The Martial Unity

Ria and Runark walked down the streets of the adventurer tech and services sector. An entire section of the city was dedicated to selling products to adventurers in the frontier, as well as providing them with crucial services. The complexity and sophistication of operations had reached such a high level that one couldn’t operate without a whole slew of gear with them.

Gone were the times when Martial Artists could simply complete commissions with just a compass, a commpad, and some food pills. Now, every pathwalker needed to be geared up to the teeth in order to do at a bare minimum.

“We should upgrade our exo-Martial suits,” Ria remarked, glancing down at hers. “Since the Blood Humanist Society is footing the bill, we can afford to get more extravagant.”

Runark nodded thoughtfully. “I think I want to get one of those suits that has premium temperature and moisture control, those feel like heaven.”

Ria raised an eyebrow in his direction. “I don’t mean upgrade comfort, of course. I mean, upgrade it in terms of its toughness and integrity. Those suits are our lives.”

Exo-Martial suits were a piece of technology that was meant to ensure that a Martial Artist could operate in space without the suit getting destroyed by high-intensity battle. This meant allowing them to breathe and giving them some leverage in space, and also ensuring that it transferred almost all of the impacts that struck Martial Artists, so that it wouldn’t have to withstand those impacts themselves.

Of course, more premium exo-Martial suits, particularly those made by dwarves, could withstand greater punishment and even serve as a defensive layer, adding to the survivability of Martial Artists. STEP

They arrived at a large showroom in the district, comprising a skyscraper that was higher than even they could see. The front of the showroom was entirely glass, allowing anybody outside to catch a glimpse of the premium exo-Martial suits inside. Giant words composed of holograms hung in the air above the showroom.

[Exottire]

It was one of the most high-end brands that produced some of the most extravagant products.

“Let’s splurge this time.” Ria’s amber eyes lit up.

Runark’s expression grew complicated. “Exottire? You do realize we can only afford their products with a large amount of credit. Hell, even if we max out our credit, we might not be able to afford them.”

“Yes, but Aunt Arastia said she would cover us so—” Ria’s expression morphed into one of smug eagerness. “She should have been more careful if she didn’t want to get squeezed. Hehehe.”

Runark stared at her with a dubious expression. She had strangely developed a little bit of a shopaholic tendency sometimes when it came to spending money, but she never seemed to extend that to the virtually infinite wealth that she possessed as the Princess of the Kandrian Empire.

But something about spending the money that she herself had earned with hard work and effort was apparently very satisfying. It also taught her the true value of money, to an extent.

CLACK

The two of them walked into the store, immediately greeted by a well-groomed employee.

“Greetings, young sir, miss.” A woman smiled at them in a perfunctory manner. “How may we help you?”

She was clearly a hybrid between a martialus and a tekvore, with a cybernetic left eye that resembled a normal human eye, while clearly giving off the vibe of a martialus to highly observant Martial Artists like Ria and Runark.

“We’re looking for premium exo-Martial suits for Martial Masters that prioritize durability, functionality, and maneuverability,” Ria answered quickly, glancing around the showroom with lit irises. “We were hoping you could show us your catalogue and help us make a decision.”

“Why, of course, follow me, and I’ll show you around the kind of products you are looking for.”

They followed the employee through the showroom even as they stole longing gaze at the premium exo-Martial suits that were up on display across the spacious showroom. Various Martial Masters and even Martial Sages were gathered, being given a demonstration of how the suits functioned as they examined the product.

No Martial Artist dared to skimp out on the piece of technology that kept them alive. It was simply not worth it, as far as they were concerned. If they were going to entrust their life to a suit, it better have been one that they could trust. All of the potential clientele were much older than either Ria or Runark, possessing a much larger sum of money as disposable income. They weren’t limited to Martial Artists either. She even saw regular humans testing the quality of certain truly high-grade products.

In the Era of Expansion, the capacity that normal humans had in their ability to face-off Martial Artists was not as limited as it used to be. While Martial Artists achieved efficiency by progressing down the Martial Path, there were more expensive ways of achieving similar results, temporarily, with the power of technology.

And depending on what one did, it was potentially possible for such measures to be economically viable for some sort of career as an adventurer despite being a normal human. Ria even admired the humans who were willing to go that far, but if they were willing to go that far, then why not just become pathwalkers?

In the Era of Expansion, to become a pathwalker, Martial Artist, or otherwise, was simply a matter of choice or not. Martial Apprentice was merely a matter of time. Anybody could become a Martial Apprentice if they were willing to put in the time and effort, although it got exponentially harder the older one became.

But for people below the age of twenty-five, they could not only choose to become a Martial Artist, but also pursue alternative careers while doing so, treating Martial Art as a career safety net if whatever their main goal was didn’t work out.

Interestingly enough, there were also non-Martial pathwalkers in the store, with exosuits specifically designed for their race and their paths. She spotted numerous pathwalkers in different sections of the store, trying on different kinds of exosuits.

“This section contains our catalogue for Martial Masters, young miss, mister,” the employee gestured at a wide array of exo-Martial attire across the segment. Their eyes lit up as their gazes swept a large array of suits with intricate technological designs, with an array of colors streaking across each suit. It was the cutting edge of what exo-Martial technology had to offer.