limbo phase between Realms where he was just too strong to face any resistance.

He looked forward to a weapon that was so strong it could render him as average.

"Not that I would ever allow myself to remain that way," Rui huffed. "Project Water will never complete until I am able to dismantle MECHAs effortlessly."

-