The Martial Unity

While the Emperor of Harmony arranged a conference with the leaders of human civilization to discuss the many changes that had happened in a very short period of time, Rui eventually opened his eyes several hours later.

He found himself gazing at the wooden ceiling of the luxurious bed frame he was in.

“Unfamiliar ceiling.”

The shadow of night darkened the entire room in silence, despite the presence of bodyguards and servants who waited on him twenty-four seven. He got up slowly, heaving a deep breath as he felt vigorous and energetic after a good, long sleep that followed a tiring and physically exhausting battle.

As well as an emotionally exhausting reunion with Amare.

His eyes darkened as he thought about his conversation with her.

It had gone worse than he could have ever hoped for.

Just the very thought of it put his heart in a vice.

And yet, he wasn’t sure it could have gone differently even if he tried.

He couldn’t control his emotions, and Amare was too empathic to miss the changes in how he felt about her.

Those series of events made the outcome inevitable beyond anything words could salvage.

He heaved a deep, shaky breath as he quickly refreshed himself in a bath and some morsel of prepared food, all while drowned in thought, thinking about everything that had happened.

He tried thinking about the true world.

He tried thinking about the wars that were bound to ensue.

He tried thinking about his newest training plans for adaptive evolution.

And yet, his mind returned to Amare time and time again.

Almost as if it refused to leave him alone until he made peace with his relationship with her.

“…I need to get out of here.”

After refreshing himself, he quickly departed from the Royal Quarters that had been prepared for him specifically, heading towards the Town of Hajin. It had been more than eleven years since he lasted visited the Town of Hajin; the last time he went that was before he departed for the Beast Domain with the other Martial Sages.

WHOOSH!

He shot through the darkness of the night sky above the Kandrian Empire, feeling a wave of euphoric pleasure as the cool winds of the night brushed against him gently, causing his Martial attire to flutter loosely.

There were countless people he needed to visit and speak to.

The people of Quarrier Town and the few remaining family and friends who knew him from when he was young.

He needed to speak to his old friends after a long, long time.

He needed to speak to the Silas Clan and to his grandmother.

He needed to speak to his Martial Artist colleagues.

He also needed to speak to his father more deeply about the future.

And yet, of all the people he needed to speak with, one person was at the very top of the list.

“You look surprisingly fit for someone who slept for more than a year, you know?” Kane muttered when he saw Rui descending from the night sky. “Like, I was picturing a bony, thin, atrophied body but I guess not.”

Rui smiled wryly at Kane as he slowly descended from the sky, landing near the grass.

“Kane.”

“Bring it in, man.”

The two of them exchanged a bear hug.

Kane frowned as he studied Rui, pulling away from him.

“Are you okay? You look like you just broke up with a girlfriend.”

“…”

“Damn, did that hit too close to home? Speaking of too close to home…” Kane glanced around, studying the Town of Hajin and all its glowing lights in the darkness from a great elevation. “Why the hell are we meeting on top of a damn mountain outside of Hajin again?”

“Because we would never get the peace of day if we chose to meet up in the town,” Rui heaved a sigh. “My hair is way too prominent, and I’m really not in the state of mind to use misdirection effectively.”

He heaved a deep, shaky breath.

Kane raised an eyebrow.

“What happened, dude?”

Rui heaved another deep sigh before narrating the entire story to Kane, who patiently listened with an almost fascinated expression.

“So, let me get this straight…” Kane gazed at Rui with a dubious gaze. “The love of your life for whom you went as far as to freaking resurrect now reunited with you, and you stopped loving her because she changed?”

Rui heaved a sigh with a lost gaze.

“Not exactly.”

“It sure does sound like that to me.”

“She said she was Esil,” Rui insisted. “Like, literally the Progenitor of Martial Art. That is who she believes she actually is and who actually lived and relived until she became her.”

Kane frowned. “But she isn’t actually Esil, right?”

Rui threw a dubious glance at Kane. “That’s a philosophical question, but no, she isn’t Esil physically or materially or in any causal manner. At the same time…”

He heaved yet another deep sigh. “…she has attained Enlightenment of Self. Which means her statement is accurate.”

“Ah…” Kane’s eyes lit up with a hint of understanding of the dilemma that Rui was going through. “And you don’t love Esil at all?”

“Of course not!” Rui’s tone grew frustrated. “I don’t even know her. I know literally nothing about her personally. How can I love a woman who died more than six hundred years ago?”

Kane scratched his scraggly chin and its five o’clock shadow, which he had come to maintain for facial hair. “Is she, like, ninety-percent Amare and ten-percent Esil? Because I’d just take what I can get if it’s a small difference.”

Rui shook his head. “She said she was Amare and Esil. And her behavior reflects that. Considering that she lived and relived her memories in the darkness of her mind for eons, I’m not surprised. But…”

He heaved a shaky breath. “When I think of her being ’Esil,’ that is what affects me the most. I don’t love Esil, and I can’t pretend I love Esil. I do love Amare, but when I see the steely, dark ambition for power in her otherwise bright eyes. I just…”

His voice faltered.

The air grew heavy as a deafening silence bore down on the atmosphere.