The Martial Unity

"And they'll contact me through my accounter, I presume?" Rui wondered.

"They can." The staff member nodded, "But they can also choose to communicate with you through other ways, such as arranging a personal meeting with you. It all depends on the client. It is recommended to get two separate accounters for your two separate profiles on the Martial Union database. On the other hand, you may also take the initiative to communicate with them as the client has chosen to divulge a means of contact through their comms. You will receive a verification code that can be used to verify your identity."

"I see..." Rui muttered. "Thank you."

He walked away as he considered the matter. The client, Fauche Virgil, had chosen to approve the Martial Artist who applied to accept the mission, in spite of the extra fee. That alone told Rui much.

('It seems like he has conditions for the Martial Artist who will be attempting to complete the mission.') Rui thought to himself. ('Conditions that the profiles and the information about the Martial Artist offered by the Martial Union aren't enough for him to know whether the Martial Artist actually fulfills those conditions.')

Rui was pretty certain that the public profiles offered a general understanding of the Martial Artist's capabilities without getting too specific. There were probably plenty of clients who wanted to get a much more precise understanding of the commissioned Martial Artist's capabilities personally.

('Or he could simply be the paranoid type in general.') Rui shrugged.

Rui wasn't sure which one it was, but there was definitely a high chance that it was one of the two.

Just as he walked out of the branch office, his accounter beeped.

[This is Fauche Viril. Be there at a restaurant called Grill Feast in the town of Vermeen within the next three hours.]

('Well, he seems rather blunt.') Rui mused as he closed off his accounter.

He knew the town that Fauche was talking about, albeit not the restaurant. Not that was a particularly problematic roadblock. The town was within the Mantian Region, so Rui didn't even need to travel very far.

Rui took to the air as he sky-walked towards the town of Vermeen as he donned his mask. All he needed to do was spot the path that led from Hajin to the town and follow it while in the air.

Although he was slower in the air than on the ground, it didn't take more than ten minutes to reach his destination. He found himself standing before the designated restaurant after having asked for directions from the locals.

The town of Vermeen was not a commercial hub like the town of Hajin was, it was a much more down-to-earth residential area of sorts. Rui found it strange that the man would choose this town instead of the town of Hajin.

It wasn't long before Rui spotted him, either. Fauche had consented to have his appearance disclosed to the Martial Artist that applied for his commission. The man was rather young for someone who occupied the position of vice president in a company that was large enough to have a board of directors. He had a certain degree of gravitas about him, well-groomed, and smoked a cigar, which was the tell-tale sign that a person was a gangster, or wanted to appear as a gangster.

He was accompanied by two Martial Apprentices, who stood behind him, alert.

"Fauche Viril?" Rui approached him, speaking in the international dialect. "I am Squire Falken, the Martial Artist who applied for your commission."

The man didn't respond, as he glanced Rui over, clearly trying to get an impression of him. Rui pulled a chair opposite to him, taking a seat. He couldn't be bothered by the man's antics.

"You wanted to arrange a meeting? Well, here I am." Rui told him.

The man puffed a cloud of smoke before leaning forward to Rui, opening his mouth to utter a single word with his gravelly voice. "Code."

"HJN91u287bh39." Rui replied, having memorized it on his way there.

The man nodded, before finally uttering more than a word. "So, Squire Falken..."

He paused, running his gaze across Rui once more. "I hear you've applied to accept my commission."

"Indeed," Rui replied.

"Why?"

Rui considered the question for a moment, he could just give some generic reply to that question, but he didn't particularly feel the need to obfuscate much.

"I wanted to test my capability, having grown stronger recently," Rui replied, refusing to be specific.

"Stronger how?"

"That's none of your business, I'm afraid."

"What if I choose to reject you because you refuse to answer my question?" Fauche asked with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

"Your loss, not mine. You'll be paying me regardless." Rui shrugged. It was true, Rui didn't particularly need this mission. It was a nice opportunity to test the Pathfinder technique, but it was hardly the only opportunity for him to do so.

"Hm." The man chuckled lazily at Rui's words. "Here's the deal. I want you to kill the target at a particular time, as specified in the contract. You do that successfully, I'll give you a bonus, hm?"

He nodded upwards inquisitively at Rui, wanting to know his response.

"I don't mind." Rui shrugged. "Mind you, I only know some generic details about the commission contract. I have not obtained full access to it until after you approve my application to accept the commission."

"Hm." The man's expression grew a tad bit perplexed. "Did not know that."

He tossed his cigar out as he waved to the waiter. "Two whiskeys, please."

"Then you and I have a lot to talk about." The man said, turning back to Rui.

Rui didn't particularly have anything against that, it seemed the man wasn't particularly averse to accepting Rui's application. Rui wasn't even sure why he went out of his way to want to meet Rui prior to approving him. Given how strange he seemed, Rui chalked it up to personality issues.

"I don't drink," Rui replied simply.

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