"And you're saying as you headed to destroy the objective of the mission, you were confronted with a hostile Martial Squire?"
"Yes, commissioner," Rui replied. "I straightforwardly headed for the target of the mission because I wanted to get it over with, but unfortunately the Martial Squire landed in front of me as I dashed towards it, blocking my path. At that point, it had become evidently clear to me that I would not be able to get away with a fight."
"I see. And prior to your victory over your opponent, your client canceled the mission at some point in the middle of the combat."
"Yes." Rui nodded.
"I see." The man before him nodded simply. "It is all a rather unfortunate turn of events, but you made the best of them. Not only did you defeat your very first Martial Squire opponent in combat, but you also brought his body back in a remarkable condition. Congratulations, Squire Quarrier, it appears your tendency to overachieve has persisted."
Rui had long since returned to the Martial Union and handed over the body of the Martial Squire to the Martial Union once he finished all the post-mission protocols. However, he had been summoned for a meeting by the Martial Union once they processed his report.
"Thank you," Rui replied simply. "Is there anything else that needs to be discussed?"
"Just a few small matters." The commissioner smiled. "For one, the Martial Union is quite pleased with what you have brought back. You made the right choice, in exchange for your gift, we have decided to triple your commission payments. As a token of gratitude as well as an apology for the inaccurate difficulty evaluation of the mission."
Rui raised an eyebrow, that was not a light concession. It was more likely that the Martial Union was trying to get rid of any negative impression he had of them.
"I see," Rui replied with a brief smile. "I appreciate that."
"You're welcome. Another matter that we've wanted to inform you was that your Martial Apprentice grade has been upgraded to grade four." The commissioner informed him. "The Martial Union fully recognizes that any concerns of your youth in the Squire Realm are unwarranted, you have proven you are capable of undertaking a mission that poses a threat to even Martial Squires like yourself. Congratulations, you are actually the quickest Martial Squire to reach grade four after having broken through to the Squire Realm."
Rui raised an eyebrow. It had been nine months since he broke through to the Squire Realm and he had already reached grade four. That was quite fast all things considered.
Rui shrugged. "I'm just progressing with my Martial Art."
"Yes, you're progressing a remarkably powerful high-grade Martial Art remarkably quickly." The man noted, smiling.
Rui's eyes narrowed as he latched onto part of the statement. "High-grade Martial Art?"
Martial Art had grades?
He was aware that Martial Artists had grades based on their power, but he had never heard of Martial Art being graded.
"Yes, one of the highest we have ever seen." The commissioner replied. "Martial Art are graded by their potency, which is defined as the strength that Martial Art inherently possesses, outside of techniques."
"As in, the intrinsic strength that a Martial Art would possess if one were to strip away its techniques, or equalize the technique with other Martial Art?" Rui asked, curious.
"Correct." The man nodded. "It is an extraordinarily rare sight for a Martial Art to possess the kind of power that yours does. It is almost unheard of for a Martial Squire to be as strong as you currently are for the techniques that you possess."
"I see..." Rui knitted his eyebrows as he pondered the matter. "Why have I never heard about the concept before?"
"Martial Apprentices are generally too immature. Informing them about the concepts of grades of Martial Art may influence them, especially negatively." The commissioner explained. "Only once a Martial Apprentice accomplishes Squire candidacy are they qualified to learn about the Martial Art grading system. Even then, we don't bring it necessarily have to bring it up, it is not important for the personal development of a Martial Artist, it is merely an attribute that the Martial Union keeps a track of for the purpose of research and development."
"How does the Martial Union evaluate how much inherent power a Martial Art possesses? The only time that Martial Squires do not possess any techniques is during the Squire habilitation phase." Rui noted. "Does the martial Union compile empirical data on the combat prowess of a Martial Artist during this phase and evaluates the Martial Art grade based on that? Or does the Martial Union perform a comparison of the Martial Artist's combat prowess relative to the predicted combat prowess based on the techniques mastered?"
The man's eyebrows rose, he was evidently impressed. "You really are as shrewd as they say. To answer your question, the Martial Union does both. I'm surprised you hit the mark without any prompting."
"Mmm..." Rui nodded absentmindedly as he considered the matter. In reality, it was a rather trivial matter to predict given his background in statistics.
"We have evaluated your Martial Art grade on the basis of the data obtained during your Squire habilitation phase as well as your most recent mission. Defeating a rising star Martial Squire of the Britannian Empire, who is older than you and possesses more techniques not to mention a remarkable Martial Art himself, is quite impressive."
"The Martial Union has identified him, has it?" Rui inquired.
"We have. The Martial Union keeps track of the Martial Artists of other nations, especially the super-nations. The higher the Realm, the more attention we dedicate. Your opponent was a distinguished scion of a family of the Britannian Empire. His Martial Path was elastic dynamics, a Martial Art that used elasticity in offensive but especially defensive measures. Certainly not a trivial Martial Art."
"I see..." Rui digested that information as he gave it some more thought.
"The Martial Union is interested in seeing you develop your Martial Art for more than one reason, Squire, we hope you elevate your Martial Art as high as possible."
