The two of them quickly reached Umiana Town, and neither of them was surprised at how busy the town was. After all, as large as the town was, they needed to be able to accommodate many Martial Artists.
Both Rui and Kane felt a lot more stiff and on guard naturally. They were surrounded by Martial Artists in all directions, they felt a lot less safe and secure than they normally did as Martial Squires.
The sense of security that came with being Martial Squires was comfortable and was something that they had grown quite comfortable with for quite some time. Now, suddenly, they were essentially reduced to normal humans walking in a normally populated area.
Still, it wasn’t as though either of them were particularly worried about anything. The town signs constantly prohibited violence, which was stated to be punishable by death.
No Martial Artist was interested in testing the resolve of the Trench Surveillance Force to uplift the law. Thus, the Martial Artists made sure to keep some distance from each other, unwilling to get into any sort of conflict that could set the Trench Surveillance Force on them.
They knew that they would probably not be able to get away given that the Trench Surveillance Force was comprised of the Martial Artists of all the coastal nations of the entire ocean. Rui highly doubted whether even Martial MAsters would be able to get away with breaking the rules.
The town was quite large, and a whopping half of it was comprised of offices belonging to the Trench Surveillance Force. Each office accommodated and handled transactions with the Martial Artists’ surrounding training with the ocean.
Each office had a line too, much to Rui’s dismay.
The rest of the town served as housing accommodations and infrastructure for other basic necessities. They were essentially incentivizing Martial Artists to stick around rather than return back to whatever nation that they were currently residing in. It was a lot more convenient to be nearby their training locations.
However, the housing infrastructure was built with pure necessity and need in mind. It left much to be desired as far as luxury went. Furthermore, with the senses that Martial Artists possessed, privacy was simply not a thing.
“It’s fine, we can make do,” Rui shrugged as he entered one of the offices, immediately, he ran into a set of instructions written on a board on the wall behind the registration counter.
(‘You have to have your power evaluated before you purchase a slot, eh?’) Rui’s eyes lit up with interest.
It made sense. The size of the area of the ocean they were assigned to as a training area could not exceed the Martial Artist’s capabilities, otherwise, the ocean would recede. Thus, it was prudent to measure the capabilities of each individual Martial Artist and ensure that they didn’t take on more than they could chew.
There was another thing of note as well.
“Ha, you need to purchase a training slot in order to get a room,” Rui chuckled. “You’re out of luck it seems.”𝑜𝔳xt.𝗇t
“Aw man,” Kane’s shoulder drooped. “Alright alright, fine. I’ll take part.”
The two of them made their way over to the evaluation facilities, waiting for quite some time before they finally got their turn.
“Please take this numbered token,” The employee offered them a badge each. “You can demonstrate any offensive technique of your choice against the target wall at any range. If you’re unable to maintain a uniform output, then your attempt will be registered as invalid, and you’ll have to go back to the line.”
She gestured towards the other end of the evaluation facility.
Rui could immediately tell that the barrier on the other end was esoteric ore technology that was made out of some esoteric alloy that could probably withstand anything within the Squire Realm. It probably relied on the measuring of spring compression to gauge the force exerted.
“Please go ahead,” The staff employee requested him.
Rui briefly considered what technique to use. Given that he needed to be able to maintain it, he definitely couldn’t go for his most powerful attacks. None of them were attacks that he could continuously spam, let alone spam for longer periods of time.
He decided to stick with a more grounded and easier technique.
He took a stance, bracing himself as he inhaled deeply.
THWOOM!
BAM!!!
The Mighty Roar Flash Blast Technique slammed into the target barrier, forcing it back by about ten meters.
Immediately, a number of measuring the force units appeared on the terminal that the staff immediately fiddled and typed about.
Rui noted the resultant number, and thanks to his exposure to the foundations of a theoretical science of the Panama Continent, he recognized the units of force being used.
(‘About nine million tons of weight, give or take,’) Rui instantly calculated exactly how impressive his attack was in units. (‘Not bad,’)
“Now, please demonstrate your ability to maintain uniformity,” She requested him.
Rui inhaled once more, before firing off the Mighty Roar Flash Blast consecutively one after the other.
THWOOM THWOOM THWOOM…!
“Confirmed,” She nodded. “You have been evaluated. You are now eligible to purchase a grade-six training slot.”
Rui did not mind the grading too much, he knew that it was different from the grading technique that the Martial Union used for techniques, Martial Art, and techniques. It probably meant that his continuous uniform offensive power was in the middle. This wasn’t bad given that he wasn’t a specialist in that regard.
“Your turn,” Rui gestured as Kane heaved a sullen sigh.
He didn’t possess a single long-range technique, thus he needed to be near the barrier in order to try.
BAM BAM BAM!
He relied on a basic striking technique.
“Grade-one training slot,” She confirmed Rui’s suspicions.
“Damn,” Kane murmured.
“It’s fine,” Rui reassured him. “Offensive power isn’t your Martial Path, as you said. And this is an opportunity to grow stronger. It’s not good to neglect one of the broadest and most fundamental fields of combat.”