The Martial Unity

“Fae…” Rui’s expression grew sorrowful. “I’m sorry for your loss. I’m sorry that you have to lose your grandmother. I can’t imagine what you and your family must be feeling right now.”

She gazed at him with swollen red eyes.

Her long silver hair was let down unadorned and untied.

She had donned black Martial Attire just like the rest of her Martial Family, who was busy hosting the cremation ceremony of the late Sage Lamira Dullahan.

Outwardly, she displayed reserved sorrow.

She also projected strength.

As the daughter of the new patriarch of the Dullahan Family, she was burdened with the duty of ensuring that the Dullahan Family was not perceived as weak and vulnerable.

Especially because they were weak and vulnerable.

Yet, before one of her childhood friends, she was unable to maintain her facade.

“Rui…” A faint whisper escaped her. “Thank you for coming. It means the world to me that you would put aside all your responsibilities and burdens just to make time for me.”

Her grateful tone also made him feel more guilty.

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t be there sooner.” Rui’s tone was forlorn. “I know that I’m not as… close to everybody as I was before. But I will never fail to be there for my friends when they need me. That, I swear on everything that I hold precious.”

The determination in his tone was unmistakable.

A bittersweet smile emerged on her face amidst her grief as she leaned in for a light hug. He could feel more of her pain through the gesture than he could through his Martial Mind. Yet, she immediately collected herself, mindful of the eyes on her.

Rui got a good look at her for the first time in years.

While Rui still retained a youthful physicality and mindset, she had grown to appear and feel more mature than he did as a result of having broken through to the Senior Realm in her later thirties.

It was a highly optimistic growth rate by most standards.

She undoubtedly experienced the weight of expectations as being one of the future pillars of the Dullahan Family.

This was especially the case when she was playing a role in a funeral that was filled with bigshots of the Kandrian Empire, including the Emperor of Harmony and the original ten Martial Sages of the Sage Council who had known the Hugging Hegemon the best. None of them would dare to miss the funeral.

She had played her role perfectly, projecting power and a bright future for the Dullahan Family even as she spoke to the most powerful figures of the Kandrian Empire. She truly was the model heir to the Dullahan Family, poised to succeed as matriarch perhaps centuries in the future after her father either passed away or stepped down. The entire funeral went without a hitch

“Can we speak privately?” She hesitated. “I have something important that I wish to consult you about, if I may.”

“…Of course.”

Soon enough, they found themselves in an isolated courtyard.

The air grew heavy in the silent atmosphere.

“…I’m sure that you already know why I have called you here,” she began softly.

Rui simply stared at her back as she gazed at the full moon.

“I… I need power.”

He wasn’t surprised.

Of course she needed power.

The Dullahan Family had just lost a Martial Sage.

That was a tremendous plummet in power.

Of course, the other Martial Sages had too much affection and respect for the late Hugging Hegemon to ever press the falling Martial Family, but that did not mean that their descendants and their own families would not use it to displace the power and influence that the Martial Family had accrued.

Rui understood these dynamics well, and it was why he had steered clear of the Martial community of the Kandrian Empire. It was a cesspool that he had no desire to set foot in. The horror stories that Kane, Fiona, and Fae herself had told him made him feel very grateful that he had grown up in the loving Quarrier Orphanage.

He had received countless marriage proposals from the most prominent families formed by the Sages and the powerful Martial Masters and he pretended like they didn’t even exist. His staff dealt with them diplomatically enough so that he wouldn’t get in trouble.

“…I hate to break it to you Fae…” Rui replied. “But if you want power, you will have to earn every ounce of it by cultivating it yourself. There are no shortcuts to power.”

She turned to him with a sharp gaze. “…Except there are.”

Rui’s expression crumpled as he realized that she understood what he was capable of. “Fae…” “You helped Prince Raijun reach the Squire Realm by refining his Martial Art for him,” she continued with even greater intensity. “I want you to do the same for me.”

He wasn’t surprised that she had found out, considering that her family had been part of the Raijun Faction for a long time.

“I need power, Rui.” Her tone was urgent. “My Family, my sect, they have grown weak after my grandmother’s noble sacrifice. The Martial World is cruel. My grandmother’s deeds benefit everyone, yet that won’t stop everyone from chipping away at our dwindling power and influence.”

“Fae…”

“There’s a limit to how much my parents can do.” A hint of desperation appeared in her tone. “We need as many Martial Masters as possible.”

“Listen…”

“I need to break through sooner than later,” she urged. “I need to inspire people’s faith in my potential. I need them to look at me and just know that I will reach great heights. The way they look at you and Kane.”

A hint of envy crept into her tone.

It was more than just envy.

He could bitterness in her mind.

And even a hint of resentment deep down.

It wasn’t pleasant, yet, he didn’t hold it against her.

There used to be a time when she had been regarded just as well as Rui and Kane had been,

more than two decades ago in the academy.