The Martial Unity

Misha shrugged lightly. “I dunno. Just continue going on, I suppose. The frontier is a perfect place to help me achieve my goal.”

“Your goal?” Runark raised an eyebrow.

Misha stirred at the question. “I suppose I can tell you, guys. I harbor an ambition to create what is known as pluripotent blood in the hemosapien community. Essentially, a form of blood with infinite technological versatility that can be used to create virtually any effect in the world.”

Sternon did a double-take. “That kinda sounds like evosapien blood.”

“Not exactly,” she turned towards the neo-evosapien. “Although the evosapien cellular apparatus has been a helpful reference for this might be achieved. The goal isn’t to adaptively evolve by changing, but to be capable of endless versatility without needing to undergo genetic metamorphosis that would shift focus from one field to another.”

“Ah, that sounds even harder, not gonna lie,” Sternon replied with an amazed tone. “I can’t imagine how difficult that is going to be.”

“It’s considered the holy grail in hemotechnology,” she remarked. “Since in the present, the Body Evolution process is a product of tremendous genetic engineering rather than a body forcefully evolved after being subjected to great tribulations, the quality of genetic engineering matters. And if I can achieve this hemotechnological feat, then I can benefit all of hemosapien kind.”

“T-That’s a really selfless goal,” Siliscia muttered as the elf directed a look of admiration to Misha. Elves were communal and selfless by nature. Most pathwalkers of most other races did not have a propensity to engage in pursuits that would benefit the other members of their race as much as themselves, especially since most other paths were paths of individuality.

Misha shrugged. “It’s not that selfless either. I’m doing it because I’m among the most equipped for such a thing within the hemosapien community. I, along with the other hemosapien hybrids who possess tekvore and dwarven blood within our bodies, am the one who enhances the power of blood itself. In order to that…”

She gazed at the veins on her arm. “…I need to keep developing and testing new models of blood and gathering data. For that, I need to subject myself to a lot of resistance. And the frontier is a great place for that.”

“Couldn’t you have other people to do that for you?” Ria raised an eyebrow. “And focus on being in a lab the entire time.”

Misha shook her head. “That’s what the other researchers do, and their disconnect from the actual experience of this blood is what hampers them. There are things that cannot be conveyed through recordings and other recorded data. There are things that you can only understand through experience, first-hand experience, and lots of it. I daresay I have made more progress towards the goal of pluripotent blood than most of my other peers working on their projects, although we do collaborate.”

“That’s a really enviable kind of goal,” Ria remarked with a tone of genuine respect. “I don’t really have that kind of clarity in what I want to do.”

“Neither do I, all I know is what I don’t want to do,” Sternon heaved a sigh. “What about you two then?” Misha turned towards Ria and Runark. “You’re a long way from the Kandrian Empire, or most of its colonies in the stars, you know? I can imagine that there’s a story to that.”

Ria heaved a sigh. “There is, but… It’s not something I can share very easily. However, like Sternon, I was driven by a desire to avoid my life prior. The frontier is a haven, in that regard. But… I still don’t have any kind of long-term goal.”

Misha’s expression remained composed. “I see. Sounds heavy. I don’t envy those of you who have a past you wish to escape. Thankfully, I’ve always been treated well in the Blood Humanist Society. Now the Blood Cult, on the other hand…”

Her tone grew a little angrier. “Never mind. The less spoken about those degenerates, the better.”

The movement of Blood Supremacy believed in the racial purity of hemosapiens. Half-bloods were treated like disgusting aberrations. As if a human had mated with an animal to produce a hybrid half-breed. Hemosapien hybrids often learned the hard way that the Blood Cult abhorred their existence.

It was actually free advertising for the Blood Humanist Society that welcomed the traumatized hybrids into their arms.

“Actually…” Siliscia raised a hand nervously. “I, too, have a goal.”

The others shifted their attention towards the demure elf, whose ears dipped with nervousness at all the gazes shifting towards her.

“Go on,” Ria coaxed her with a gentle, encouraging tone.

They waited patiently for the elf to begin.

“Are you aware of what the most powerful flora lifeform is?” Siliscia began with a more serious tone of voice.

The question caught all of them off-guard.

“I would imagine a Mother of Nature,” Misha replied thoughtfully. “If we’re talking about natural flora lifeforms, then it would surely be the elder tree species that Panamic Civilization possesses.”

Siliscia shook her head. “That’s not correct. The strongest flora lifeform that we have ever encountered is actually of alien origin.”

Ria and Runark knew what she was referring to. “The manifold tree.”

To date, it was one of the most powerful resources that the Kandrian Empire controlled. Runark had managed to make use of it, partly because he was the heir of the Dullahan Family. He hadn’t seen the tree, of course. That was off-limits. But he had heard of it.”

Siliscia smiled knowingly. “I knew you two would know of it. Indeed, the manifold tree is the most powerful flora lifeform that we have encountered. It controls space and time itself, a lifeform of extraordinary power. There used to be a bigger one that once captured the entirety of the Panama Continent, but that was unfortunately destroyed by the Martial Transcendent known as the Devil.”

Runark’s expression grew more engrossed upon the mention of that name. He had only heard legends about his grandfather from his father and others. About how he was one of the most powerful Martial Artists that humanity had ever produced. He had saved human civilization in the final battle against an alien prison warden that trapped the Panama Continent within a manifold.