The Martial Unity

Time passed as Ria grew up just as fast as they feared. One moment, she was just eight months old.

The very next moment, she celebrated her first birthday with friends and family. Her hair grew longer and thicker as she began losing her baby fat, while her height continued going up. Her speech continued to grow more and more sophisticated and definitive as her vocabulary expanded. All the milestones of a growing baby came sooner than they expected and left quicker than they hoped as she displayed extraordinary qualities all around. Her golden hair became more radiant, resembling that of her late grandfather’s, while her amber eyes grew richer, becoming like those of her mother’s.

Rui and Amare tried their best to live in every moment as they watched her grow.

But before they knew it, five years had passed since her birth.

“Papa, we’re going to play in the forest, don’t follow us!”

Ria placed her hands on her waist, glaring at her father in an adorable manner. Her clothes were those of a pretty, but simple dress, comprising colorful tops and leggings underneath a skirt. It complimented her golden hair and amber eyes well, contrasting with her light olive skin. Her cheeks had lost much of their plump baby fat in the five years since her birth, causing her face to grow more lean, making her look less infantile.

Her little shoes were caked in mud from playing running around in the Quarrier Orphanage, while her neatly combed hair was messed up from the effort, prompting Amare to come over to comb it.

“It’s ok, mama!” She insisted vainly as Amare tidied up her appearance. “There, there, our precious angel looks so pretty!” Amare cooed at her, kissing her on the forehead.

She huffed with a hint of indignation before turning back to Rui. “Runark and I are taking everybody out to play, don’t follow us, ok?”

“Yeah, don’t follow us!” Runark backed her, standing beside her, folding his arms in a defiant manner. “That goes for you, too, Dad!”

“Ah, your father is heartbroken that Runark doesn’t want him anymore.” Kane’s voice contained a hint of fake sorrow. “Just a while ago, you used to love Dad so much that you wouldn’t even let go!”

“Hmph, I’m going with Ria, ok?” Runark insisted as his little eyebrows knitted with determination.

He was a year older than Ria, causing him to stand two inches taller than her when he stood beside her and some of the other peers around them. His silver hair was messy and disheveled from all the running around.

Ria, on the other than, continued staring at her father. “No following, ok?”

Rui heaved a sigh, raising his hands. “No following.”

“Promise?”

“I promise, my precious baby.”

“Hmph, I’m not a baby!”

“Ah, I’m sorry about that, my precious baby.”

“Ria is not a baby!” She insisted with defiance in her rich amber eyes, before sticking her tongue at Rui.

She then turned around, pointing in the direction of the gate. “Out to play we go!”

She wasn’t alone. “Follow Ria!” Runark insisted to the several children around her, who quickly followed her as they barely managed to open the gate and make their way out of the little Quarrier’s Orphanage.

They were all between five and eight years old. And despite most of them being older than Ria, they followed her lead, heading out onto the walking paths of the gated community they were in. They immediately rushed into the streets, which were closer to tiled walking paths devoid of any auto-carriages, making it entirely safe for the children to play by themselves.

Rui simply smiled at their adorable attempts to juke his attention. “Keep an eye out for them, Arastia.”

A young lady immediately popped up to her feet. “With pleasure!” She grown splendidly into adulthood, having hit eighteen years old recently. Her blood-red hair was long, reaching her wais,t while her equally red eyes sparkled with delight at being able to play more with the adorable children of the orphanage.

She also radiated power.

A different kind of power than the kind that Martial Artists radiated. She immediately followed the children from a distance, keeping an eye out for them as they walked over to the nearest children’s park within the same block.

Rui constantly kept the Eye of Prophecy active, juiced up with heightened cognition and neuroconductivity thanks to his half-Anthean brain. While it would be later for most children, Ria had already reached the stage of development where independence was necessary for further development. He needed to restrain his impulses to go to her, to pick her up, and shower her with hugs and kisses. It would do her much better if she continued growing with more independent but supervised interactions with the world. “Bringing them to the Quarrier Orphanage to play every evening was a great idea, you know?” Kane remarked with a knowing expression as he held his four-year-old daughter, Serin, before turning towards Rui with a nod. “I’m glad Runark has another influence beyond just the kids of the Martial community.”

“Children need friends,” Rui remarked with a smile, turning to his best friend with a studying expression. Kane had grown a beard over the past five years, maintaining a thin, but neatly groomed layer of hair. Even if Martial Sages aged slowly, he certainly had begun to gain a ‘fatherly’ look to him, having rejected Rui’s offers of immortality and eternal youth.

“That, they do,” Kane replied with a nod as he gazed up at the auburn evening sky as they sat beside each other on the porch of the Quarrier Orphanage. “Are you also trying to keep her normal by having her interact and befriend other normal kids?”

“Yeah,” Rui replied knowingly. “I also haven’t really told her about her princess status. She will inevitably find out, perhaps she already knows because of how smart she is. But I want her to live a prosperous life for as long as possible.”

His tone was earnest and sincere.

Kane turned towards Rui with an expression of gratitude.

“You’ve given everybody a prosperous life.”

Six years had passed since Rui ascended the throne of the Kandrian Empire.

Six years had passed since the Age of Prosperity had begun.

In those six years, the Kandrian Empire and Panamic Civilization had changed beyond recognition. Previously, most of human civilization was lightly populated primitive settlements, along with smaller cities and nation-states of low development index. The damage done from the Beast Incursion during the Era of Darkness had reduced development indexes to all-time lows.

That had changed after the Unfolding, of course, where the Emperor of Harmony had created a regime of collectivization and re-development.

And once Rui ascended the throne after the war and imposed law and order upon the Martial World, it served as the spark for a conflagration of development.

Prosperity followed soon enough.

Martial violence hit an all-time low never seen in the history of the Panamic Continent. It ceased to exist even on a cultural level as tremendous pressure rapidly altered the dynamics of Martial Art in human civilization. Development hit all-time highs as demand for skilled labor reached a precipice, causing rich education to spread throughout human civilization, creating a rapidly modernizing population that quickly began earning degrees and diplomas in a variety of fields of great skill and great intellectual pursuit.

Internationally, the Panamic Civilization secured a dominant, unshaken position as its stranglehold over negatron and esoteric matter elevated it to extraordinary levels of geopolitical dominance.

It was an era of unparalleled prosperity.

Rui simply smiled as he gazed at the rich, auburn evening sky.

“I hope it lasts forever. No…”

His ethereal eyes sharpened.

“I will ensure it lasts forever.”

Later that day, long after they returned home to their royal chambers and well after Ria was tucked into her bed, having fallen asleep. Rui nodded to Amare and Bodhisattva Maitreyi with a serious expression.

“I will entrust her with you.”

Gone was the gentle and affectionate father who couldn’t bring himself to put on a hard face in front of his daughter. In his place was a warrior of great intensity, one who had donned his Martial attire. An unfathomable verse of power lurked deep within his ethereal eyes, greater than anything they had ever sensed in their lives.

“Promise me that you will ensure that nothing happens to her when I’m gone.”

Amare and her grandmother didn’t understand the intensity in Rui’s voice.

It came out of nowhere.

And yet, it was a long time coming.

Amare stood up with a serious expression. “…You know I would sacrifice my life and more to ensure that not even a scratch befalls our daughter. The same is true for grandma. Why are you saying such things?”

“…Just in case,” he mysteriously replied.

She frowned. “…What are you hiding from me? What is this about? This isn’t just another rogue Martial Sage mafia holding large numbers of people hostage, is it?”

Despite all the deterrence that Rui displayed with his historic crushing of three hundred Martial Sages, there were always arrogant Martial Sages drunk on their newfound power. Rui warmed himself up by fighting them, often with his Martial Soul sealed so he could have a little bit of a challenge.

This was different.

Amare sensed within him a deathly resolution and conviction.

“…You’re right.” He gazed deep into her eyes. “This is bigger. This…”

He clenched his fists as his eyes intensified.

“This has to do with the fate of the world.”

Her eyes widened at those words as she instinctively understood what he was referring to. Her expression immediately hardened as she nodded.

“I’ll protect her no matter what. Do what needs to be done.”

Perhaps it was the intensity of the atmosphere, or the weight of his voice, but Ria opened her eyes despite having fallen asleep.

She turned towards Rui with a drowsy gaze. “…Papa?”

Rui smiled, walking over to her bed, kissing her on the forehead. “Go to sleep, my precious baby. Papa will be right back.”

“Ria is… not a baby,” she murmured drowsily, causing Rui’s smile to soften and sweeten even more. Just as he was about to get up, her hand reached for him, tugging at his Martial attire.

“Don’t go, papa.”

Her little voice pleaded, making his heart ache.

“Stay with me forever.”

Her rich amber eyes bore deep into his.

Rui’s smile grew bittersweet as he kissed her on the top of her head.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be right back.”

He kissed her on the head once more before getting up and directing a deep nod towards Amare and Bodhisattva Maitreyi.

Then, he disappeared into the darkness of the night sky.

WHOOSH

In the blink of an eye, he found himself in East Genora.

Mother Maeria and the Divine Doctor turned towards him knowingly. There were several communication terminals active at all times, the members of their task force having inflated over the past five years.

“It’s time.” The atmosphere was intense as they shifted their eyes to the Ieyasu Machine.

“We have found the alien virus.”