Chapter 170: Spiritual Pressure

Every Arcanist within the Tower felt the Spiritual Pressure coming from one of the arenas...

"This is bad! Which team is fighting that beast?"

"Hurry! We have to save them!"

"It's from Rufus's team... Look!"

If an Evil Beast capable of using Spiritual Pressure has appeared, there was no way for a Fifth-Class or Fourth-Class Arcanist to fight against them. 

Each Arcanist quickly used their abilities to defend against the pressure.

Defending against it is actually quite simple... 

You just have to emit a stronger Spiritual Energy around yourself to stop the enemy's Energy from pressuring your body... There's no other solution to this type of pressure.

The red-robed members of the tower looked at the two Second-Class Arcanists, Sven and Kael, as they wanted to hear their thoughts about the situation...

The two remained silent as their eyes were fixated on the smoke hiding Rufus and the Nightmare Lynx...

They were trying to understand what was happening... Spiritual Pressure wouldn't normally appear to a young beast...

However, since they are facing a Nightmare Lynx that has an unpredictable number of abilities, then there might be a chance that the pressure was truly from the Lynx...

After a couple of seconds, the two old Arcanists revealed a smile on their faces as they relaxed on their seat again.

"Haa~ Everything is fine... Just calm down..."

Sven voiced out after understanding what had just happened.

"It's quite surprising but there's nothing to worry about. The battle will proceed. Look... The pressure was already canceled."

Kael added after seeing that some of them are still worrying. 

He could understand their concern since all the trainees here have outstanding potential… Even if they're not the best that this kingdom can offer, they are still Arcanists that can be trained up to third-class or second-class… 

If they are lucky, they could reach the First-Class rank that has remained elusive within the kingdom.

'What's not to worry?! Even if the beast removed the Spiritual Pressure, it doesn't mean that the trainees can already handle this…'

As the red-robed members doubted the decision of the two, the smoke within the fifth Arena cleared up…

There they found Rufus wielding a wooden sword as he started beating up the three Nightmare Lynx…

Most of them are not trained in the art of swords but they know that Rufu's skills were definitely at a master level… 

They've seen a swordmaster fight before so they can appreciate Rufus's performance with his sword…

"Isn't he a dagger-wielder before?"

"When did he learn to use a sword?"

"Yes… Not only that, he's even using a wooden sword."

"Ahh… That's true… How can he hurt that Evil Beast with only a thin wooden sword?"

"He must be spending a lot of Spiritual Ene---Eh? I can barely sense any Spiritual Energy…"

"Impressive!"

Everyone realized that Rufus was using a little amount of Spiritual Energy when fighting against the clones and the main body… This made them amazed by his ability but also confused by the sudden change.

***

As soon as Reiji managed to Take Over Rufus's body…

He first used several Ashisabaki to dodge his teammate's attacks heading his way…

Those two were truly testing his patience…

He barely managed to dodge the attack without having to use Rufus's Spiritual Energy to protect himself…

"Graa!"

The Lynx was hit by the two's attack but it managed to use a barrier-type Arcane Magic before getting heavily injured… 

The barrier immediately crumbled since it was only hastily erected. It caused a small explosion that destroyed a part of the arena…

Smokes and dust have covered Rufus and the Lynx…

Due to this, the lynx decided to recall his two clones to protect himself…

Reiji noticed this and decided to fight the three of them…

He used Hiraki-Ashi and Fumiko-Ashi to create a good positioning… However, the main body suddenly started accumulating concentrated energy in his mouth…

Bang! Bang! 

He blocked the clones' attack and returned with several Oji Waza… His return technique may be blocked by them but its purpose was only to gauge their strength…

'Mhmm?'

Reiji felt that the Lynx was almost done with its preparation. He had a bad feeling about this…

'Tsk…'

He realized that it will be dangerous if it managed to complete whatever it was trying to accomplish, so he quickly acted.

He can probably stop it if he rushed with his speed but the two clones don't seem to act on instincts.

They appear to be capable of thinking as they're not rushing on Reiji and were only moving whenever he shows hostility…

Reiji's weakness is his long-range skills. He lacks a variety of skills that he can use against the opponents away from him…

Because of this, he decided to use the Arcane Stone in his Sword Tussle.

By spending a little amount of Spiritual Energy, he can trigger its ability called Spiritual Pressure.

[ Spiritual Pressure: Exert pressure to a limited range around the stone. The user who activated the skill would be unaffected by the pressure. 

Energy Requirements: 10 units/ 20 seconds. ] 

As soon as he activated the skill, the clones, and the main body stiffened…

This is the opportunity that Reiji was looking for…

He stepped forward and aim the tip of the shinai to the Lynx's mouth…

Bang!

As the smoke cleared up, everyone could see Rufus hitting the Lynx's head while dodging the clone's attack…

The pressure didn't last very long but there is one thing they've realized, the pressure didn't seem to affect the young man at all…

Rufus remained steady as he fought against the evil beast.

Everyone then saw Rufus raising the wooden sword on top of its head as his aura suddenly change…

"Sword Intent!"

The crowd watching was surprised by this revelation… Not anyone could possess a Sword Intent! Only a few swordmasters within the Kingdom are capable of showing this!

They could understand if the one in front of them is an old master or a known member of the Knights Order, but this young man is only at the age of seventeen who spent almost all his life mastering the art of dagger and crafting. 

Even if he's secretly practicing the sword after his dagger was broken, there was no way that he could easily form his Sword Intent in a year or two of wielding a sword.

Not only that, he even seemed to be wielding a training sword as it wasn't even made of steel.

'Rufus, carefully watch my movements… Don't miss anything…'

'Yes, Master!' Rufus immediately answered… 

In truth, even without him telling this, Rufus would surely watch everything as he wanted to learn this himself. 

Aside from that, he also heard from Reiji beforehand that his sword techniques would barely require him to use Spiritual Energy as long as he knows how to time his sword swings and learn how to aim certain areas with his sword.

'Alright… Let's end this…' 

Reiji wanted to finish this fight as quickly as possible… However, his attempt for a Tsuki missed and hit its head instead. At the very least, it still stopped the lynx from casting its powerful Arcane Magic…

In the end, he decided to use an enhanced version of Renzoku Waza and he wanted Rufus to learn this as well…

After all, the Renzoku Waza coupled with Jodan no Kamae is a very strong technique of ittouryuu.

Reiji saw that the Lynx was attempting to create more clones but he only smirked at this as he slowly stepped forward…

Then, before the clones were formed, Sidon and Himilco attacked it with their Arcane Magic…

It hampered the formation of the clones but it is still continuing… 

Graa!

The two clones pounced towards Rufus. They have the same strength and speed as the main body and perhaps, only their ability to use Arcane Magic was the difference…

Thud! Thud!

Reiji used minimal movement to avoid their claws and hit them on their heads…

Men Strike!

He then continued using Ayumi-Ashi to approach the main body…

It was another Men Strike completing a Renzoku's San-Dan Waza!

The strike was filled with sharp Sword Intent and he even used Sword's Will to ensure that the Nightmare Lynx wouldn't be able to offer any resistance as long as he manages to hit even a single strike…

This happened very fast as the Nightmare Lynx miscalculated Reiji's ability to bypass the two clones while it was preparing to create more clones…

Although it managed to create clones in the end, they are being dealt by his two teammates…

Bang!

The Nightmare Lynx collapsed as Reiji relaxed for a bit…

"Eh?"

He immediately jumped away as he felt that the clones were still continuing their attacks!

It seems that after being formed by the Arcane Magic, they would last until their energy was spent or perhaps until it was canceled by the caster. 

He didn't quite expect that…

"Ahh! It hurts!"

"Help us here! Hurry!"

Rufus then saw his two teammates being beaten up by the clones. Unfortunately, the two trainees barely have any skills in close combat…