"I'm sorry, did you say that you wished to weaponize the Martial Art and make it a part of your technique?" The man before Rui stared at him with a bewildered expression. After all, it wasn't every day that a Martial Squire approached him looking for aid on how to turn the Herenal's Disease into a weapon for himself.
"It's technically possible, correct?" Rui asked him.
The man reluctantly nodded. "It is technically possible based on the plan that you have brought forth. However, the probability of success is rather low. Unfortunately, the Martial Body is just too strong and very difficult to harm with diseases that harm normal humans."
"However, an increased dose, one that would be lethal to humans, would induce the same effect in Martial Squires that normal doses in humans do, correct?"
"Yes..." The man hesitated once more.
Rui couldn't blame him for his reluctance or his compunctions.
He had probably never heard of a Martial Art technique that involved willingly becoming diseased.
Neither had Rui.
That was why he was also skeptical of it.
The fact of the matter was that this wasn't even a symbiote that evolved with the purpose of cooperating.
This was a disease, it evolved to harm the body for its own sustenance. There was no question that if he did something wrong, the virus would do what it was supposed to and would either harm him a lot or potentially even death in the worst-case scenario.
('Then again, I inserted a poison that causes literal cell death, into my body.') He mused.
How much worse could it get?
That did not mean he was willing to try it out no matter what.
What he needed was more data and information on the virus and its effects on Martial Bodies for him to be absolutely certain.
Unfortunately, such data was almost certainly available at the Floating Sect. There was absolutely no way that they had any literature on such a niche topic. That was why he needed to go to a place that would have a more in-depth on the matter.
('Tsk, it's a shame that I didn't make these breakthroughs in Crexeet Town.') Rui tutted.
He was quite certain that place would have the research that he was looking for.
Of course, he was aware that he would not have made the breakthroughs in Crexeet Town had he spent all this time there than on Floating Sect.
The latter exposed him to a large community of elite high-grade Martial Squires, it pushed him forward in ways that Crexeet Town simply couldn't. The pressure that he experienced in Crexeet Town was non-existent.
The conflicts that he and Kane were obligated to partake in were rather inconsequential to Rui, especially compared to the conflict between the Floating Sect and the Kaddar Treaty Organization.
He and Kane could nearly singlehandedly mop up the entirety of their opposition in that it was insignificant, compared to the both of them.
Ultimately, humans were creatures that conformed to pressure, and it appeared that not even Martial Squires were exempt from this.
In recent times, his growth rate had been greater due to the fact that he had been subjecting himself to a lot of pressure. The Shionel Confederation and the Shionel Dungeon had made him grow stronger unlike anything else did.
His growth rate during the time when he was simply fulfilling missions as he tried to garner some experience and cash. He made decent progress, but it simply wasn't enough nonetheless.
('I would have never arrived at Project Metabody had I continued leading that kind of life.') Rui tutted as he roasted his previous lifestyle. ('But in exchange, I can't see my family until I become not just a Martial Senior, but also a strong one at that.')
He also would have never stumbled open the need to introduce a disease into his body voluntarily. That didn't mean it was either or bad.
It all depended on what the data said.
('Again, Crexeet Town,')
He might revisit the place once the war ended briefly, just to get the information that he needed, before getting back.
However, just information wasn't enough, that means he needed to actually get his hands on the disease. That was one of the reasons that this would be very difficult even if everything worked out and was possible. After all, if a disease was rare, that meant actually getting hands on the actual disease was not going to be easy.
What he needed was a swift way to not only get his hands on it but also ensure that qualified professionals handled the procedure.
However, that couldn't happen for as long as the war between the Floating Sect and the Kaddar Region raged on. As long as it raged on, he wouldn't be able to leave Ajanta Island.
That was frustrating.
It was frustrating because the war did not seem to be ending too soon.
There were too many Martial Squires, and neither side deployed enough to be able to speed up the process of the Squire-level combat, but not good enough for Rui.
Unfortunately, there was simply nothing that he could do about it at the moment. That was the biggest issue.
('Time to fight harder.') He narrowed his eyes.
He wasn't sure how much help it would be, but as long as he fought harder for the Floating Sect he could marginally impact the rate at which the Squire-level combat phase of the war could speed up so that there were little to no ways that he could possibly be stalled for any longer than even a single second.
Literally too, because Martial Artists possessed far superior combat cognitive speeds. They were not going to miss that gap even with martial Artists. One of the things that Rui knew was that there was little to no way he wasn't going to do everything in his power to ensure that he could to Crexeet Town as early as possible, and get everything that he needed.
