BADUMP!
Rui's Martial Heart flared into power.
A tsunami of power erupted from deep within his body.
His cells shook as a maelstrom of power gushed from deep within them to far beyond, spreading across the entire body.
His circulatory system lit up a brilliant bright red from his chest across the entirety of his body, giving him an aura that the ignorant would mistake as godly.
His body brimmed with energy.
His quivered with power.
His eyes flared with a faint glow as he opened them, inspecting his entire body.
"I've finally returned to my peak."
After a month of gradually intensifying rehabilitative training, he gradually coaxed his body to return to its state before the battle with the Gatekeeper.
While the sensation of returning to his peak was pleasing, he was not pleased.
His eyes narrowed as his fists clenched. "Two months…"
He snuffed his Martial Heart, tutting with displeasure.
He didn't like the fact that he had to waste so much time just recovering and rehabilitating from the consequences of using the forbidden metabody technique.
It was a painful reminder of why the technique was forbidden.
If not for the fact that the Gatekeeper had also very willingly used a forbidden technique to win the battle with brute force, he would have never dared to use the technique. Two months was too much of a cost to pay, as far as he was concerned.
Especially when he was pressured by a deadline.
Now, he only had roughly three years and ten months left.
KNOCK KNOCK
"Come in."
"Your Highness," His secretary walked in.
"It is time for your remote appointment with the Beggar Sage."
"Hm," Rui donned his outer attire before departing from the training room. "Let's get going then."
His mind drifted about to the many thoughts he had had when thinking about the Beggar Sage when planning this meeting.
What was the best way to extract information from this man?
Money.
Not every single person had complicated or mysterious motives.
In fact, most people had transparent motives.
The Beggar's Sect was an information broker. It was a commercial organization that collected and gathered information to sell it at a profit.
Of course, money was not the sole objective of the Beggar's Sect. It had other interests. Clearly, it was an organization that worked towards its agenda of protecting the primacy of the common man in an age that glorified and pedestalized Martial Art.
Of course, Rui did not need to be a consummate politician to be cognizant of the fact that their agenda to protect the common man was not from a place of kindness and compassion like Prince Raul.
It was simply power.
The common man was the Beggar's Sect only source of power. The common man was the reason that the Beggar's Sect was a powerhouse. They were simply using Raul to protect their power.
He was also aware of the fact that while he had a history of cooperation with the organization and had built a working rapport, there was a conflict of interests between him and the Beggar's Sect.
They had supported the People's Prince, whom Rui had utterly defeated in the Kandrian Throne War.
This complicated their relationship.
They were not enemies.
However, they were never friends, and the rapport he had built with the organization had been damaged by the revelation of his princehood and his successful campaign for the throne.
Still, he was relatively certain that the Beggar's Sect did not hate him as a candidate for the throne. During his campaign announcement, he conveyed a strong determination not to disenfranchise the common man. He had even disclosed very practical and undeniable reasons why he would be able to do even more for the citizens of Kandria than even his father did.
In other words, he was the next best option after Raul in their eyes.
That was why he had hoped he would be able to extract the information that he needed.
This meeting was important.
The closer he walked toward the meeting room, the more it weighed down on him. If the Beggar Sage did not cooperate, he was probably screwed. He highly doubted that the Silas Clan alone would be able to provide him with the key he needed.
What he needed was pertinent information from a highly credible source. The Beggar Sage was just that. As a fellow sage of humanity, his words are of deep value to Rui.
"Let me begin by saying I deeply appreciate the fact that you took the time to speak to me despite the immensely busy schedule that the leader of the Beggar's Sect is undou-"
"-Make it quick."
An inhumanly raspy voice with deep impatience emerged from the orb before him in the isolated room where he was to speak with the Beggar Sage. Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.
There wasn't even a visual projection and the voice that the orb projected was altered beyond any hope of recognition.
Rui was taken aback by his rudeness and lack of formality, but he actually preferred it to stuffy formality.
His eyes narrowed.
"Where is the Psycher, the Astromind, the Scrier, and the Divine Doctor?"
He made sure to not change so much a hint of his cadence in regards to the final name.
The air grew heavy.
It grew tumultuous.
"..."
Rui furrowed his eyebrows.
"…Kek."
Rui could almost hear him grinning widely on the other side.
"Kekeke…" He began laughing uncontrollably. "HEHEHAHAHEEE…!!"
Rui narrowed his eyes as the man burst into guffaw, laughing uncontrollably!
"…You, you little trickster," A hint of excitement entered his voice. "You almost fooled me."
"…What do you mean?"
"Hah, searching for the human sages," the man snorted.
Rui could hear his excitement.
"You only care for one name on that list of names, don't you?"
Rui narrowed his eyes. "I don't know what you're-"
"-Spare me the bullshit."
His voice was nonchalant.
"Don't forget who needs who here," he growled. "I don't mind cutting this call short right here and now."
Rui closed his eyes. "…Fine."
He didn't know how, but somehow, the Beggar Sage saw right through him just by hearing his voice.
"Where is the Divine Doctor?"
-