Once the two Squire habilitators officially declared his success at undergoing Squire habilitation, Rui no longer had anything else that needed to be done.
"Thank you for all your help." Rui shook the hands of the two Martial Squires.
"Not at all." Squire Fernin waved his hand dismissively.
"You accomplished it through your own hard work." Squire Gerd told him.
He bade them farewell, leaving the Martial Union.
"Ah, freedom." Rui inhaled deeply.
He had spent a lot of time with his freedom shackled to a certain extent in the past three months. Be it the Squire breakthrough process, or the Squire habilitation process. Both were necessary, but both certainly were suffocating.
He reveled in the sense of freedom he got from finally having left the Martial Union.
"Time to go home." He immediately began jogging in the direction of the Quarrier Orphanage.
As much as he wanted to begin obtaining some Squire-level techniques immediately, he decided to go back home and connect with his family for some time. He hadn't seen them in quite some time, after all.
He began sprinting in the direction of the Quarrier Orphanage. Each step shook the Earth, he sped through the districts at a speed that he had never moved before in his entire life. He had surpassed all limits and peaks that held him back as a Martial Apprentice.
Soon, he had arrived, opening the gate and making his way inside.
"RUIIIII!" Alice squealed when she saw him.
"How are you always the first to notice me?" Rui wondered aloud as he exchanged a hug with her.
"Hehe... I can sense when family is close by." She beamed at him.
"That's a neat trick," Rui admitted.
Soon he was greeted by the others. It had taken him quite some time to pacify their curiosity regarding his status as a Martial Squire.
He had informed all of them about the success of his breakthrough to the Squire Realm through Julian, but they still wanted to know the difference.
"Wow." Farion frowned. "Each of your steps feels like a rock dropped to the floor."
"I have put on weight due to becoming a Martial Squire," Rui admitted. "It makes things inconvenient. I'm honestly not sure if my bed can hold my weight anymore."
"Rui..." Lashara emerged into the hall where everyone had gathered.
"Mom." He walked forward, exchanging a hug with her.
"My precious baby." She addressed him, stroking his head. "You seem very different."
"Yeah well, the breakthrough to the Squire Realm has caused a lot of changes to my body you see." Rui shrugged.
"Are you okay?" Lashara asked, worried.
"Never felt better, actually." Rui smiled.
"To think that kid who was obsessed with Martial Art since forever ago went and actually became a martial Squire."
"I remember when you used to pester us to help you train, dragging us to the frozen river every winter and practicing your balance on the ice."
"We get at least half the credit for you becoming a Martial Squire. The Martial Union should give us honorary Martial licenses."
They teased him a bit, before eventually letting him settle down. He found himself sitting opposite to Julian in the study.
"So, was it as excruciatingly painful as advertised?" Julian asked.
"More than you can possibly fathom." Rui sighed. "It truly is a procedure that only Squire candidates can survive."
"The suffering was inevitable. Thankfully, there were no further health complications." Julian sighed
Rui nodded. Shortly after the doctor had extracted his blood after the procedure ended, he received word that there were no health complications with his breakthrough to the Squire Realm.
Rui was more afraid of that than anything else. The pain was no doubt the single most torturous experience of both of his lives, but at least the pain wasn't a threat to his life or health. It was the price of undergoing the breakthrough evolution to the Squire Realm, but the pain did not cause any impediments to his Martial Path.
Had the procedure failed in some way, that would be a terrible outcome. Fixing the mistake would be extremely difficult, potentially impossible, and certainly painful as all hell. This was the outcome that Rui feared the most.
"Congratulations on your successful breakthrough to the Squire Realm, Rui." Julian smiled. "You've truly come far, and you're set to go further."
"Thanks, Julian." Rui smiled back. "I'm genuinely indebted to you for helping me with the Vinfranian research, the information those filed provided me helped me become stronger as a Martial Squire."
He was referring to the Mind Switch technique. That technique had allowed him to obtain physical prowess greater than what he would normally have obtained had he not learned that technique.
"Is that so?" Julian asked with a curious expression on his face. "How so?"
"I mastered a technique that increased my energy reserve in a very organic and natural way," Rui explained. "This allowed me to go for a stronger and more energy-intensive Martial body than I would have normally been able to acquire. So, I'm quite grateful to you."
"That's what brothers are for." Julian smiled. "I'm glad to hear that you benefitted from my reports of the Vinfranian research data. It certainly did benefit me."
"It's a win-win." Rui pointed out.
"Indeed. What do you plan to do from here on out?" Julian asked, curious.
"Well, I need to get my hands on Squire-level techniques." Rui sighed. "Otherwise, there is nothing else that can be done. I'm in an awkward position where I'm overqualified for Apprentice-level missions and underqualified for Squire-level missions."
He didn't plan to immediately focus on remastering all thirty of the techniques he had mastered as an Apprentice, in one go. That would take too much time. Furthermore, as Squire Fernin pointed out, compatibility was a much bigger issue for Squires than it was for Martial Apprentices. Squire-level versions of techniques he was compatible with as a Martial Apprentice may not be compatible with him in the Squire Realm.
He would need to be careful.
