The Martial Unity

He hadn’t shared all of his knowledge with the neo-evosapiens of the Evolutionary Army. After all, they were hostile to most forces in human civilization. And most of them hated him because of the inherited memories from Anthea.

He shook his head. ”They don’t need my help. They are strong enough as they are. They are also too young and immature to reach Transcendence any time soon. Unless…”

Unless there was someone who had managed to inherit all of Anthea’s memories perfectly, in which case they could pick up from where he had left off. Although such an individual would be dangerous, they would still be a net good when human civilization was in such a precarious situation.

Regardless, that was food for thought; perhaps he ought to take a more involved approach to try and speed up the number of Transcendents being born in human civilization.

”I’ll have to figure that out, but coming back to the original point, I’m happy you are willing to do your part for Operation Lightfuy. Central Human Command will contact you and update you with the details of the operation soon. You will need to relocate to the Arima III System when that happens.”

”…I’d rather not leave home, but if that is what is needed for me to protect my civilization, then so be it.”

Rui nodded. ”I appreciate it.”

STEP

He got up. ”Well then, I shall take my leave here. I have a lot of work to get to.”

”Mmm, you do that.”

WHOOSH

Rui teleported away, but he didn’t return to his office. Instead, he teleported to Sirinwel.

WHOOSH

He arrived at the rocky, dark shores of the continent. The world around him had shifted immediately, for her found himself looking at a mountain range with mountains that were so visibly engineered that they were the cyborg-equivalent of large topographical structures.

The dwarves built their civilization into the mountains, and into the structures of land, rather than on top of them. He knew that even the rocky, black shores of the Sirinwel Continent that he was standing on were merely aesthetic covers for a large, highly advanced underground complex.

They had conquered the entire crust of the continent, exerting more control over their land than anybody else after the elves.

WHOOSH

Numerous mechs suddenly teleported before Rui, lowering their heads to him in a gesture of respect. Their frames were made from quantum-laced invintium, a structure that only the dwarves were able to produce, creating a crystalline cloth structure that was even more indestructible than honed invintium plates.

On top of that, Rui could sense the classic touch of the dwarves beyond that. Their almost magical properties of heightened indestructibility even beyond what raw invintium had to offer. When dwarves forged a product, they forged at the quantum level. They aligned atoms and molecules in such an arrangement that force would permeate across the structure rather than concentrate, leading to the absorption of power rather than allowing it to inflict damage.

”We greet the Emperor of Water, the Chancellor of Gaia, the Supreme Commander of Central Human Command, and the sole Martial Transcendent of human civilization. Please allow us to take you to Elder Sage Dwight. He awaits your routine visit.”

Rui nodded. ”Go ahead.”

WHOOSH

He disappeared, this time teleported by the central teleportation system the dwarves had that spanned the entire continent.

He was teleported to a workshop. One at the bottom of a volcanic mountain. The workshop was spacious, with numerous workstations, tables, slabs of invintium, and products, both finished and unfinished. At the center of the product was a forge, one that not only drew power from the volcanic mountain, but also a tremendous amount of energy from its black hole energy core to heat up materials that were very stubborn.

There was also a section to the other side that resembled a remote surgery room, with countless little invisible quantum-gravitational tweezers invisible to the naked eye hovering above an isolated chamber where a product was rapidly fabricated.

By hand.

By a dwarven hand.

”Your Majesty, you have arrived.” From a control panel emerged an elderly dwarf.

He had a long, flowing white beard that covered his little knees; it covered half his aged, wrinkly face. His hand was callused, while his garments were dirty and ragged, not that Rui minded in the least.

After all, the dwarf was the best craftsman in all of dwarvenkind.

”I’ve been looking forward to your arrival, Your Majesty.” his elderly eyes grew intense. ”This time, I will succeed.”

Rui smiled wryly. ”You say that every time, yet you fail every single time.”

”Yes, I do. But this time…” the elderly dwarf smiled with the ferocity of a man who was in his twenties. ”This time, you will see. I have created it… I have created an armor worthy of a god.”

Rui stared at the dwarf with a raised eyebrow.

The dwarves were different from any of the other races. Their paths were very unique. Unlike any of the other paths, they couldn’t use their own path to defend themselves in real time. They could merely use engineered products that they produced through their Path of Creation, and they did it well.

They created products, often products that were meant to be used by other pathwalkers. The number of Martial Artists wielding weapons, both hand-held and MECHA, had increased in human civilization thanks to the dwarves and their weaponcraft trade.

But it also meant that dwarves walked through the path differently from others. Challenges to their lives didn’t stimulate their growth the way that they did for Martial Artists. Yet, that didn’t mean that they didn’t have challenges. It was just that their challenges were different. The most powerful among them were challenged by what didn’t exist.

What was thought not to exist.

A shield that could survive a singularity.

A blade that could cut through space and time.

And an exo-Martial suit worthy of the Emperor of Water. For the past eighteen years, Rui had played along with Elder Sage Dwight, the most capable craftsman among the dwarves, who challenged himself to create an exo-Martial suit that could survive when challenged by the Emperor of Water in battle.