Chapter 341 - Half-Step

"Vinete, Stasis, Imane, and Mourad… The four of you are also Master Reiji's students?" Stella asked in a curious tone.

She's not too surprised since she's expecting that her master is indeed a capable Sentient Arcana. It would even be weird if there are only a few individuals who wanted to learn under him.

Nevertheless, she had to make sure whether she needs to call them senior or junior…

"Yes, we are… Our Master saved us one way or another. Well, it can even be said that he saved our villages. If not for him and his Sword Servants, we would've become criminals…"

Vinete explained and chuckled at the end. Stella and the others were confused since they aren't aware of the Three-Eyed Imp Cult's origin. 

Of course, the four don't want to share such a dark past of their race.

Because of their improvement with their combat skills together with their high-rank Arcana… They are no longer afraid of any Beast Waves happening at all. At most, only the forest rats can give them some headache. 

Otherwise, they can survive in the chaotic land without any issues as long as they stayed in their territory.

"When did you guys become his student?" Rufus suddenly said.

It seems that he's thinking the same thing as Stella. Luckily, they were actually the older students and the four only became Reiji's students about three years ago.

However, the bad thing is that they seem to have been with Reiji for a longer time than them.

"So you guys learned from Master for a longer time. I guess you're all highly skilled in kendo. Are you guys at the 6-Dan already?" Rufus curiously asked. 

In truth, the three from the Chodora Kingdom were also unaware of their rank since they're not aware of who to base it with. If these four from the Chaotic Land are aware of their rank, then it would be a lot easier for them to determine their own Kendo Grade.

"Huh? 6-Dan?! No way! Before Master Reiji disappeared, I was told that I'm only at the 3-Dan…" Mourad awkwardly smiled as he looked at the other three. Apparently, he's worried that their performance was actually not good in front of their seniors... 

After all, they've been together with Reiji for a longer time, if their Kendo Grade was too low, it would be quite embarrassing.

Nevertheless, the three beside Mourad also nodded their heads and explained that they're also at the same grade but were told by Reiji that they were just able to barely grasp the essence of the 3-Dan…

In short, they were still far from reaching the fourth grade.

They chatted for a while to ensure that they already know each other before going to the main topic.

"Since we already confirmed that we're all Master Reiji's students, tell us now everything you know…" Diether said as he wanted to find out about his Master's current condition.

"Of course… Let's start with how our master left us."

Mourad started to explain the situation.

Several months ago, their main village had encountered a Beast Wave. It wasn't a new thing for them as they always have to deal with this about three times a year. 

They have to fend off numerous beasts of different kinds to survive.

They are doing extremely well during that time though casualties are still present. Unfortunately, the Dark Elves decided to join the battle. That was the first time they decided to get involved!

"The Dark Elves are also your enemies?" Stella curiously asked.

"Ugh… Not really, we normally meet them in the forests or even in the great plains… However, because there's nothing we can gain from fighting, there is an unspoken agreement that we'll just ignore each other."

"That's right… Even if we meet each other, we would never start fighting… Though there are times that there will be conflicts during our beast hunt, it would also be resolved on that day." 

Stasis and Vinete said as they were mostly the ones going outside to hunt for their food supplies. 

As for Mourad and Imane, most of their tasks were only related to gathering herbs or even growing vegetables and other crops.

"If that's the case… Something must've triggered the Dark Elves and Master Reiji is also coincidentally there."

Rufus muttered as he could somehow understand where this story is going.

"That's right… We managed to fend off the beasts but outside our village, the Dark Elves decided to join the fight. Luckily, they were stopped by Master Reiji's servant, this servant is another Sentient Arcana in the form of a Trident… He calls himself Szaaz…"

Mourad explained. During the final battle at Bhibra Village, Mourad was the only one helping Reiji and Szaaz deal with the Dark Elves. 

It was all thanks to his Savage Hunting Rifle, a Unique Awakened Arcana… 

He could easily assist in battle with his precise aim and battle sense. 

Though his firing rate is only 4 bullets per minute, depending on the type of bullet he'll use, it can greatly change the tide of battle… Even the Dark Elves couldn't ignore such a powerful long-range attacker. 

In the end, the elves had to flee with their lives as they were chased down by Szaaz, Reiji, and Mourad…

"This is where everything went wrong…"

Mourad sighed as he recalled what happened. 

After Reiji took him to hunt the fleeing Dark Elves, they arrived at the dark forest where a powerful formation managed to almost trap them.

Luckily, the Sentient Shinai Arcana was strong!

Reiji slashed the air and created a huge crack… It feels like a dimensional slash but Mourad couldn't really tell what kind of attack it was…

Nevertheless, it created an opportunity for him to escape while Reiji and Szaaz were shrouded by a powerful aura…

Mourad can guarantee that he felt the presence of a god-like being attacking their Master.

"If I would make a guess, our Master was probably lured to the territory of the Dark Elf King… There were stories from the elders of our village that this King is just one step away into becoming a deity…" Stasis said which alarmed the others.

Lyrei perked up her ears as she couldn't believe what she just heard.

"A Half-Step Deity!" 

If this news spread, it would create chaos not only to the neighboring nations but to the whole continent!