His breakthrough was such an absurd anomaly that the Silas Clan stared at him with shock even before he landed.
Three years ago, he was an Awakened Bodyforger at the age of thirty-two.
Today, he was a Mindforger.
Such a thing was so beyond the realm of what was supposed to be possible that the various Martial Artists of the clan could not even muster any words at him.
They just stared at him like the cosmic anomaly that he was.
Rui's gaze swept across the clan with vague interest.
In the past three years, the Silas Clan did well to settle in the Ilvilia Forest.
Rui had been worried of so degree of incompatibility with an agrarian transition, but it appeared that the Silas Clan was comfortable with their current style.
It turned out that life could be extrely comfortable when one didn't need to constantly move to not be hunted by the world. Rui was glad as it diminished any possibility of the clan leaving the empire and returning to their nomadic lifestyle. Their mbers had grown too used to the benefits of civilization. While it was definitely a pleasant developnt, it was not why he had co here.
His eyes were fixed on the giant hut at the center of Silas Village.
It could not hide the extraordinary power that lay within it.
Despite her greatest efforts to hide her power, it pricked at her skin.
It tingled at her nerves.
It was as though heaven and earth bent under the sheer weight of her being.
"You've changed more than I foresaw."
A voice halted him the mont he arrived at the entrance, covered with strips fashioned from leaves.
WHOOSH
They swept aside as he found himself standing right before the matriarch of the Silas Clan.
"Grandmother." he regarded her with respect. "Mmm…" She studied him with her powerful gaze. "…Indeed, more than I foresaw."
Rui's eyes sharpened. "…And just how much did you foresee?"
She regarded him silently for a mont before closing her eyes. "…Co in, we have much to speak about."
She ushered him in as she silently gathered a bunch leaves in a mortar, mashing them up patiently. "You're a Martial Sage," Rui lightly comnted as he observed her, flummoxed.
She snorted. "I do not wish to wield the power to level nations for every small task. Appreciating the innate capabilities of human beings keeps in touch with my humanity. No matter how far I have risen above the average human, I am, at my core, a human being."
"…I would have thought that our Martial Bodies resembling humans indistinguishably was enough for that."
She snorted. "In the Lower Realms, perhaps. But that is no longer enough in the Upper Realms. Martial Artists in the Upper Realms have risen so far beyond the human being in every dinsion of evaluation that we may as well be gods."
Rui's gaze grew a bit sharper. "…That is rather arroga—"
"—Is it?" Rui's eyes widened as her voice grew more intense.
"…It hasn't been long since your breakthrough to the Master Realm," she remarked critically as she poured the mixture of churned leaves into a clay mug of boiling water. "That is why the reality of its impacts on your relationship with humanity has yet to hit you."
Her eyes slowly turned to him. "The Martial Heart did not affect one's relationship with humanity, but the sa cannot for the Martial Mind. You shall learn that it takes effort to…maintain your connection with the human being."
Rui's impassivity morphed into a frown. "What are you saying?"
"They cannot hide their minds from you. Their emotions and ntalities are all but transparent to Martial Artists of the Upper Realms. Did you really think that this wouldn't alter your relationship with humanity?"
Her words gave him chills.
"Awareness of mind and the very natural ability to manipulate it as a result…" She continued. "They are to us what infants are to their parents. No, they are even less. They may as well be livestock to us. That is why it takes effort such as this to hone one's mind, otherwise…"
She turned to him. "…It is very easy for a Martial Master to develop a god complex."
Rui narrowed his eyes. "…Is that actually common?"
"Quite."
Her answer stunned him. "But most of the Martial Masters that I have spoken to have been remarkably humble and down-to-earth…"
"That is because most of them have undergone so amount of psychological training, conditioning, and in so extre cases, hypnosis and brainwashing after they broke through," She calmly inford. "Those that don't go through this often end up becoming the kind of Martial Masters that end up being hunted by the Panamic Martial Federation for cris against humanity."
Shock flickered in the depths of his impassive eyes. "…What?"
"It is one of the many reasons that the Martial powerhouses of humanity ca together to found the Panama Martial Federation," she continued, ignoring his incredulity. "You're telling it's so bad that most of the friendly Martial Masters I know needed psychological treatnt to not develop a mindset psychopathic to humanity?" Rui gazed at her with a stunned expression.
The idea that Headmaster Aronian, Master Ceeran, Master Vericita, Master Zentra, Master Deivon, and many others had undergone so amount of psychological conditioning and treatnt to adjust their ntalities to ensure that they didn't develop so degree of psychopathy was deeply disturbing.
"…It is a consequence of the human condition." Her tone was lancholic. "Social sorting is a sociological and psychological phenonon deeply ingrained in the mind as a consequence of evolution. The combination of social sorting with the ascended state of life in the Master Realm can lead to so truly horrible outcos."
"…But how?"
She snorted as she glanced at him with askance. "Look at the history of humanity, my grandchild. That should be an answer in and of itself. The list of things that groups of humans have done to other groups of humans that they perceived as 'other' and 'lesser' is long. Unfortunately, a similar thing generally tends to happen when Martial Masters break through to the Master Realm."
-
User Comments
0 comments from readers