"Missing them already?" Kane asked Rui was gazing back at the island.
"It's not like I spent too much time with any of the Martial Artists, in all honesty," Rui replied.
"What about that one Martial Senior chick though?" Kane asked uncouthly.
Rui furrowed his eyebrows in response. "Yeah, I suppose I am going to miss her."
"Hehe, do you have a crush on her? Did you guys have a thing going on? Rui and K'Mala sitting on a tree…"
Rui shook his head with a resigned smile. He was too old mentally to be bothered with juvenile jests. "By the way, have you figured out what you're going to do next?"
Kane grew more serious upon hearing that. He knew why Rui was asking that question, it was regarding the proposal that he had made to Kane a while back on Vilun Island. It was one proposal that he had to give credit to as being alluring.
Kane didn't know much about the dungeon.
But he did know a lot about Rui. If he thought that visiting the dungeon was a good idea for both of them, then Kane definitely thought it was a good idea as well.
"Alright, I'm in," Kane shrugged. "What was the dungeon called again?"
Rui threw a disapproving look at his friend. "You should have familiarized yourself with the dungeon before agreeing to it straightforwardly. You're prone to getting exploited with an attitude like that."
Kane shook his head inwardly. He would have instantly rejected almost anyone else had they suggested partnering up with him and diving into a dangerous dungeon with immense competition from other Martial Squires across this section of the continent.
Yet it was different from when it was Rui who was the one making that proposal. Not only was the man sharp and shrewd, but he was also someone Kane trusted deeply.
That was why he had accepted Rui's proposal. In reality, he had accepted the moment Rui had made it months ago inwardly, this was the first time that he was informing Rui about it.
"I'm glad you're willing," Rui turned back towards the ocean. "It definitely reduces the risks than if we went alone."
Rui was confident in his capability, however, at the end of the day, he was only one person. He could make mistakes, he could be caught off-guard. It was always better to have another person with you.
Kane was reliable in his eyes, and quite trustworthy. There were very few Martial Squires he could say that for.
"But unfortunately, neither of us is ready yet," He sighed.
"Hm?" Kane raised an eyebrow.
"The dungeon is a gathering ground for some of the most accomplished Martial Squires in this section of the continent. We're not going to be dealing with any low-level Martial Squires. I highly doubt anybody below grade five is going to be able to compete effectively."
"True that," Kane nodded.
He had broken through a lot more recently than Rui did and was two grades below him. He was especially unfit to be partaking in an endeavor as crazy as this one.
"Also, I need to gather as much information regarding the Shionel Dungeon as well," Rui pointed out. "We can probably purchase detailed information and intelligence on the dungeon from the Martial Union. But just that isn't enough. We'll need to analyze that information and come up with a strategy and course of action that will allow us to maximize our fruits from the venture."
Rui was not someone who undertook ventures without preparation. Getting to know everything relevant that he had to do.
The dungeon was probably like the one in the Serevian forest, except its underground system was firmly intact because it was not forcibly filled with land to prevent security holes. It would extend deep underground.
He needed to find information surroundings its structure, the level of competition, and the esoteric material yields that could be taken up for grabs. Furthermore, he needed information surrounding the beasts that occupied the dungeon, those would greatly factor into his evaluation of the difficulty of delving into the dungeon of the Shionel Confederation.
"We also need to get stronger," Rui noted. "While we gather and analyze information we should go ahead and increase our power to the bare minimum degree."
Kane nodded, sighing. "That's not gonna be so easy, you know. Becoming stronger as a Martial Squire is so much more complicated than it was as a Martial Apprentice. Back in the Apprentice Realm, you could just master techniques that weren't your own and call it a day. But in the Squire Realm, without the synergy that comes with using techniques that you have an affinity for, your growth will be stalled. And without the individuality that comes with having created, even partially, your own techniques, one can forget about trying to reach the Senior Realm."
"If it was easy, everybody would do it," Rui replied calmly.
He didn't necessarily disagree with Kane. He was right in saying that growth in the Squire Realm was different than it used to be in the Apprentice Realm.
To Rui, however, this was a good thing. He had suspected it before, but recently he had confirmed it. But he was great at developing his own strength.
He had a lifetime of experience and knowledge from another world. He could apply it to create techniques that nobody else could fathom creating. Because of the knowledge about the human being and the mechanics of reality that he had inherited from his previous life, he had plenty of fuel and source material to build techniques out of.
Where other Martial Squires struggled, Rui thrived. He was certain that no Martial Squire of his youth and experience, or lack thereof, in the Squire Realm, could have come up with so many powerful techniques.
He recalled one of the Martial Squires he had sparred with when creating one of his techniques told him that the path to the Senior Realm was difficult and hard. Well, Rui realized that may not entirely apply to him.