"What?!"
A wave of incredulity spread across the members of the village council meeting of the G'ak'arkan Tribe.
Inside the little council meeting room at the center of the village were many dozens of members, each of them being a Martial Artist. This was the prerequisite to being qualified to be a member of this meeting. The three Martial Seniors of the tribe faced the rest of the Martial Artists, whose seating position was determined by their power. The strongest of Martial Squires sat the closest to the leaders of the tribe, while the weakest of Martial Apprentices sat the furthest away.
Currently, they all faced one of the youngest Martial Squires of the tribe who had just returned from observing the latest battle between the K'ulnen Tribe and the Martial Union. The sheer scale of the battle was so high that the G'ak'arkan Tribe decided to send a Martial Squire to observe the happenings of the battle rather than a Martial Apprentice.
Normally, a council meeting would never be called just to hear the report of such a battle. However, the leaders of the Martial tribe decided to call one nonetheless when they heard his shocking accounts of the battle.
"What? What did you just say?" One of the eldest Martial Squires of the tribe couldn't help but murmur in shock.
"It is exactly as I said, sir H'Rulu," The Martial Squire scout managed to squeeze out. "When the Martial Artist of the second rank was dispatched from the K'ulnen Tribe, one of the Martial Apprentices stayed behind and waited for his arrival, seemingly. And when the K'ulnen Martial Artist was just a little under a few kilometers away… the outsider Martial Artist opened his mouth and launched an attack, a few seconds later the K'ulnen Martial Artist suddenly collapsed to the ground a kilometer away bleeding from his eye… And then the rank of the outsider Martial Artist went up by one! His aura became that of a powerful rank-two Martial Artist. It was unbelievable. I thought I was daydreaming! How could something like that happen? I'm not sure, it was…"
The scout had become absorbed in his own thoughts, losing cognizance of where he was.
"Wait wait!" Another Martial Squire raised his hand. "You're telling me this rank one outsider Martial Artist became a rank two Martial Artist?! After launching an attack that killed the K'ulnen Martial Artist from a kilometer away?! Ha! Do you think we're fools? Have you been drinking?"
A few nervous chuckles rose from the crowd. It was easier to believe that this was merely a drunk man's ramblings than to accept that this was the actual truth.
The scout's eyebrows furrowed at the accusation. "It's the truth! I know what I saw. I confirmed it many times. I even pierced my own flesh because I thought I was literally in a dream!"
He pointed at the reddened layers of cloth wrapped around his palm. "It happened. I checked! I saw the K'ulnen Tribe drag away its corpse very soon after! The blood on the ground is still there! I carefully verified the distance between the battlefield where the outsider Martial Squire was present, and it was without a doubt a huge distance!"
The members of the council meeting stirred at those words, this was far more undeniable proof of the man's words.
"Enough," K'Mala, one of the Martial Seniors of the tribe, said with a measured tone to the members of the council who tried refuting the scout. "X'Na is one of our best scouts, his word is very credible. We have already verified with other scouts watching the K'ulnen Tribe of his report. It is true."
One word from her, one of the most powerful and important members of the tribe ended all of the reluctance from the recalcitrant members. As a Martial Senior, her word was nearly absolute to the rest of the tribe.
"But… how can this be?"
"How can a rank one Martial Artist jump to the second rank so quickly and without the ritual?"
"That too in the middle of battle! Is this a technique of the outsiders?"
The atmosphere of the council meeting grew chaotic and unstable, the reluctance to accept the scout's report as true was understandable. After all, the implications of the truth were scary.
"That outsider Martial Artist… I can't be sure of this... But his aura felt exactly like that of the diplomat who came to meet us a few months ago. Almost identical, really. It's a shame that I couldn't see his face," The scout squeezed out, breaking the silence.
"If that is the case… then that means he has the ability to hide his strength," K'ahru, the youngest Martial Senior realized. "It's unheard of, but it's a much less insane explanation than a rank one Martial Artist jumping to the second rank in the middle of battle…"
This earned some nods as several members sighed in relief.
If the outsiders had the ability to break through to the second round without the Sacred Ritual, then they would have been a terrifyingly powerful force. However, this explanation made more sense and was grounded closer to what they knew.
"Still… launching an attack from that far away, hitting the eye of the target accurately and killing a rank two Martial Artist…" K'ahru gritted his teeth. "His powerful aura does not do his prowess justice. This is the strongest outsider we have ever come across after the rank three Martial Artist… the strongest rank two Martial Artist that I have ever seen, at least."
This earned the nod of many members of the meeting. Such a statement would normally wound the immense pride of the rank-two Martial Artists of the tribe, however, given the magnitude of the feat that they were being compared, not a single one of them dared to express any disagreement.
"Honestly… I don't think I could replicate this," K'Mala honestly admitted as she heaved a sigh of admiration. "That technique that he used to accomplish this… I wonder if he is willing to trade it with us…"
