The Martial Unity

Chapter 3372: Dwarven Sword

The dwarven markets in the port city that they were in were infested with weapons of all kinds that drew Rui’s attention. He saw infantry weaponry meant for close-quarters, like bayonets, daggers, swords, and spears, along with ranged weapons with a variety of guns and projectile weapons like plasma rifles, energy canons, and laser weapons, all available for sale in the market that the dwarves held.

The dwarves of the Bournvyrne Empire had a more refined establishment that harbored their weapons displays.

“Wow, I guess people of the true world truly do use weapons in their combat, don’t they?” Amare murmured with a surprised expression.

“The dwarves, in particular, wouldn’t be able to do without them,” Rui remarked knowingly. “Their innate combat power is extremely weak, for they are as weak as human children. It is quite impressive that they are able to stand equal to the other six races despite their weak physical power. The tekvores also use technological weaponry; they just integrate it into their bodies. The elves also use biotechnology, but it’s just limited to flora biotechnology that is integrated into nature.”

He recalled that the evolutionaries didn’t use weapons, though it was probably for the same reason that he didn’t, because there weren’t any weapons that were as versatile as he was, making them a drag on his adaptive evolution by forcing him to sacrifice his versatility.

“Would you be willing to use a weapon if it didn’t sabotage your versatility?” Amare raised an eyebrow.

“Of course,” Rui remarked knowingly. “I am not principally against weapons. I just want something that increases my adaptive evolution, not reduces it. As long as it can fulfill that condition, I will adopt a weapon if I must. It is true that weapons bring about significant power to their users.”

A human with a weapon was much more powerful than a human without one, after all.

The same was true for Martial Artists on average. However, Martial Artists had a massive range in power, which allowed for unarmed Martial Artists to be significantly stronger, negating even the power of a weapon.

“A weapon that can keep up with your endless adaptive evolution…” Amare murmured, closing her eyes as she tried visualizing such a weapon.

She wasn’t able to.

The sheer flexibility and diversity that Rui displayed were simply out of this world.

“I don’t think such a weapon exists,” she remarked with a resigned tone. “I don’t think anybody can create a weapon that is worthy of you, either.”

“…It would be interesting if there were someone like that,” Rui remarked, heaving a deep sigh, before returning his attention to the weapons laid out in the market before him.

“Still, these weapons are quite extraordinary themselves,” Rui murmured with a surprised tone as his gaze peered deep into their material structure. “They feel sturdy despite the fact that they’re made from ordinary elements and alloys like steel.”

Rui could crush steel with his hands quite easily, even without his Heart, yet when he gazed at the weapons before him, made from steel. They felt more solid and unyielding than he would expect a weapon made from steel.

It wasn’t just technological enhancement either, like electromagnetic plating technology to hold the steel together with a powerful electromagnetic force. He could feel that even in its inactive state, it would be difficult for him to actually destroy the weapon.

He frowned, reaching out for one of their swords to get a better feel for it.

“Looking for a weapon, young lad?”

Rui’s hand paused as his gaze shifted to the dwarf who called out to him.

She was an older woman with light red hair and olive skin, wearing what appeared to be a blacksmith’s attire from head to toe, with a series of tools at her utility belt and thick gloves in her hands.

She walked up to him and reached for the sword that he had his eyes on with a nod. “Good eye, I forged that sword myself.”

CLASP

With ease, she lifted the greatsword that was almost as heavy as she was with a single hand, as several customers at the table cooed with amazement at her physical strength that seemed to defy what one would expect from small, weak dwarves.

WHOOSH!

She swung the sword with a perfect motion as it whistled through the air with a single motion. “It’s a dwarven greatsword, made with our craftsmanship. It is vastly more durable than you would expect from a sword made from simple steel and is extraordinarily sharp. You will be able to cleave through steel like butter, you know?”

WHOOSH!

WHOOSH!

WHOOSH!

She made several more demonstrations with the sword, swinging the heavy sword as if it were nothing. Rui could sense that a thin exoskeleton-like membrane covered her body underneath her heavy clothes, with a strong electric current running through it, increasing the force that she could output. The exoskeleton had tiny nanocircuits that penetrated her skin and connected with the omnipresent fascial nervous system within her body, allowing her to connect with it.

Each time she swung her sword, the exoskeletal membrane contracted and expanded in the right areas, improving the acceleration and force in her movements. Given that it was connected to her nervous system in her brain, it could react to her nerve impulses and be directed and controlled by her will to compensate for the shortcomings of dwarven physiology.

It was a remarkably sophisticated piece of technology.

“What do you think, lad?” she smiled at him with confidence. “It’s a good sword, ain’t it? I’ll give you a discount if you purchase it now.”

Rui smiled at her. “Do you mind if I try it out first?”

“Of course not! Come into the testing room and you can try out our sword for free!”

Rui accepted the offer as he and Amare followed the little dwarf into the testing arena, finding a large number of target dummies armed with powerful armor plating to protect themselves from the strikes of the customers who were trying out their weapons.