Chapter 148: Awakened

Stella currently has a Tenacious Wrist Band that she got from Orga's collection of items. 

It means that both of her arms can now equip two powerful Magic Items. Both of them were very light and wouldn't hinder her movements.

"Master… This Arcana looks good. It's simple and wouldn't attract any attention." His student praised the appearance of her Arcana.

"Mhmm… Is that so? How about it's abilities? Ah… Let me check it instead." 

The shinai floated and tapped the Arcana on Stella's hands.

Reiji was very curious about this as it was summoned through the Ancient Arcane Stone and not through the normal method.

Will there be a difference or perhaps special traits? There was only one way to find out as he let his Guide appraise the item.

[ Name: Spectral Cloth Vambrace ]

[ Type: Awakened Arcana ]

[ Rank: Unique ]

[ Wielder: Stella Fenette ]

[ Durability: 170/170 ]

[ Unique Skills: Vacuum Shield, Force Reflect, Energy Bank, Full-Body Armor  ]

Reiji was impressed by the number of skills it has but he was curious about the "Awakened" that was included in the description. It is the first time that he had seen anything like this. 

They might have to ask a professional about it. 

He then decided to check the four available skills…

[ Vacuum Shield: Absorb all the air in a small area to create a vacuum.

Cooldown: 10 Seconds

Energy Required: 20 units ]

[ Force Reflect: Creates a deflecting force to return an approaching projectile. 

Cooldown: 3 Seconds

Energy Required: 80 units]

[ Energy Bank ( Awakened Skill ): Stores your Spiritual Energy within the Vambrace that can be retrieved at any time. 

Capacity: 400 units ] 

[ Full-Body Armor ( Awakened Skill ): Covers the user's whole body with Spectral Cloth for 5 seconds giving an almost invincible defense in that period. 

[ Energy Required: 300 units ] 

Reiji was amazed by this Unique Rank Arcana… This is perhaps even stronger than an Epic Rank!

It has four amazing skills and the durability was similar to his.

"Master! Have you seen all the Skills?! It's crazy…"

"Yes… They are all very useful abilities… You should try and experiment with them." 

Reiji commented as he saw Stella caressing the vambrace. He wasn't sure whether this was all because of Stella's talent or due to the uniqueness of the Arcane Stone… or perhaps both.

"I will… I need to get a feel with this new item… Hmm… It's very light and doesn't feel uncomfortable."

The young girl was referring to the cloth vambrace. It feels like she was not wearing an arm-guard Arcana at all. It was too light!

Stella has Tenacious Wrist Band on her left hand and the Spectral Cloth Vambrace on the right hand.

Both of them were light but the vambrace feels just like her sleeves… 

The Arcana doesn't emit an aura that she could normally feel with the others…

'Is it due to the special Arcane Stone that I've used?' She wasn't sure but she had an idea.

Anyway, she made sure that the Skills were working as it is…  She then tried using the Vaccum Shield and Energy Bank consecutively.

The Vacuum Shield was impressive as they both felt that it was very useful in close-range battles. 

On the other hand, the Energy Bank's ability was probably one of the finest skills that Reiji has ever heard.

[ Stored Energy: 20/400 ] 

Although it will take a while to fill it with Spiritual Energy, this is a very good skill in case of emergency.

'Mhmm… I just suggest that filling up your Energy Bank would be your priority from now on.'

Reiji reminded Stella.

'Yes, Master… Uhmm… Should we try Force Reflect?' 

'Sure… I'll attack you and you use the skill to defend.' Reiji suggested. 

'Eh? Will you be recognize as a projectile?'

'Let's just try… If it didn't work, we'll go outside and find out…'

'I understand.'

Her room was small so Stella focused her attention on the floating shinai… She had to time her skill activation when her master was about to hit her. 

'Careful!' Reiji warned her as he aimed on hitting her shoulder.

"Force Reflect…"

Stella used the skill as Reiji halted his advance… However, before he lost control and be thrown back, he managed to stop himself with his Sword Kinesis…

'Impressive… It's just not effective to a sentient projectile…' Reiji commented after stabilizing himself.

Stella wasn't disappointed at the result as she knows that her master is incredible. She was already satisfied that it could halt the movement of a strong Arcana. That already means a lot to her. 

As for the Full-Body Armor, Stella felt that she wouldn't be able to activate it at the moment. After all, it requires quite a lot of Spiritual Energy…

'Save all your Energy in your Arcana for now… Let's see how many units you have…'

'Ahhh… That's a good idea, Master…'

Stella doesn't know how much Spiritual Energy she has as there is no device to measure it… There might be one in the city but not in this small village.

After a while, Stella knelt on the floor as she exhausted all her Spiritual Energy… It is not a comfortable feeling…

[ Stored Energy: 315/400 ] 

Reiji started to calculate…

'You used the Force Reflect and Vacuum Shield a while ago… It requires 20 units and 80 units respectively… If you add the 315 units, your maximum Spiritual Energy should be 415 units… Interesting.'

'Whoa… I'm not sure if it's a lot but I somehow want to compare it to others… Hehe.'

Stella chuckled as she wanted to know how she would fare against the other Arcanists…

'So, would you like to join the Arcanist Association or the Hunter Association?'

Reiji asked…

'But master, how am I supposed to explain the origin of my Arcana?'

'Ahh… Now that you said it… Do you have an idea?'

'Let's see… Everyone who attended the Arcana Bestowal Ceremony should be listed in the Ministry of Magic… How about I say that I've traveled in the Dukedom and spent my money to attend  the Bestowal Ceremony there?'

'That's not a bad idea…'

'Really? Then, we'll go with that… In meantime, I won't be exposing my Arcana before I register to the Arcanist Association.' Stella said as she seems to be excited about this.

'That's fine.. But I think that you can accept the Hunter License for now… Anyway, it's up to you… Right, I wanted to learn something about the awakening process of the Arcana… Have you heard of it?'

Stella thought for a moment as she tries to recall the familiar words.

'I think I've heard of it, Master… But it was only something that an Arcanist had to worry about, so I did not look into it before. I'm sorry.'

'It's fine. We can just ask someone who knows about it.'

'Should I go to the Arcanist Association?' Stella tilted her head as she asked the question.

'We can just ask the 3rd-Class Arcanist. You already know each other so there shouldn't be a problem…'

'Lord Castillo? Alright…'

Stella nodded as she rested for a bit. Spending all her Spiritual Energy weakens her body...

Although it wasn't dangerous, it was quite uncomfortable for her to move.

***

Stella sat in front of Lord Castillo. 

They were at an inn that serves delicious but inexpensive meals… 

"Do you like the food here, Lord Castillo?" Stella asked to start a conversation. 

She met the man while she's about to visit their camp at the village square. She was then invited by the noble to discuss her matters here.

"Yes… I'm quite impressed by the quality of food being served here…"

He ordered food for him and for Stella… However, since Stella already had her breakfast, she only asked for a light meal.

She couldn't refuse the gentleman's kindness…

"You want to learn about the Awakening of an Arcana?"

"Yes…"

Lord Castillo looked at the young girl curiously as if he was trying to comprehend why she would be interested in this topic. After all, she doesn't even have an Arcana!

Thankfully, he didn't asked many questions and just gave a brief introduction about it…

"Mhmm… I can't give a detailed explanation of the process. But you should know that the Awakening is a process where you make your Arcana grow stronger…"

"Is it some kind of evolution or modification on the Arcana?"

"Haha… Modification is still quite different… You don't have to learn those things yet…"

"Ahh… Alright…" Stella replied as she tasted the food that was just served. It was only a dessert salad but it's been a while since she had one.

Lord Castillo then continued his explanation.

"The Awakening can be done to all ranks, from Common-Rank to the Mythical-Rank… However, the higher the rank, the higher the chance of failure… At worst, the Arcana might be destroyed… but if you're still a bit lucky, you might just lose a chunk of durability in the process."

The noble refused to go into detail about the process as the Awakening was being done through the help of 2nd-Class Arcanists in the Ministry. 

However, he ensured that the Awakening would allow the Arcana to obtain one or more skills in the process and he also explained that once the wielder died and the Arcana became ownerless, all its Awakened Abilities would similarly disappear.

Stella and Reiji were already thankful for this information as they continued their way to the Hunter Association to get her rewards for the mission yesterday.