That statement turned heads, filling their eyes with greed at the thought of obtaining such power.
Were the outsiders willing to offer them this technique, among others?
If so… that made the prospect of trading with them much more alluring than before. As a long-range-oriented Martial tribe, obtaining such a technique would likely boost their power significantly.
"Do not lose yourselves in your greed," The chieftain ordered, immediately drawing the attention of all the members of the council meeting. "Even if we were to obtain that powerful technique, it is quite likely that very few of us will be able to master it. Such power does not come easily, and the greater the power of a technique, the greater the difficulty of a technique. With how immensely capable this technique is, it may be so that none of us can master it."
This dampened the excitement and greed in the atmosphere of the council meeting. The chieftain's words weighed the heaviest, and everybody took them seriously. Of course, they were all aware of the correlation between power and the difficulty of techniques.
"Furthermore, we don't know if they are willing to trade it with us in the first place…" Senior K'ahru. "But even if they aren't…"
He gritted his teeth as his aura intensified, bathing the entire council in his heavy aura. The Martial Squires present shivered as they felt his immense greed and battle lust.
"Even if they aren't…" He continued. "Can we really let them keep such a technique to themselves?"
The question awoke the fighting spirit of many members of the council. He had directly appealed to the battle lust that every G'ak'arkan warrior was imbued with from birth. He had directly appealed to their greed to obtain such power.
"That's right…" Their eyes widened. "We must obtain this technique at all costs!"
They were warriors. They fought. It made sense. Why give up their sacred techniques when they could simply obtain what they wanted by force?
"Enough," K'Mala warned them with a stern tone. "Have you forgotten why you want their techniques in the first place? Because they are strong. Do you think such strong people will roll over and let you have their techniques? What if they decided to do that with us? Would we roll over and let them have our techniques?"
This stirred up the council members even more.
Giving up their techniques just because someone was attacking them for it? Just the very thought of that was disgustingly alien to them.
"Never!"
"We will fight to the last warrior to protect our techniques!"
"Then you can be assured that you'll have to fight to the last warrior to obtain their techniques as well," K'Mala retorted. "We will lose more than we have gained."
"Your words are cowardly, sister," K'ahru's icy tone grew dangerously perilous. "Do you think we are weaker than them? They don't even have a single rank three Martial Artist right now!"
"Don't be naive, little brother," She scoffed contemptuously. "Look at all of their actions thus far. Do you really think they trust us to act friendly after showing us their treasure? I wouldn't be surprised if there was a rank three Martial Artist lurking in their village, laying low."
"Ha! A rank three Martial Artist lowering his head and hiding among lesser Martial Artists? That is absurd!" K'ahru snarled.
"The outsiders have absurd customs. We know too little about them," She retorted. "Waging war with them will bring us many losses. Even if we win, we will be too weak to defend against our sworn rivals and enemies… Does anybody want that to happen?"
This struck a greater chord with them. Unlike the Martial Union, the G'ak'arkan Tribe's relationships with the other Martial tribes on the island were more than just extremely bad. They had centuries worth of bad blood built up. The very thought of losing and being destroyed by their enemies and rivals put a stop to all of their momenta. The stakes were too great for even thick-headed warriors like them to rush in.
K'ahru gritted his teeth as he sensed the ceding flames that he had tried stoking in the warriors of his tribe. He turned towards his older sister with a hateful look. "A little coward who's too afraid to fight even lesser Martial Artists. Pathetic. You're a disgrace of a warrior!"
Her eyes sharpened as he insulted her in front of the entire tribe.
She walked towards him. "An immature child who needs to needs to be treated like a baby. Think with your brains instead of your balls, for once, fool."
The two of them surged forward with furious expressions.
"Enough," An overpowering aura suppressed theirs.
They winced under the overwhelming pressure of the most powerful warrior and the leader of their tribe.
"Yes, sir," They bowed toward him.
"I have heard enough," he raised his hand, heaving a sigh. "I have made my decision."
The atmosphere of the council meeting grew more severe as everybody waited for the chieftain's decision. His word was absolute. His power was much greater than that of K'Mala and K'ahru, and his experience on the battlefield dwarfed that of theirs. Even the two of them did not possess the capital to defy his orders.
"As usual, the two of you have opposing views," He began. "And, as usual, both those views possess merit nonetheless."
He turned towards K'Mala. "Your concerns are valid and sound. There is a lot at stake here. Cooperating with them in a trade is a much better outcome than having to wage a war against them. We can grow considerably more powerful without suffering any material loss."
K'Mala nodded, delighted to see her opinion being given its due credit.
"However, K'ahru is also right. Our tribe is much larger than their settlement. Furthermore, in the past three months, we have not seen a hint of a rank three Martial Artist leading their settlement. We haven't yet come across an individual possessing such power. While it isn't impossible that they are in hiding. To remain in hiding for nearly an entire season seems very far-fetched. It is much likelier that there is no rank three Martial Artist, this is consistent with that rank two diplomats clearly being the leader of their village," He said.
