The forest was quite fiendish, yet Rui couldn't help but be curiously drawn towards the many strange things that were said to be present within it. There were many traits and properties of the forest that contributed to its overall threat level.
One of the consequences of the mental consumption of the predatory flora of the forest was the fact that it affected the sensory capabilities of all people who entered the forest. It didn't actually affect the senses of the victims, however, suppression of the mind led to suppression of the senses indirectly, for the mind processed senses and understood the world around them through that.
As a result, the range of senses decreased remarkably, leading to an increased difficulty in the search for the Hypnomaster's location.
'That's probably also on purpose since the sensory range of Martial Seniors would otherwise be able to allow them to scour the entire forest within a reasonable timeframe.' Rui mused.
The issue was the fact that there were little to no ways to accelerate the search, not even with the Martial Heart, it appeared. That meant if Rui wanted to find the Hypnomaster, he would need to get exploring like every other Martial Artists who had come to the Gereign Region.
One of the options that he could explore was joining an adventurer's guild. Allegedly, there were guilds centered around the exploration of the forest, disconnected from the narcotics industry.
These guilds fostered cooperation between Martial Artists, allowing them to work together to find the Hypnomaster. However, Rui highly doubted that the Hypnomaster approved of such means to reach him.
He also doubted their effectiveness when it came to locating the Hypnomaster. From the available information, the Hypnomaster did not accept too many pupils. Allegedly, the last pupil he had accepted had been from more than eight years ago.
From that Rui could infer that there were obstacles and impediments to finding that couldn't be overcome with teamwork alone. The Beggar's Sect had done a remarkably good job at collecting all the pertinent information surrounding the Great Forest of Hypnonarak.
As far as Rui was concerned, it was good enough for him.
It wasn't long before he had completely stored and organized the data provided by the Beggar's Sect in his Mind Palace.
"I appreciate the aid," Rui told the executive. "I will keep in touch and inform you when I'm willing to begin my operations."
"That will be appreciated," The man smiled. "We wish you good luck in your endeavors."
It wasn't long before Rui found himself traversing the messy streets of the Gereign Region, considering his next move. Although he would have loved to jump right into the forest right away, he decided it was probably more prudent to ensure that he was at his absolute peak physically and mentally.
Although he certainly wasn't exhausted, it was true that he had spent quite some time traveling.
"I'm going to have to actually live in this place," Rui tutted disapprovingly. He found the Gereign Region to be genuinely unpleasant and filthy, it was even more undesirable than his living quarters in the Derschek Region.
While the Derschek Region was more chaotic and highly assassination-prone, it was otherwise fine, definitely much less unpleasant than the Gereign Region which reeked of narcotics substances and was generally more degenerate due to that.
However, he managed to find a decent inn and secured a room for himself. He didn't think his circumstances were secure, however, he was confident in defending himself if the time ever came.
As he lay in bed, trying to relax, his mind drifted across many thoughts. He wondered what the orphanage was up to. He wondered what Master Deivon was up to and how he had handled the aftermath of Master Uma's ambush.
He wondered what Master Reina was doing now that he was gone.
'She's probably super bored.' He mused. In the first place, she used Rui as a way to alleviate her boredom, but now that he was gone she didn't really have all that much to do.
'Furthermore, the assassination industry is gone too.' Rui noted. 'So she's probably just lying around bored to death.'
The thought of it brought a wry smile to his face. 'She shouldn't even bother anymore. The whole business of accepting pupils seems tedious and tiring in the first place. I don't know why Masters even bother.'
There had to be a reason that Martial Masters like Master Reina and Master Zeamer went out of their way to put in all the effort to filter out pupils through complicated means. There had to be a reason why in both cases.
Regardless, he was grateful that they did. Master Reina's distilled insights and training in regard to assassination were far more valuable than any training technique scroll that he could have purchased from some organization.
He probably would have never come to develop a powerful technique like the Phantomind Void had he not been trained under her.
It would definitely be incredibly useful when he began crippling the narcotics supply to specific regions, like the Kandrian Empire.
His eyes narrowed at the thought. He thought back to all the information that he had gotten his hands on from the Beggar's Sect regarding the narcotics supply. He was going to be facing off against the Carnil Mafia of the Underworld of the Kandrian Empire. It was a scary prospect, he did not underestimate the power of the mafia just because it was below the Royal Army and the Martial Union in terms of militaristic and Martial power.
It was still at a level where it could crush him effortlessly. However, within the Great Forest of Hypnonarak, it was quite limited in many ways. The fact that they could not deploy any Martial Master without provoking a violent response from the Hypnomaster was definitely quite the hurdle. They didn't have as many Martial Masters as the Martial Union did, each Martial Master was an extremely precious and strategic resource.
