After reading the report I gained a new understanding of the relationship between countries and the Seeier Organization and by extension the Ranker world.

It seemed I still couldn’t go around doing whatever I wanted.

There were still people on the lookout and ready to do something about it.

It makes sense most Rankers still follow local laws and customs.

It was no joke to go against a country's law enforcement.

The power of countries was no joke. And that included Volunterra.

There was a reason it had maintained its sovereignty despite decades of enemies trying to conquer and submit to it.

Today’s Volunterra is hundreds of times stronger than in the past, and this report which was written only a couple of years ago is proof that it’s not gonna bow down its head to anybody, not even the Great Seeier itself.

It’s funny though I still wonder why I never hear anything bad said about the Seeier organization from the public.

In everyone’s point of view although mysterious they were the facilitator not the gatekeepers towards the Ranker life.

Maybe that’s why people had such a positive view of them.

People just love Rankers that much to a nation's citizens, the stronger Ranker they had the safer they were, that was enough reason to give them special privileges and put them above the law.

Seemed the Government didn’t share their point of view.

In my opinion, the public and the government having differing opinions was a good thing it balanced things out.

I was now ready to go to the Seeiers Organization building and experience what they were about firsthand.

But now I wasn’t as naive and could go in there with confidence.

It was clear the Seeier Organization wasn’t as benevolent as everyone said they were.

It was probably in my best interest to keep a safe distance from them.

***

It was a clear sunny day with a pleasant breeze blowing through the forest.

There was a small clearing that gave way to a rural road that connected to a main road in the direction of a city skyline.

Four young travelers who looked like they had seen better days, wearily trudged forward holding on to each other's shoulders with a joyous expression as they saw the city in the distance.

These were the four young experts Guso had saved from the hands of Super Warrior Tokir and his gang.

Before they entered Martial Citadel they made camp on the side of the road and cleaned themselves up a bit so that they wouldn’t attract too much attention to themselves.

As they got ready to depart, Ranger Sonb pointed at the city with confidence and joy.

“The directions Guso gave us were correct that right there should be Martial Citadel.”

Lassina frowned and had a look of confusion on her face.

“I had heard of that city before but according to my understanding that place was only a city in name, people told me it was more like a large town abandoned in the boonies.”

The leader of the group Weapon Master Royem shook his head in disagreement.

“I don’t think your sources are correct look at all that construction being done we can even see it from all the way here and although the number of people entering the city can't compare to Will City it's not small.”

Swordmaster Sonb also took the opportunity to chime in.

“It's good that it's not a desolate city, which means we probably won't have any trouble replenishing our losses and getting back on our feet. Will City is too far away for us in the conditions we are in. For now, and until we decide what our next step will be, we have no choice but to lodge within those walls. Let us quickly recuperate our strength and fully acquaint ourselves with the city and any opportunities it may offer.”

Lassina could only relent, annoyed that her source of information had misled her, nevertheless she still felt something was off and was wary.

“You're probably right, even so, according to other rumors I heard it has a reputation as a ghost town with washed-up experts who are aggressive and has nothing of value within it. Its only redeeming quality was that it was close to Will City so it served as a convenient pit stop if you were passing by. Even if it's not a ghost town we should still be on guard unless we get attacked or run into dangerous thugs.”

Most of the group nodded in agreement except sword master Sonb.

“At this point though it doesn’t matter we're exhausted to death, injured, and in need of equipment and supplies, this place Martial Citadel is going to be a paradise to me no matter how run down it is.”

Royem decided to end the quibbling.

“Yes, let's not overthink it, we're fortunate this place was close by, we'll just have to go in and see if the rumors are true or not.”

They hurried up cleaning themselves up and putting their things in order and headed on over to the line to get into the city with the rest of the people.

Once they got close to the city they were amazed at what they saw.

The walls were tall, and the architecture was classic-looking but beautiful.

It wasn’t too busy but there was a good amount of activity, It wasn’t anything crazy but it was far from dead.

They were welcomed in by security as experts and given special tags so that they could carry their weapons.

The more relaxed security rules compared to Will City which didn’t allow just any expert to carry weapons surprised them.

As soon as they entered the City they were welcomed by a beautiful ancient-looking Citadel with many odd constructs and buildings and lots of construction and renovations.

It was as if the City was in the middle of a revival.

Everyone seemed happy, the whole City was in a bustle.

Odd looking Autorollers that produced no smog sped by or were lined up and down the beautiful streets.

Lantern poles that produced a profound-looking light that glowed even in the daylight lined the sidewalks.

Weird towers were all over the City where certain people who looked like experts pressed their hands upon them and made them glow.

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Reverse pyramid platforms with people on top of them floated throughout the air unobstructed.

Beautiful and profound unique music played throughout the city.

Large groups of students from different schools practiced outside in formation surrounded by a mysterious energy creating an imposing fearsome yet majestic City atmosphere.

In many regards to the visiting expert's opinion Martial Citadel was more impressive than Will City in certain respects.

What was most fascinating was the mysterious energy that everyone around the city seemed to be using.

They eventually found out that it was called focus energy and it originated from a treasure called the focus shard.

One of the kind City locals explained to them that it was their version of the Mana Crystal exclusive to them.

The group was fascinated and ecstatic they never thought they would encounter such a treasure so close to home.

Everyone seemed to be rich with the focus shard, and the things the focus shard could do were marvelous.

When they showed up at the local physician to heal, shops to buy supplies, or an inn to stay many nights; and the locals saw they were paying with gold and platinum coins many of the residents seemed disappointed, as if they only recognized focus shards.

They came to find out that focus shards were a bit less valuable than Platinum coins in terms of exchange and were worth 500 gold coins, yet most people didn’t dare trade focus shards for gold or platinum unless it was for a fee.

When they finally managed to get their hands on a couple they were in awe of the item in front of them.

They had learned from local experts that these could power powerful weapons that they could only buy here with these shards.

The famous and loved Inner Energy weapons!

They had heard that there were a couple of versions of the weapons but the best kind came from Business Mogul Dirgens stores.

Immediately the group decided to stay many days within the City to try to accumulate as many treasures as they could and power up.

The swordsman wanted Inner Energy swords, the ranger wanted an Inner Energy crossbow and axe, Lamina wanted Inner Energy guns, and the leader wanted the Inner Snergy armor and pole blade.

The four of them were sure that if they could get their hands on these items their fighting prowess would increase tenfold.

They did their best to find work throughout the city to accumulate currency for the weapons as their funds had basically run out.

They weren’t too interested in martial arts but a couple of them studied some manuals here and there.

Despite the treasure weapons in the city, they didn’t think too highly of the local experts.

To them, they just looked like a bunch of hobbyists.

Eventually, they learned to have respect for martial arts the hard way when they encountered powerful martial experts that were top-notch and humbled them.

Whoever said the experts in the City were washed up were inhaling salt, as the experts they met were even more formidable than Tokir who almost killed them, and maybe even Guso who was even stronger.

Indeed, the prowess in which they attacked reminded them a lot of how Guso fought.

The martial experts could smash big stone blocks to smithereens, withstand bladed attacks, and even dodge bullets.

These were not people they wanted to mess with.

In the end, they ended up joining a local travelers guild that had just popped up which helped them get jobs within the city or near it in a variety of different fields.

Focus shards weren’t the only treasures they discovered; they also were enthralled with the useful and valuable inner resin, inner wax, inner petrol, inner coal, inner fat, inner grease, and inner oil.

They also discovered the City highly prized certain plants and trees like the inner energy wood and ghost plant among others.

They didn’t understand ghost plants, but they discovered inner energy wood made for very high-quality weapons and tools.

Due to how valuable they were to the City denizens eyes everyone also seemed to farm vast quantities of these.

Oddly enough everyone also seemed to have at least one Chunky Orange Swine.

The Citadel was much more comfortable to live in than Will City but every day more and more outsiders arrived to move into the City for new opportunities.

They visibly saw how crowded the city got day by day, thanks to Gusos guidance they had inadvertently found themselves in the middle of a gold rush.

What was odd was the line between Expert, Ranker, and Commoner was quite blurred within the City more than anywhere else.

Nobody was afraid of anyone, everyone was to be respected, and if you weren’t at least a hobbyist martial artist, you had no business living in the City.

Cheap Inner Energy weapons evened out the playing field, everyone within the City was formidable.

Even scrubby Adventurers, Prospects, and Experts found themselves like sheep among wolves if they didn’t force themselves to adapt.

Despite nearby towns, businessmen around cities such as Will City, and adventurers discovering the wonders of the citadel; the city’s treasures were still for the most part a hidden secret among the ranker world.

Only a few experts and rankers had discovered the boon and had kept silent to reap the benefits all to themselves.

Normal Focus shards weren’t the only things showing up in the market Spirit focus shards, Mental focus shards, maelstrom focus shards, and a peculiar beastly focus shard also emerged.

These were the products of several universities and high-level institutions looking to bend the powers of the focus shard more towards their benefit.

Soon the line between martial artists, practitioners, and phenom experts started to get blurred.

New intruíging and powerful arts started to develop and emerge.

Martial Citadel unknowingly became a breeding ground for new Ranker talent.

The four saved experts reaped many rewards and soon were ready to try to enter the Ranker world once more.