"Because of practical reasons." Officer Zherkes told him. "As you know, the tree attacks Martial Artists at or above the Squire Realm."
"But surely those attacks mean nothing to Martial Squires." He insisted. "I know they don't. I was able to avoid them when alert. Those attacks are nothing to a Martial Squire."
"They may be nothing to a Martial Squire, but they're everything to the tree itself." Officer Zherkes replied. "Martial Squires would be able to crush the attacks that the tree launches, but the reactive defense mechanism of trees that undergo banyanification, the broad colloquial term of the expansive growth process, is too self-destructive. Although Martial Squires would come out unharmed, the tree itself would not. The fruits would all be crushed and destroyed rendering them extremely difficult to process into potions, if not impossible. The fruits are just as valuable as the actual ore itself, if not more due to their pure constitution. Therefore, generally, nations do not dispatch Martial Artists at or above the level of power that would result in the triggering of the reactive defense mechanism."
"'Generally'?" Rui asked, catching the implication of the word. "This has happened enough times before for there to be a trend?"
"Indeed." Officer Zherkes nodded. "There is an unspoken, and sometimes even spoken and written agreement between relevant human nations to restrict the conflict to the necessary Realms, so that the conflict would not result in a waste of resources. Nations would rather get their hands on such processed bio-resources that are much easier to employ in technological solutions, rather than come back home empty-handed."
"I see..." Rui murmured. "So in this case..."
"That's right." Officer Zherkes replied immediately. "In this case, it is quite likely that Martial Apprentices like yourself will engage in the dungeon wars."
"'Dungeon Wars'?" Rui frowned.
"That's what they're referred to colloquially." Officer Zherkes chuckled. "Because there is a three-dimensional environment including the underground cave network, the surface and the branch networks that are more or less closed off, the environment of the banyanified forest are called dungeons."
"I see..." Rui muttered. "This has happened more than a few times, I'm guessing."
"Much more yes." Officer Zherkes nodded. "So much so that there are official protocols and systems in place designed to address the emergence of a banyanified forest. One of those protocols is urgently summoning the Martial Artist or individual in question who discovered the banyanified tree and extracting a report from them." Officer Zherkes explained. "That is why you and I are both here. Now then, time is of the essence. Please provide a detailed report of your mission. Do not dismiss any piece of information as insignificant or unnecessary, is that clear?"
Rui nodded. "Understood."
Rui set aside his curiosity and interest and began typing on a typewriter that officer Zherkes had provided him. Because of the detail that he needed to go into. It had taken him quite a while to write the report.
"Done." Rui huffed after he finally finished. "Here you go."
Zherkes looked up, having been reading the finished pages of the report. "Good job Apprentice Quarrier. Your completion of the mission was nearly flawless and you have accelerated a process that would have otherwise taken much longer than usual, giving us a crucial time advantage. Now then, do you have any questions before I leave?"
"Yes." Rui nodded. "How would the other nations even find out about this?"
"The other nations aren't incompetent." Officer Zherkes snorted. "Nations have various information networks that would allow them to learn of it given enough time. Furthermore, the seismic radiation projected by the tree when it attacked you is not insignificant and will have no doubt earned the scrutiny of the nations that aren't too far away from the Serevian Plateau."
Rui nodded, having figured that out by himself, he just wanted to verify that he had the right idea on the issue. "So, if only Martial Apprentices will be involved in the conflict to monopolize the banyanified tree, can I expect a mission soon?"
"The Martial Union will certainly take some effort into commissioning its Martial Artists into participating..." Officer Zherkes nodded. "As for what measures, I can't say."
He turned back to Rui. "Though it is almost assured that you will be incorporated into the war effort."
"Oh?" Rui raised an eye. "Why is that?"
Officer Zherkes snorted. "Playing modest, are we? You're a grade-ten Martial Apprentice with a skillset highly useful in dungeons. That alone is more than enough. Now then, I must get going, pleasure meeting you, Apprentice Quarrier."
Rui fell into thought after he bid officer Zherkes goodbye, as he walked back home.
A conflict between Martial Artists over the monopoly of esoteric resources.
He grinned, excited. Just when he was getting a little bored, he gets presented with a brilliant opportunity to participate in a conflict much bigger than himself.
Just how many Martial Artists would be participating? How many of the elite Martial Artists of the geographic surroundings would he be fighting against?
"The sheer number of highly elite Martial Artists even among the tenth grade will be staggering!" Rui exclaimed, excited.
The proportion of Martial Apprentices in the tenth grade was a very minute proportion of the Martial Apprentice population. There were extremely few Martial Apprentices in the Kandrian Empire that could truly give Rui a run for his money.
However, that was only when the conversation was limited to a single nation.
When many nations were involved, the sheer number of even pinnacle Martial Apprentices was not low!
"This is a god-sent opportunity," Rui remarked.
It was very difficult for him to find a perfectly equal opponent. Although Martial Squires could restrict themselves, it wasn't the same. They could only hold back so much. It was physically impossible form to slow down their mental processing and reflexes as well as the toughness of their constitution. While it was challenging, it was not perfect.
But with this, he would truly be able to fight against Martial Apprentices who were genuinely his equal, perhaps even greater!
