It was quite uncharacteristic for the Kandrian Empire to be hyper-aggressive and brazen as it did. It was a dangerous decision that somehow managed to work out in their favor.
"How was our interception force routed so soundly?" A man in military garb gritted his teeth as he walked into a crowded room. "Their Martial Apprentices can't possibly be stronger than ours on average!"
"Sergeant Mindow, according to the analyst department, it seemed that the cause of the defeat of the interception force was actually mainly caused by two Martial Apprentices."
"WHAT?!" Segreant Mindow. "You're telling me two Martial Apprentices caused all of this!?"
"That's correct, sir." The intelligence officer gulped. "The analyst department hasn't yet compiled a report, but even based on partial analysis, it's clear that two particular Martial Apprentices caused the disproportionate losses that our interception force suffered."
"Bring me all the details immediately." The man bellowed in response.
The intelligence agent rushed out of the office, and within an hour, there was a report on the sergeant's table.
The report was more than illuminating.
"An extreme stealth maneuverer that has mastered the pinnacle of evasive misdirection." He spat. "We needed high-grade sensory Martial Apprentices to contain this menace. Ideally, they're going to also need long-range and wide-scale offensive capability, in order to deal with the speed of the Martial Apprentice, codenamed Ghost."
This was a viable and effective solution. By bringing in Martial Apprentices equipped to handle the dangerous elements of the Martial Apprentice that needed to be contained, they could create sound solutions to ensure they would never again suffer such losses against the Kandrian Empire.
Yet, the sergeant's eyes squinted in confusion as he turned the page. "Hm?"
"That's the intelligence on the second Martial Apprentice for the disproportionate losses that our interception team suffered, sir."
"I can see that." He gritted his teeth. "But where's the damn analysis on his Martial Art!? The strengths? Weaknesses? That section is basically empty!"
"Unfortunately, the analyst department was unable to comprehend the nature of the Martial Path of the Martial Apprentice in question." The intelligence agent gulped.
"What? What did you just tell me?"
"The analyst team wasn't able to successfully grasp the core of the Martial Art of the Martial Apprentice in question." He squeezed out.
"INCOMPETENT FOOLS." The sergeant roared as he slammed the document into the ground. "A single Martial Art of a Martial Apprentice confounds the team of analysts that were chosen to be deployed to the Serevian Dungeon?! The height of uselessness!"
"Forgive me for saying so, sir." The intelligence meekly interjected. "But it isn't that the analysts aren't competent, it's that the Martial Art we are dealing with isn't something ordinary, in fact, its traits are something we've frankly never seen before. It's a genuine anomaly."
The sergeant calmed down a bit at those words and frowned at the prospect. "A Martial Art so obtuse and deviant that even analysts can't crack?"
He glanced back at the document, combing through the observations and inferences made by the analyst department.
The Martial Artist, codenamed Abyss, in question didn't seem to have any core style, any affinity towards techniques or fields. This was the biggest stumbling block in trying to accurately and precisely identify the actual combat style of the codename Abyss. His fighting style changed too drastically from opponent to opponent.
It was far different from the all-rounder style that used many fields to relatively equal degrees regardless of the opponent. His style changed from fight to fight, from circumstance to circumstance.
It was formless, almost like it was water.
The analyst department commented that his fighting style did not seem to change at random but in a fashion that seemed extremely efficient and effective against his opponents.
However, that wasn't the most shocking part. The most shocking part about the Martial Apprentice, the main reason why he was incredibly dominant against nearly any Martial Apprentice he ran into was his extraordinary accuracy and precision in so far as the placement and timing of his every move. According to a preliminary analysis conducted by the Martial Consortium of the Sekigahara Confederate, the placements and timings for each of his movements were extremely effective. Allowing him to produce extremely effective results with every movement, far more so than was normally possible.
The Martial Consortium had not yet formulated a viable and sound solution against codename Abyss, although the task was being prioritized.
"Even the Sekigaharan Martial Consortium couldn't tell us how to take him down immediately?" His eyes widened.
The Sekigaharan Martial Consortium was a private organization formed by the Martial Artists of the Sekigahara Confederate. It was similar to the Martial Union, yet there were a few key differences. The Consortium was looser and far more flexible than the Martial Union, yet it also provided far fewer benefits to the members of the Consortium than the Martial Union did.
Kandrian Martial Union was just one of the many Martial Artist organizations that existed on the Panama Continent. There were many shapes and forms such organizations took, in some cases, they didn't at all, Martial Artists were completely dissolved by the state. Though such states were uncommon.
In some cases, the Martial Artist organization took over the state and became the ruling entity, imposing Martial Law and Regime. Though neither the Kandrian Empire nor the Sekigahara Confederate were nearly as extreme as either side.
"For now." The sergeant just gritted his teeth. "Just gather a bunch of strong Martial Apprentices of different kinds of Martial Art the next time we engage in conflict with the Kandrian Empire. That should be enough. They'll see that one Martial Apprentice can never truly be enough to influence a war all by himself."
This was the only option they had for now. If quality was lacking, then the very best they could do was simply compensate with quantity and hope that it did the job well enough
"Yes sir." The intelligence officer bowed before raising his head and scurrying out of the room.
