Chapter 165: The Deal ( Part 2 )

Reiji smiled wryly upon hearing the young man's plea... It seems that he already set his mind that the wooden sword is a Cursed Arcana based on his words.

Of course, he doesn't have plans on making this guy a Sword Slave as his true aim was to complete the last two missions he has so that he can take his Rank Up Quest already.

After all, he has been stuck as a Rare-Rank for a while now.

"I understand... I won't take your humanity. In exchange, you have to complete a few of my requests then I'll help you pass your evaluation." Reiji declared his condition.

"About your request..."

"I'll tell it to you once I helped you pass your evaluation. But you don't have to worry, even though it might be difficult, I won't make you do something illegal." Reiji said in a friendly tone...

However, this just made Rufus even more nervous.

The silver-haired boy stared at the Arcana as if he was weighing his options...

"Alright... I will trust you... Please, help me." The young man finally said after seeing that this sentient Arcana doesn't seem to be forceful.

If the Sword Arcana was forcing him to do his bid and say that there wouldn't be any difficulties in his request, he would surely doubt it...

However, this Arcana seemed to be honest and hinted that the request might be tough for him... Anyway, as long as it wasn't something illegal that would make him a criminal... Then there shouldn't be a problem...

"Very well... You'll be my wielder for now..."

Reiji replied as he checked his current status.*

[ Name: Reiji Miyazaki ] 

[ Form: Shinai ] 

[ Rank: Rare ] 

[ Wielder: Rufus Magnolia... ] 

[ Title: The Gentle Hardworker, Blessed by a Sword Deity, Forest Ranger ] 

[ Durability: 105/200 ] 

[ Skills: 23 ] 

[ Skill Points: 520 ] 

"Rufus, right?"

"Yes, that's me... May I ask how to address you, Sir Arcana?" Rufus inquired and he wasn't really surprised that the Arcana knows his name. He's sure that it has an Arcane Magic similar to Appraisal or Identification Skill.

Although he also has a Magic Item with a similar ability, he already used it a while ago and it doesn't have any effect at all.

It means that the Arcane Magic in his possession was either too weak or this Arcana was just too strong. After all, he was capable of appraising an Epic Rank Arcana before so it shouldn't be a problem with his equipment...

'This Arcana definitely has a high Magic Resistance...' 

As he was trying to gauge the ability of the sword, it spoke to him and gave an answer...

"Call me, Reiji... Master Reiji..."

***

Rufus now has an Arcana that he needs to call his Master... It was quite an unusual feeling that he needs to get used to.

He had an instructor when growing up as a noble but not a person he can call Master. 

He went to the Martial Arts Training Hall and learned many combat techniques there when he was young, but they were being taught in a batch so he can't truly appreciate the teachers as they are barely monitoring their progress and the students like them would mostly have to do self-practice to further improve…**

His few years in the Training Hall had surely helped in giving him a good physique and a good combat sense… However, the Martial Arts that he learned wasn't really useful after becoming an Arcanists and in truth, he has already forgotten about the Art.

He might feel embarrassed calling the sword as Master in the public but luckily, it has an Arcane Magic called Sense Link where they could speak just using their thoughts. 

He realized that this is the reason why he felt that the voice was like a whisper close to his ears.

It was very convenient to use and it can be used even with a long-distance... 

"Master, I know how to wield a sword but I can't say that I'm good at it."

"That's fine..."

Reiji already asked Rufus how the evaluation within the Tower would go...

Just like how he expected, it would be a battle between other trainees within this Tower and it will be graded by several Third-Class Arcanists that would supervise the whole duration of the Evaluation.

Apparently, the evaluation has three levels. 

The first level was battling against a random Evil Beast that the judges have selected. The beast would only be revealed on the day of the evaluation so it would be a surprise to everyone. 

Depending on the level of preparation of the Arcanist, this may be easy or extremely difficult. 

After all, different Evil Beasts would have different resistances. 

Piercing weapons may not be a good option to one but it may be good to another… or perhaps, restricting skills may be better than movement skills. They have to consider a lot of things… 

They also have to prepare various types of Arcane Magic to adjust in different situations…

The second level would be a duel against another trainee. It wasn't a normal duel as the evaluators would prepare a few Magic Items that they can use as an additional weapon. They have a choice whether to use them or not at all.

Their opponent would similarly be announced on the same day to avoid being countered easily.

After all, there are only a hundred Arcanists within this tower and most of their abilities have been exposed to each other. Even they would be given a Magic Item as a secondary weapon, no one could say that they would be able to use it effectively.

Announcing their opponents would just make it easier for some of them. 

Nevertheless, this duel aims to have the Arcanists experience fighting against someone who similarly possesses Arcane Magic…

Finally, the third level of evaluation is crafting in which Reiji couldn't help that much due to its nature…

"What are you worried about the evaluation? If it's just like how you describe, I think that you wouldn't be so anxious and make a deal with a suspicious sentient Arcana." Reiji asked curiously.

"That's right… I have to perform extremely well in this evaluation so I can retain the Tower's benefits I'm getting right now and perhaps increase the support from my family..."

Rufus explained that he's a Fourth-Class Arcanist and even though he doesn't have an Arcana right now, his previous achievement with his dagger-type Arcana allowed him to have unlimited use to various devices and public Arcana within the tower like the Array Maker, Appraisal Tool, and Melody Cauldron that they can use to make potions or medicine…

He can also use many facilities without any problems due to that…

However, as he was unable to show any good result in the past few months, all his benefits is about to be terminated… He still has a lot of things he wanted to do and he can't miss this opportunity…

"Alright… Don't worry… As I promised, I'll help you pass the evaluation…"

Reiji declared with conviction.

"Thank you, Master…" Rufus replied after seeing that Reiji was confident in helping him. 

Although he has a lot of questions about this Arcana, all of them don't matter right now. 

After all, he can still ask these questions after he helped him with his problem… They only have less than three days before the evaluation so they have to focus first on that.

***

During the past few days where Reiji was together with his new wielder, his Sword Slaves remained within his 500 meters…

On the other hand, Felix and the two necklace Arcana decided to stay with his Sword Slaves as they tried to slowly learn about the habit of humans.

Sooner or later, they would have to deal with them so it will be a good experience to learn about them right now…

As a matter of fact, Felix was also able to meet with the members of the Mind Collection in this city and was given advice about several humans that they can interact with…

"Interesting… There are humans here who accept sentient Arcana?" Felix, the Kris Sword, asked.

"That's right… I've been here in this city for ten years now and met with all the people I've mentioned… So you don't have to be wary of them." 

The one who answered is an Axe Arcana being held by a statue of a man chopping wood… They are in a small mansion owned by a member of the Mind Collection.

Felix easily found this place due to the image of Nero, the Crown Arcana, outside its gate.

It seems that every city base of the Mind Collection has to be a beautiful mansion which impressed him a lot.

"Are there places that we shouldn't visit within this city?" Felix asked after thinking for a moment…

"Of course… We have a list for that. Just take a look…" 

The Axe Arcana then instructed Felix to look at the list posted on the wall near him…

Apparently, the top of the list was the grand Arcanist Tower where Reiji was currently staying at.