The Martial Unity

EsoQuest Solutions had since become extremely well known. The emergence of the third infected world delivered on a silver platter completely destroyed what was left of the virus-hunting industry. Though the war created powerful employment opportunities nonetheless, it was much more dangerous than excursions outside human civilization.

Regardless, three infected worlds worth of esoteric matter was more than enough to grant human civilization a chance to create a new generation of vessels that could stand up to arakaian forces. Until then, of course, pathwalkers and dwarven vessels were to be the crutch that humanity relied upon.

”If you think dwarven ships alone are going to fix our problems, then you are mistaken.” The dignified but powerful voice of the Reverend of Reckoning drew everybody’s attention to the powerful Transcendent Candidate.

As a member of the Namgung Family, he had always had a royal bearing to him, but it was tempered with the intensity that came with being a Martial Artist, making him quite different from many of his peers. The powerful Transcendent Candidate had both Martial and political power, making it hard to ignore him.

”Those damn exo-Martial suits are horrible for space combat,” Sage Jinryong snorted, folding his arms. ”It’s a liability. Space has no leverage, which means that the power of our attacks is limited by our exosuit propulsion systems. And right now, they are too weak and too disconnected from our Martial power to serve us well. If we don’t find a better alternative, then the Martial Artists will be much less effective.”

That was a heavy concerned that caused many to frown within the central human command. Those who weren’t pathwalkers couldn’t help but wonder why none of the other pathwalkers complained about this. It was a complaint that only Martial Artists had. But Rui knew better.

Martial Artists needed environmental leverage more than any of the other kinds of pathwalkers, aside from perhaps elves. But even the elves innately relied on technology, so they weren’t as troubled by relying on technological solutions.

Although Rui had been optimistic about Martial Artists adapting to space combat the way he did, he was ultimately holding them to excessively high standards. Not everybody could fluidly adaptively evolve the way he did. Most Martial Artists were utterly useless without land or air beneath their feet.

Perhaps this would not have been a problem had they merely been facing ordinary opponents in outer space, but when confronted with the arakain Web of War, this was especially problematic.

While Rui considered solutions to the problem at hand, it was ultimately Dwight who spoke up first.

”I think I have a way to solve this problem,” the old dwarf remarked. ”I was actually working on a commission for another Martial Artist who requested something that would allow them to fight in space as they do on land. It was an interesting challenge, so I took it up. And I came up with a concept that I think might work.”

He waved his hand, causing a projector to project some three-dimensional blueprints midair. Everybody leaned in closer to take a good look at it.

It was a blueprint of a shoe-like device. A pair of shoes with a dizzying amount of complexity in the internal structure of the device. It also required a surprising amount of negatron matter, along with several other esoteric substances.

It had an interesting name that sold itself.

[Spatial Friction Generators]

Rui’s ethereal eyes lit up with a hint of amazement. ”Are these…?”

”They’re shoes that rely on negatron matter to warp space in a manner to recreate the effects of friction on the soles of the feet,” Dwight explained patiently. ”On top of that, they can even generate a downward pull and a normal upward force, simulating standing on land on Gaia.”

A wave of impressed murmurs spread across the CHC meeting. The Reverend of Reckoning was especially moved by the idea, gazing at the Transcendent dwarf with an intense gaze.

”You’re telling me this can enable us to run in space as we do on a planet’s surface?!”

”There will be some differences, but yes, that is what it does,” Transcendent Dwight remarked as his gaze returned to the design, before frowning. ”Although, with my current skill. I think I can whip up something better if I had some time.”

”Do it!” the Reverend of Reckoning stood up. ”The Namgung Clan commissions one thousand such shoes from you. We will give you lots of Primordial Seed!”

The Namgung Clan had made a killing selling exotic pluripotent matter to the dwarves in the past thirteen years. The dwarves loved the substance because it was any blacksmith’s dreams, even if it came with flaws and shortcomings.

Dwight wasn’t as moved by the offer as the Transcendent Candidate expected, though. He nodded, nonetheless. ”I can share the blueprint with my fellow dwarves, and they should be able to construct it. If you’re willing to forgo quality, then I can share the blueprint to the CHC, and you can mass-produce it, as long as I’m compensated, of course.”

”We are at war, Your Excellency. Focusing on compensation when human civilization is at risk of extinction is not good,” one adviser tried coaxing the Transcendent.

”It is a matter of principle,” the old dwarf insisted, folding his arms. ”I don’t demand much, but I will not work for free. That is an insult to my path and my profession.”

”If this invention is as effective as you say it is, you will be rewarded dearly,” Rui promised, studying the blueprint in detail. ”Rest assured that I have no intention of short-changing you. This device, along with the other reforms that we have planned, will become the first set of changes that human civilization undergoes in order to adaptively evolve to our opponents and win this war.”

With this invention, Rui could foresee that Martial Artists would experience a renaissance of sorts. Space combat had never been favored, but once it could be made to resemble terrestrial combat, then many different Martial Artists would immediately invest in it.