Chapter 80: Wielder

"Well, I'm interested in how these weapons were created…"

Reiji answered the girl's question. He had only seen the finished products but not how they were being made. 

He wanted to learn more about the capabilities of other weapons or equipment as he believed that knowing about them would be advantageous in the future. 

'It may be useful or not but learning about them would give me a new perspective…'

Reiji thought as he wanted to know the limit of weapons with magical abilities aside from their durability. 

During the guide's "appraisal" of any weapons or equipment, he could see their details like its maker, durability, and its Arcane Magic or skills. 

However, he also wanted to know whether there is a method of stopping these weapons from casting or maybe completely disabling them during battles. 

Of course, he knows that this is a very difficult job but still wanted to try since he now had an opportunity to learn from the blacksmith.

"Sure! I'm happy to teach you about this… Right, do we need to hide about your existence?"

Stella asked since she remembered that the sword remained silent when her uncle was here.

"Ah… Yes… Just treat me like a normal wooden sword. A sentient Arcana isn't something common so I want our relationship to be kept in secret, is that alright? I'll be communicating with you telepathically since you're my current wielder…"

"A secret? Alright! This is our secret! I won't tell anyone!"

Stella happily agreed since she felt special being trusted to keep another person's secret… or maybe not a person but still an intelligent being. 

"So, am I the only one who can hear your words?"

"Yes…" 

"Wow… It's so magical… Right, what do you mean about being the current wielder?" Stella didn't shy away from asking questions as she was really curious about this. 

"Ahh… about that, it happened after I used my skill to temporarily control your body and fight that beast-like person…"

Stella went silent for a moment to absorb the sword's words... 

"Temporary control... I see now… Anyway, I remembered that an ownerless Arcana can be passed over to another Arcanist… It seems that a sentient Arcana can choose its wielder, huh…"

"Mhmm… How about you? I mean, do you have an Arcana with you?"

Reiji asked the girl but instead of immediately answering, she went silent for a while…

'Right, not everyone can have an Arcana… Did I hurt her feelings?' Reiji realized it too late.

He doesn't have an intention to bring up painful memories to the young girl and he only asked to learn more about her…

"Uhmm… Unfortunately, I was unable to attend any Arcane Academy… I didn't get the chance to summon an Arcana when I was twelve…"

"Eh? Is it important to be twelve years old when summoning an Arcana? How do you summon it or us, anyway? I only know that it was something that is being done to twelve years old Arcane Students but that's all…"

"Mhmm… Let me explain it to you, Mr. Sword… I'm sure that you're not aware of our methods…"

"Sure… I'll listen…" Reiji answered as he indeed knows a little about the Arcana Bestowal Ceremony and why it was not being done to all ages who practice spiritual energy. 

"Alright… First, about the Arcane Circle. It is the main requirement to have the bestowal ceremony and it can only be created using super expensive materials including the guidance of a high-ranking Arcanist to activate it. Unfortunately, this circle could not be used forever. There were only a few times it can be used so we have to use it wisely. With this in mind, our kingdom would only allow those they think that has the potential to summon them."

"Right… But how would they know who has potential?"

"Uhmm… It's quite simple, they would just have to check their background and test their Spiritual Energy. They said that the bloodline can affect the affinity to possess an Arcana even by a little..."

"Then… Can you also attempt to summon an Arcana? I sensed that you're quite good with the Energy." Reiji asked curiously. 

Stella shakes her head instead of answering. She closed her eyes for a moment as if she was remembering the past before she opened her mouth.

"The most effective place to practice the Spiritual Energy is in the academies within the kingdom… The royal magistrate handling the Ceremony would only prioritize practitioners who had studied within a formal academy to avoid wasting resources…"

Stella paused for a moment before continuing…

"Haa~ I heard from my Uncle that the king tried to gamble about this before. They tried to open the ceremony to all energy practitioners, young and old… Unfortunately, more than half was unable to summon anything at all and the others only summoned common Arcana… It was very inefficient, so in order to avoid this from happening again, most of the slot for summoning an Arcana remained to the nobles protecting the kingdom, and only a few slots were left to others."

"Mhmm… Nobles, huh…" Reiji wasn't against the rules made by the kingdom. After all, the kingdom also had to worry about their expenses… 

It was common to have privilege people in any era he was in… But this made him wonder about the other kingdoms… If those other rich kingdoms could afford the expenses needed for the ceremony, then their military power must be amazing… The Arcanists who have Epic, Legendary, and Mythic must be numerous there as well...

"So, can you still participate if you have the chance?"

"Yes… Summoning an Arcana was proven to be more effective if it was done during that age but there are still a large number of successful summons above that age… in other kingdoms or territory, at least..." 

"Oh? Isn't that great? I hope you'll have a chance someday…"

"Yes, I won't lose hope… I'm always remembering the inspiring story in Erliente Dukedom about a powerful countess who only summoned her Arcana at the age of twenty-five… I heard that it was the tenth Mythical Arcana of the Dukedom… She endured a lot of insults or bullying during her younger years but she didn't give up even after several failed summoning attempts… In the end, she managed to gain a noble title and territory after swearing her loyalty to the Duke who values talented people…"

Stella shared the story as she felt comfortable speaking with this floating sword.

"That's an interesting story!… Indeed, it can be very inspiring to people…"

Reiji agreed that it was a good story though he was unsure whether it is just propaganda or a fabricated story. After all, the Dukedom was very far and this kingdom doesn't have effective information dissemination. The story that Stella heard must've been passed over through word of mouth. 

Anyway, it wasn't his job to test its authenticity… It was enough to learn that it is possible for older people to summon an Arcana.

The two chatted a bit more about the same topic and in the end, Stella remembered her uncle working hard in order to complete the ordered Gleam Swords by their client.

"Alright… Go ahead… You can help him if he allows you." Reiji answered as he felt that the guy must still be worrying about her health. 

"Do you need me to bring you to the smithy?"

"No need. It's not far so I can observe what's happening. Again, I'll talk to you if I want to ask something. Remember that only you can hear me. No need to answer loudly… You can similarly speak to me through your thoughts since I've used Sense Link…"

"Sense Link? Alright!... Is it like this?"

Stella didn't know about Sense Link but she understood that this is the Arcana's ability to successfully communicate with her. 

She then tried using it to practice. After confirming that there was no problem, she headed downstairs to visit the smithy. Hopefully, her uncle would allow her to continue working. 

***

"This is a huge problem…" The village chief grimly said.

A group of people was having a meeting inside the chief's residence. It is an important meeting that was attended by important individuals of the village.

The people present were the village's guard leader, the village chief, a couple of village elders, the two-star Hunter assigned here, and finally, the 4th-Class Arcanist that was similarly managing the Arcanist Association in the village. 

It was normal to have Hunter and Arcanist Association in the villages near the Wailing Forest since this is an active hunting ground.

If not for the Wailing Forest being filled with various beasts, these associations can only be found in towns and cities…

"Should we ask the nearest city's help?"

"We can… But it would be too late… The nearest city would take at least a week before they can send help…"

"How about the town nearby?"

"What? There's no way that they can handle this…"

"Isn't it better to at least tell them?"

"It is… But the most that they'd do is to pass this over to the city… Haa~ Anyway, we can still try… Let's ask for their help just in case some strong Hunters or Arcanists were passing over the town…"

"Let's do that… Nothing would happen if we just speculate here…"

"Very well… I'll send messengers to all the nearby villages, towns, and cities just in case…"

"Good… In the meantime, let's ensure that this information wasn't leaked or it would cause panic."

"No! I think that we should let them know immediately so everyone can assist in tightening our security… It's also our chance to hire strong Hunters passing here. We can't waste the opportunity!"

"That's right… Sooner or later, the villagers would be aware of this…"

The village chief could only sigh as he listened to them… 

"Haa~ Just why did this evil cult set their eyes here?"