Chapter 166: Evaluation I

Felix felt conflicted after seeing the "To-Avoid List" posted on the wall…

After all, he was clearly aware that Reiji was doing something within that tower. 

He wasn't particularly sure what was that but it seemed to be something big considering that his Sword Slaves would always circle the Tower as if they were wary of something.

"Sir Khan, can you tell me why we should avoid the Arcanist Tower? I know that we should be wary of the Arcanists since they may forcefully control us… but in the end, we are all Arcana and they are Arcanists, I think that it was better to coexist with them. It will benefit that both of us… Am I wrong?"

Felix gave his opinion in front of the Axe Arcana.

"That's true, but it's too dangerous right now…"

"What do you mean?"

The Axe Arcana didn't answer immediately as if he was weighing some things…

"Haa~ You may not know of this as you've just awakened recently, but the Arcanists of today is completely different from the Arcanists of the past… They have become greedy, aggressive, dishonest, and abusive… We can barely trust them unless you have a skill that you can use to determine whether they are lying or not… 

The Arcana's words seemed to have come from the bottom of his heart… or soul.

Perhaps, he was betrayed by his wielder before or something similar that made him hate some Arcanists…

Felix decided not to ask too much about his past and directed the conversation to possible dangers if a Sentient Arcana went into the Tower right now…

"First of all, the Tower has an incredible detection system… It's impossible not to be detected within its premises, not even a Mythical Arcana can escape from it..."

"Eh? Are you sure? What would happen if you got detected?"

"Of course, perhaps only blessed by those Deities can trick its system. If not, they'll immediately be captured. No one was clear where they will put the captured Arcana... but I'm sure that several crazy Arcanists would be interested in dismantling a Sentient Arcana for them to understand it…"

Sir Khan implied that this has happened before. If that was the case, it was indeed quite scary. No wonder that the place was on top of the list.

He further explained that the Tower wasn't just nurturing future pillars of this kingdom but was also trying to make further advancement in using Magic Items and Arcana…

They want to develop a new method of using Arcana and become stronger.

"Huh? Why are they doing that? Are they preparing for war?"

"Maybe… I'm not sure. However, you have to remember that this kingdom's situation is not good. There's Losea Kingdom on the north, Erliente Dukedom on their west, the Orc's Land on the south. There are also several Evil Cults emerging within the country… 

"The Knight's Order can't eliminate them completely. The population is also small considering the neighboring nations. I think that that was the reason why they are trying to make good use of their Arcanists. The tower wanted them to be very strong even though they are few in numbers."

Sir Khan gave his conspiracy theories… 

Felix decided to listen but he didn't believe it completely. After all, these are just Felix's observations based on the information he's getting within this city. 

"Thank you, Sir Khan… I will be careful when I'm getting near these places…"

The Kris Sword Arcana said before he remembered all the places listed to tell Reiji about this later on.

***

The day of the evaluation arrived. There are about a hundred Arcanists within this tower but only 60 of them would have to take the evaluation.

During the past three days, Rufus barely practiced anything related to combat at all. Instead, he focused on mastering his Crafting Skills to make a Magic Item that would allow him to pass the third part of the evaluation…

'Master… They have revealed the Evil Beast that we'll be fighting for the first level.'

'Mhmm… They're more impressive than I've thought. Did they captured this Evil Beast outside?' Reiji asked after seeing the posted paper… 

They only have fifteen minutes of preparation before the first batch of trainees would have to enter the 7th floor to begin their evaluation.

'Yes… There's no other way to find them, Master…'

'Oh… I mean, they are not rearing Evil Beast? This tower is really huge… I think that they can store a lot of Evil Beasts inside…'

'That's true… However, most of the beasts that come here would be corpses already and will be dismantled to use their raw materials to create Magic Items…' Rufus explained to Reiji. 

It also helps him calm down and not think about his upcoming evaluation.

He already did his best to prepare and even made a deal with this Semi-Cursed Arcana… If he still didn't pass, then he could only blame himself.

"Rufus! It's been a while!" A blond-haired young man suddenly called out to him. 

He's also wearing the Tower's robe for trainees. Beside him were three more trainees who seemed to be delighted after seeing Rufus again.

"You've never left your room! We almost thought that you died inside…"

"Haha… I guess you've made another weird Magic Item… Can you show it to us?"

"Stop that. He doesn't have an Arcana.  His Magic Items is his trump card… He can't just show it to us…"

Rufus's close friends arrived at the gathering hall. They appear to be genuinely concerned about him. 

"Guys… I'm sorry. I was too busy…" Rufus smiled wryly upon seeing them. 

Of course, the others didn't mind it and just teased him since they missed him a bit. Everyone was busy before the evaluation day as they needed to ensure that they'll pass it… 

Their performance today would decide whether they would stay within this place and perhaps get better benefits or they have to leave this place completely.

A few moments had passed and a couple of Second-Class Arcanists and five Third-Class Arcanists arrived in front of them.

'Alright, just do as I told you and leave the first and second part of the evaluation to me…'

Reiji reminded Rufus as the latter nodded softly… Although he was only together with this Arcana for about three days, he knows that he can trust the Arcana in terms of its ability.

***

"Sir Sven and Sir Kael, everything is prepared. The stage, the Evil Beasts, and the trainees. We're only waiting for your signal."

An Arcanist wearing a red robe reported to the two Second-Class Arcanists… Unlike the trainee's black robe, the red robe signifies that they are permanent members of the Tower… 

On the other hand, the two Second-Class Arcanists were just wearing clothes befitting of a noble. 

"Very well, let's begin…" Sven replied to the Arcanist's report as he led his group to meet the trainees.

As soon as they entered the gathering hall, the crowd immediately went silent and waited for them to arrive at the center of the stage…

Sven and Kael were already old. The two were already in their eighties and they don't seem to show any expressions on their faces…

'Mhmmm… I wonder who can advance to Second-Class Arcanist from these people… We should be resting at this age already… Why can't they replace the two of us? Sigh~'

'Sven, don't think like that… We might find a talented person this time… We've increased the difficulty of this year's evaluation, this should really test their combat abilities…'

'Well, you might be right.'

The two old Arcanists were using an Arcane Magic similar to Sense Link while talking to each other… 

As they remained silent in front, the trainees couldn't help but nervously gulp from time to time.

Finally, after a moment of silence from the two, they announced the start of the evaluation wished them good luck.

After the opening speech, the two just disappeared as they let the Third-Class Arcanists handle the procedure.

"As you have already noticed, the first part is fighting against Nightmare Lynx… However, this must be done by groups of three. You must kill the lynx whether you have to help each other or not… The decision will be yours. But remember that your performance will be scored."

The Nightmare Lynx is huge with a size similar to a carriage… 

Everyone already set their minds that they will have to fight 1-on-1 against the beast but hearing that it will be a group of three, gave them another headache…

'How can I find a group now?'

'Why didn't they told us earlier? Tsk…'

'This is bad… All Arcane Magic I have with me affects the whole area… I might kill my teammates.'

'Haa~ I'm bad with cooperation… It's better to kill the lynx alone…'

Everyone had different thoughts after hearing the rules of the first part of the evaluation. They were all surprised about this since a group fighting against Evil Beasts didn't happen in the early evaluations…

As Reiji realized that Rufus was also worried, he tried to calm him down as he instructed him to find three Arcanists that he can group with.

"Don't worry, there are no changes in our plans… I think this is even better…"

"Master… How is it better?"

"You will be able to show your superiority if you performed better than the two… So choose your group members wisely…"