𝚘𝐯𝔩𝐞xt.𝗰𝔪
To his credit, Senior Ceeran did not display even a hint of anger or suppression of anger. So unless his mastery over his non-verbal communication had reached a level similar to what Rui’s was, it was highly likely that Rui had been right.
“That takes courage,” Senior Ceeran smiled. “I hadn’t expected you to be that firm.”
“Well, it is my mission, not yours,” Rui reminded him. “I do not want this mission being botched, and I certainly don’t want it happening under my watch.”
“Relax kiddo, I had no such intention. I don’t want control over your mission or anything of the sort, believe it or not,” Senior Ceeran huffed. “The reason I brought it up is that there was a reason that a Martial Senior like me was chosen for this mission. You’re a Martial Squire. They won’t take you as seriously. I don’t think you’d even get to meet that bastard N’Kulu.”
“Yeah well, that won’t be an issue,” Rui replied.
“Why not?” Senior Ceeran asked, curious.
“Because of this,” Rui closed his eyes as he used an ability he truly had not used in a long time. He exercised his imagination as he created a powerful mind mask that would boost his projected power tremendously.
The atmosphere grew taut as the sheer amount of pressure that Rui gave out wrung it to the limit. The sheer amount of peril he exuded far surpassed anything a Martial Squire of his caliber should have been capable of.
This was the projected power amplification that the Mind Mask technique was capable of at its peak. Normally, the degree enhancement wasn’t this exaggerated, however, Rui was far more capable of doing so that any other person that had mastered the technique.
However, despite all this, Senior Ceeran was completely unfazed. “Impressive, you’re exuding the power of a grade nine Martial Squire, almost grade ten. Though you should not be above grade five. I had forgotten about this technique of yours, you had used it to bring us a great many victories for the Martial Union in the Serevian Dungeon wars. The favor for which we still owe you, by the way. But I see, that’s how you plan to circumvent it,”
Rui nodded. “If I’m not wrong, then there isn’t a single Martial Squire in the entire Martial Tribe. Which means that by their own standards, they’re going to need to call in at least one Martial Senior to address me and that’s a good enough start.”
“…I see,” Senior Ceeran accepted it with grace. “You genuinely seem to have it all covered, so I should probably stop getting in the way. Call me when you need me.”
“Thank you,” Rui bowed, expressing the respect that someone like Senior Ceeran deserved.
The journey was quite different from anything Rui had ever taken in the second life. In between breaks, he would stand on the deck, enjoying the ocean while he occasionally chatted up with Kane.
Most of the time he spent, however, went into solidifying everything about the case.
“Alright, let’s go over the opening dialogue to the M’etkanun Tribe,” Rui sighed.
The M’etkanun Tribe was a tribe that lived out on the outskirts of the island, forming a ring around it. They were largely beach dwellers that were particularly fond of water, wishing they were amphibian, if not aquatic.
The Martial Artists of this tribe also slanted entirely in the affinity of aquatic environments, and so did their Martial Paths and Martial Art. They were the first ones who originally attacked the original naval exploration team that originally discovered Vilun Island. The next several diplomatic endeavors from the Martial Union’s side required extensive and severe peacekeeping efforts from the Martial Union until the relationship finally returned to neutral and the tribe left the subsequent ships of the Martial Union alone.
In order to enter the island, Rui would most likely need to interact with this Martial Tribe and would need to earn some degree of non-conflict with him.
“Sir, I think what we have is definitely the best,” One of the assigned diplomats of his team informed him. “There is historical precedent, thus the Martial Tribe knows that to expect, having encountered this multiple times in the past from outsiders. They willingly play along because they are the only Martial Tribe that gets tipped in this manner and gets to benefit the most out of everybody,”
“That definitely makes sense,” Rui nodded.
There was no need to fix what wasn’t broken.
“Alright then, putting that side matter aside, let’s go over our initial contact with the G’ak’arkan Tribe then,” Rui nodded as he sat back down at the table filled with files and documents as he scrolled through his accounter. “Make sure we’re missing nothing and that nothing is out of order. Even the slightest mistake can set us back indefinitely. If anybody here wants to be the reason that Senior Ceeran is delayed from returning home, then be my guest.”
This motivated his team significantly as they went over all the information.
However, while they paced through the documents at a slow pace, Rui had already made sure to memorize every piece of information that could even possibly be relevant.
He closed his eyes as he opened his Mind Palace, scouring through the vast amount of information stored in it up to this point since he learned the technique all those years ago.
The week to Vilun Island was one of the most nerve-racking pre-mission time periods that Rui had ever come across as he checked and rechecked everything.
(‘How is a mission isn’t even a threat to my life making me more nervous than all of the ones that did?’) Rui wondered, before sighing.
Of course, he knew. The stake, the scale, and the responsibility that he bore were far greater than that of every other mission that he had come across ever before in his entire life. Still, he couldn’t help but feel quite excited about the adventures that lay ahead.