This was the disadvantage of being the creator of a grade-ten technique. The very next person that mastered the technique would most likely need to be trained by the creator.
“So it is extremely difficult to master, hm…” She considered his words. She didn’t seem very surprised to Rui, which was understandable, it was very rarely the case that a technique’s power was not proportional to its difficulty.
“I want to see demonstrations of the technique. As well as the relevant information of Martial Artists who have mastered this technique as agreed,” She demanded.
“No problem,” Rui sighed. Since he was the only Martial Artist to have mastered it, he would need to divulge a lot about his own personal competency. This would probably dampen the value of the technique since she would quickly discover that he had a powerful mind, something very relevant to his execution of the Pathfinder technique. “I suggest, however, that we complete all the demonstrations of techniques and the exchange of the relevant data on the mastery and competence of the Martial Artists that have mastered these techniques, in one go. Rather than having to do this every time we want to discuss a new technique. This way we can smoothly proceed once this process is done in an orderly manner.”
She considered his words, before nodding. “Alright. Please provide us with all of the information on your techniques, since you have agreed to go first.”
“No,” Rui resolutely shook his head. “We have already gone first when I provided you with information regarding the Pathfinder technique. It is your turn to show some sincerity by giving us information on the technique on our list.”
She narrowed her eyes mildly before nodding. “Alright, we’ll do that in the next meeting. For this meeting, however, we would like to confirm our willingness to proceed with a trade of Martial Art techniques under the conditions that we have laid out.”
“That is great to hear,” Rui smiled. “Then let us draft the agreement on paper then.”
“What for?” She frowned.
Written contracts were unheard of in the G’ak’arkan Tribe. Verbal promises meant a lot within their culture.
“Just to ensure that neither side forgets, or tries to back out of the deal, or tries changing one of our agreements. Writing it down and signing on it makes sure that there isn’t any possible way to break them sneakily,” Rui explained.
“Signing on it?” She tilted her head in confusion
“You just have to write your name at the bottom of the parchment,” Rui explained patiently.
“Alright, I don’t really understand, but if that is what you want,” She nodded.
Stemple quickly fetched two thicker parchment-style sheets of paper detailing the terms and conditions of their agreement that would be able to weather a lot. Since it probably was the case that the G’ak’arkan Tribe would probably not store their copy of the contract as prudently as they perhaps ought to, Rui wanted to make sure that there was no way they could damage it unless intentionally.
“Just so you know, in the Martial Union, these mean a lot, just as much as verbal promises mean to the G’ak’arkan Tribe,” Rui warned her before she could sign it. “Once you sign this, it will be considered binding, and we cannot be content with allowing you to break it. The Martial Union that sent me here will not be pleased, and will most likely take action. So, please ensure that you are certain about this.”
“I have already given you my word in the name of my tribe,” She casually replied. “I have no intention of breaking it unless you outsiders do, this piece of paper is for your comfort, that is all.”
“That’s fine too,” Rui smiled, amused, as he signed both documents before passing them onto K’Mala.
“Well, the agreement has been set, we look forward to trading with you,” Rui smiled as he offered his hand to her once she signed the document.
“When should we conduct the demonstrations of the techniques that both of us are interested in, as well as the exchange of information surrounding the Martial Artists?”
“We can do that in a week,” Rui nodded.
“Why so long? Can’t we do it today?” She frowned.
“No, unfortunately. We need to transcribe and translate the information to the Vilun dialect, and that cannot be done in just a few days. We will inform you when we are ready, rest assured we will try to get it done as soon as possible,” Rui offered.
“I understand,” She nodded, realizing how convenient the outsiders were making it for this trade to occur. She would have expected that communication with outsiders would have been quite difficult even after one of the outsiders was successfully taught the language, but apparently that was enough for dozens of outsiders who spoke the language fluently to show up.
They made it look easy.
That in combination to carry many people across the vast seas, and build a remarkable village unlike anything anybody had seen, she realized that she, and her brethren, had probably only seen a small drop of the power of this so-called Martial Union.
“…”
Rui raised an eyebrow at her. “Is there anything else that you wanted to discuss in this meeting?”
“…I was just curious.”
“About what?” Rui asked with a hint of curiosity.
“The world that you come from, what is it like?” She wondered.
“…”
“So, I was hoping you could tell me more about it,” She said.
Rui had to weigh his options here. On one hand, information was power. The more he revealed about the Kandrian Empire and the Martial Union, the more information he was providing to her. On the other hand, this could serve as a good way to strengthen his relationship with her and ensure that the likelihood of them falling out with the G’ak’arkan Tribe was low.𝚘𝑣xt.𝑐𝓞𝚖
Besides, it wasn’t as though she was asking for strategically important intelligence or confidential information. What she was asking for was basic knowledge that even the most uneducated person on the continent would know.