Rui and Kane grew increasingly closer to the Uminana Trench they were able to sense it better, it wasn't too long before they actually drew close enough to perceive the entirety of the diameter of the Umiana Trench.
"What the hell…" Kane murmured as his jaw dropped at the staggering diameter of the Umiana Trench. "There is no way one Martial Artist did this by herself. No shot."
"It's even wider than the Shionel Dungeon!" Rui exclaimed as he grinned, awed at the size of the trench.
They were still a good distance away, and even with their evolved vision, it was difficult to make out any individual Martial Artists. At the distance they were, the Umiana Trench looked quite bizarre to the eye. It was as if the ocean itself was hesitant to move in and occupy an empty hole. It took a few steps forward in some regions but immediately walked away like it was scared. The waves seemingly danced back and forth onto the land and away, as though the trench and ocean were salsa dancing.
It was a truly bewildering sight to Rui, reinforcing how bizarre and exotic this world was compared to Earth.
"Woah… You can see the Martial Artists at the edge of the trench if you look hard enough now," Kane peered.
"Indeed," Rui nodded, he glanced around at the ocean that they were sky-walking across at high speeds. "All the ships veer off a good distance away from the trench."
He figured that ships in this ocean were equipped with the means to sense and locate the trench and be able to navigate around it. It was probably common practice and protocol for the coastal nations in and around the ocean.
As Rui and Kane got closer to the trench, they realized that they had underestimated how much infrastructure had been developed in the patch of land of the Umiana Trench. It seemed that they were truly confident in their ability to intent to keep the Umianan Trench. If the ocean ever overwhelmed the Martial Artists keeping it at bay, then all of the infrastructure would certainly be flattened by the incoming tsunami.
Rui paid attention to the Martial Artists who were using their Martial Art techniques to keep the ocean at bay. He realized that he had underestimated how many Martial Artists partook in the resistance against the ocean.
Tens of thousands of Martial Artists of different Realms all came together in one place and use their Martial Art to keep the wave at bay in shifts.
The Martial Artists seemed to be segregated by Realm, grouping Martial Apprentices together, while Martial Squires and Seniors were also grouped together away from each other. What surprised him was that there also seemed to be a group of Martial Masters as well.
Despite being exponentially fewer than the Martial Artists of the other Realms in number, their contributions were even greater as a group compared to any other group, given that they covered more area than any other group.
The distance between them and the trench had reduced to the point that Rui could see the many Martial Artists constantly entering and leaving. The flux was immense and immensely chaotic.
"So what do we do from here?" Kane asked. "I'm guessing we gotta go visit the Trench Surveillance Force or whatever that guy told us about?"
"Yeah," Rui nodded. "We need to purchase training slots."
"You know…" Kane scratched his head. "I think I'll sit this one out."
Rui raised an eyebrow. "You're not gonna be participating in the training?"
"What can I say?" Kane shrugged. "Offense-oriented techniques have never been my strong suit and I'm not interested in subjecting myself to the rigors of trying to push back this wave."
"You'll never be able to grow stronger if you don't push yourself, Kane," Rui reminded him.
"I'm an evasive maneuverer," Kane complained. "I'll take on training that is to my field of expertise. Right now, my power is at the bottom of the Squire Realm, I'm just not suited."
"You could take on multiple Apprentice-level slots if you're not confident to handle Squire-level spaces," Rui smirked with a teasing tone.
"That's too embarrassing!"
The two of them crossed the boundary between ocean and trench as they swiftly headed to the large town at the center of the trench, carefully avoiding the many Martial Artists sky-walking to and from it.
"The town is so much smaller than the trench," Kane remarked.
"It's by design," Rui replied. "It's not worth making it any larger."
After all, they were currently situated far from a safe space where there were no threats. A town was the limit of what they could invest into the trench, and only because it was necessary to handle the training industry that had formed centering the Umiana Trench.
On top of that, Rui knew that Martial Artists like himself were best given the space they needed. It was unwise to keep any infrastructure around training Martial Artists.
STEP
"Hm," Rui grew interested in the bedrock of the Umiana Trench. "This is artificial."
He examined the ground.
"What makes you say that?" Kane raised an eyebrow as he landed beside him.
"The bedrock is far too porous," Rui replied. "It's not something that would you see at the bottom of the ocean."
Kane frowned. "But why would they do that?"
"Probably to reduce the impact of the return of the ocean if it ever does reclaim the Umiana Trench, I'd imagine," Rui shrugged.
"That makes sense," Kane nodded.
The two of them turned back to look at the wall of the ocean being kept at bay.
"It's a lot less magical when you see what's happening up close," Kane remarked, shrugging.
It was nothing more than tons of Martial Artists hitting the water with their best techniques.
"Come on," Rui headed towards the Umiana Town. "I want to see what the registration is like. I'm curious as to how they go about giving away slots."
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