The Martial Unity

"You're telling me that we have to become businessmen?" Kane frowned so hard that Rui burst out laughing.

"You don't have to do anything, I'll handle it," Rui assured. "But yes, we're going to have to become businessmen. Specifically, I want to set up a nationwide supplier that can sell the esoteric harvests that we get from the Shionel Dungeon to the industries and sectors that require a supply of the esoteric resources of the Shionel Dungeon."

"Isn't that going to be extremely burdensome and tiring?" Kane groaned. "How on Earth are you planning on doing all of that by yourself? You have to manage all of the things that chairmen and presidents have to manage which is very much a full-time job! Isn't it better to just get a singular patron?"

Rui shook his head. "Patronage gives patrons some degree of control over the actions of those they are patroning. I do not wish to sell that right to others. What I want is a simple and effective way to distribute the plunder and harvest we get without empowering any one particular section of the consumer market."

"And how exactly do you plan on doing that?" Kane asked with an exasperated expression.

"Don't worry about it, I have a pretty good plan in mind," Rui smirked.

"Alright, I'll leave all of it to you. I honestly have no idea what you're talking about at the moment," Kane sighed. "So what is the next step that also involves me?"

"Get some good sleep, then tomorrow, we'll head to the Adventurer ring town," Rui replied.

The two of them were currently quite far from the dungeon, which was on the other side of the country. The Shionel Merchant Guild had redrawn maps to accommodate the creation of an 'Adventurer town' that accommodated all of the matters directly related to the dungeon itself. The Adventurer Ring town was a ring-shaped town that circled the perimeter of the Shionel Dungeon. Thus, if one wanted to enter the Shionel Dungeon, one needed to go through the Adventurer Ring town.

That was the plan for now.

"Alrighty, good night it is then," Kane shrugged.

The two of them split up for the night before quickly going to sleep.

That night Rui couldn't help but grow excited. He was eager to jump into the dungeon and put his newly-created techniques to the test in the circumstances that they were created for.

The night passed as Rui did his best to get a good sleep while suppressing his excitement. Thankfully, he was fatigued enough to fall asleep despite that.

The very next morning, the two of them got up quickly before packing up and heading out quickly.

"Not staying?" The innkeeper asked as the two returned their keys.

"Unfortunately not," Rui smiled before bidding them goodbye and leaving the inn.

Normally, Rui would not be comfortable sky-walking outside the Kandrian Empire for drawing far too much attention in an unsafe and unfamiliar environment, but there were so many sky-walking figures in the sky, that it was a futile worry, they would not be particularly eye-drawing among others, and it was quicker than wading through the highly dense streets of the town of Kanour.

Even though sky-walking was much slower than racing on the ground, it still took them more than an hour to cross the distance.

"I know we're sky-walking but, damn, it's unbelievable that we can see the dungeon tower from all the way back here," Kane murmured.

Rui nodded.

It was truly gigantic, standing far larger than even the biggest of mountains, dwarfing them in comparison. It represented the net volume of all the tunnels and floors inside the Dungeon, being the earth that was displaced and removed to create the empty tunnels and dungeons.

"No wonder it's taking time to clear the dungeon, it's huge!" Kane exclaimed, awed at the sight.

"Indeed," Rui stared at it with anticipation. "I am glad that I got to be part of this transient part of history. It's not every day that a Squire-level dungeon opens up."

They passed a myriad of Martial Squires on their way there, each staying above the chaotic and dense streets of the Shionel Confederation, they were all heading either to or from the Adventurer Ring.

Rui scrutinized all of them, gathering more information about the competition.

"Most of them are in larger groups," He remarked. "Makes sense given that larger numbers can partially mitigate the risks that come with the hampered senses within the Shionel Dungeon." 𝒷ℯ𝒹𝓃𝓸𝓿ℯ𝓁.𝒸ℴ𝓶

An ideal party would be comprised of the right combination of Martial Paths of varying ranges and fields, thus Rui could see why Martial Squires decided to team up in groups of five to be able to deal with the various challenges in the Shionel Dungeon.

"It would be annoying if we ran into them," Rui mused with narrowed eyes.

Half of his strategy and planned tactics would not work on Martial Squires as they were designed for monsters, which were the more prevalent and dominant threat. However, there were plenty of Martial Squires that clashed with each other inside the dungeon.

This was not prohibited either, nor could any prohibition of such a kind possibly be enforced by the Shionel Adventurer Guild.

He needed to keep an eye out for all of them

('The good news is that I can see them coming from literally a mile away, while they're not gonna perceive me until I come within a limited range where they can sense me, Kane will and I will be able to kill anybody who tries to pick a fight with us,') Rui did not have any intention of attacking Martial Squires while they were plundering the dungeon, but he would gladly kill anybody who dared to try and take their lives inside the dungeon. He was not a large-hearted man who could overlook attempted murder and forgive and forget.

Soon enough, the two of them reached the Adventurer Ring town around the Shionel Dungeon, and it was finally time to raid the dungeon.