Chapter 171: Next

Reiji ignored his teammates asking for help not because he has to deal with the first two clones but he truly doesn't have any plans in helping them…

They didn't hold back when they made him a bait so they have to suffer from the consequences of their actions…

In the meantime, Reiji dealt with the clones swiftly…

Now that the main body was disabled, it could no longer supply them with Spiritual Energy and they could easily perish in the process.

Reiji decided to change his stance to deal with the two and used Chudan no Kamae!

As the sword was lowered, he can quickly respond to the clone's attacks…

He decided to use Oji Waza instead of Shikake Waza as Rufus's Spiritual Energy was lacking… Instead of initiating an attack, it was better to use the opponent's energy against them.

'Mhmm… Are you still watching, Rufus?'

'Master? Of course, I am!'

'Very well… You'll have to learn this someday to watch me carefully!'

'I will, Master!'

Reiji doesn't want to leave his wielder clueless about his skills. 

After all, everyone has already seen his Kendo being used by the young man. He couldn't let Rufus get away without him learning it completely… 

He needs to learn it to the point that he can use it to fight against the Evil Beasts…

In that way, even after he decided to leave this young man, he knows that he won't shame the Kendo Practitioners or his other seniors…

Thud! Thud!

Unlike Sidon and Himilco who were struggling to fight against a single clone, Reiji didn't even break a sweat against the two.

Compared to dealing with the monsters inside the jungle for about two years, fighting against two clones can't even be called a challenge for him…

'Master, I don't think I've learned something from it…'

'Haha… Was it too fast?'

'Yes… I know that you are hitting them but I don't think it was that simple…'

'Well, I guess we have to start with the footwork…'

Reiji replied as one of the most confusing parts of the Art of Kendo is the Ashisabaki or Foot Technique…

There are many types of this footwork and depending on the situation, you have to use more than two of these techniques…

"Hey! Rufus! What are you doing?!"

"Hurry!"

As soon as he heard them calling for him, the Take Over ended…

"You guys can do it. I already spend all my energy…"

Rufus replied after regaining control of his body.

The two guys gritted in anger but they didn't dare to blame him…

In the end, after enduring for a while, the clones just vanished after exhausting the energy that was used to create them…

The two almost declared their surrender… Luckily, they were still stubborn and tried to defend even after getting injured…

"Tsk… Why did it take so long before it disappeared… What kind of clone was that?"

"That's true… It's not a simple clone at all… Their strength must be equal to a Top-Grade Evil Beasts…"

Of course, the two were just trying to find reasons why they struggled fighting it.

***

Rufus's performance was seen by the crowd, the red-robed members, and the Second-Class Arcanists.

He truly exceeded their expectations this time… 

Nevertheless, the evaluation was still not over. There are two more parts and Rufus will definitely be observed by many eyes…

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Nika Daime, the Revolver wielder, finished off the Nightmare Lynx in their arena after a long and arduous battle.

It took her some time to kill the beast as it possesses high agility and strong defense… Its movement speed was incredible and her bullets couldn't easily penetrate its vital parts…

She had to hit the beast several times before it bled to death…

"Interesting…" 

"The Gun-Type Arcana might be a new trend in the next few years… I'm sure that many new Arcanists would get this type of Arcana…"

"Really? How can you say so?"

"Well, I heard that when the first Flail appeared, it caused some hype as well… After its first appearance, there was a lot of Flail Arcana that has appeared not just in the kingdom but in the neighboring countries as well. I'm pretty sure that it will be the same with the guns…"

"Not that you said it… It might be interesting if there are different designs of this gun. Two-Handed guns might be a good idea especially to guys like us…"

"Haha… That's right… That revolver is too small… Defense-Type Epic Rank Arcana might be enough to defend against it… That bullet is too small…"

The battles in each arena were ending one by one. The red-robed Arcanists stated their thoughts about the recent fights…

There's nothing much to be said about Rufus's battle that seemed to be too unbelievable… 

So they decided to focus on the new type of Arcana instead…

However, one of them remembers something important…

"Uhmmm… Sir Kael, Sir Sven… Can you tell us where did that pressure come from? Is it truly from the Evil Beast?"

The questions made everyone silent… They all want to hear the answer from the two powerful old men.

The Spiritual Pressure a while ago wasn't just their imagination… There was definitely something like that and everyone felt it…

Sven looked at his friend to let him answer.

Kael sighed before looking at Rufus's team…

"That Rufus guy… He triggered the Spiritual Energy… Don't ask me how… I only know how to deal with the Pressure but not how to create one with such an incredible range…

The pressure itself can be made by having a powerful Spiritual Energy but it can't make the people suffocate and restrain their movements just like how Rufus did it a while ago…

He must've used an Arcana, a Magic Item, or Arcane Magic to do that but they can't be sure… 

In the end, they'll leave it to their imagination…

***

"You did well, Nika…"

"Yeah… Without your offensive skills, I don't think that we'll ever finish this evaluation with a passing mark…"

Nika's teammates were happy after they killed the Nightmare Lynx assigned to them…

However, she wasn't glad about this…

"Sigh~ Do you think our evaluation is graded whether we can kill the beast or not?"

Nika voiced out her thoughts which made the two stunned. Her tone sounded like she was disappointed by their performance in the arena…

She's not blaming them but she was regretting that she didn't perform well enough…

It was understandable. They took so much time in the battle and she clearly remembers that the first evaluation didn't say that killing the beast means passing…

What she remembers is that their grades would still be dependant on their performance when fighting against the Evil Beast…

"That's fine, Nika… Both of us lack offensive skills and you're using a new type of Arcana… No one can teach you how to use it and you have to explore it by yourself…"

"Right… You did very well… I'm sure that once other Gun-Type Arcana showed up, they will use your experience as their reference…"

"Yes… Remember that you're slowly gaining experience with your Arcana… Once you spent more time with it, I'm sure that no one would be capable of fighting you in long-range or short-range battles…"

Her two friends encouraged her as they know that there's a lot of pressure on her shoulders…

People are expecting outstanding performance from her after they learned how the Revolver works and how powerful it can be in a battle… 

This made her conscious of her actions and forces her to perform without any mistakes… It may be good in a way but the stress is accumulating and it wouldn't be good for her in the long run.

"Sigh~ You're right… I should relax for a bit…" Nika replied after being comforted by her friends…

"Well, I wonder what's with the Spiritual Pressure a while ago…"

Nika suddenly asked after remembering what happened while she's dealing with the Nightmare Lynx in their Arena…

Her group couldn't see what was happening in the other Arenas so they were clueless about Rufus's performance. 

They could only ask the other trainees in the crowd to know what happened…

***

The first part of the evaluation continued and a total of three teams were unable to win against the Evil Beast… 

It was either the Nightmare Lynx is too strong or they were just too weak… Of course, not defeating the beast may not necessarily mean that they failed. 

Nevertheless, what matters is their performance and pass even one of the evaluations to stay within the Tower. 

Aside from that, they can also pass all the tests to have better benefits while staying inside the tower…

"Sven… Who are these Arcanists? Why are they helpless against the Nightmare Lynx?" 

Kael asked after seeing the passing rate…

"Well, most of them were the Arcanists who specializes in Crafting… Although Rufus is an exception since he truly has some skills even before he specialized in Craftmanship. The others were just bad at it… However, I can assure you that they'll perform very well in the last evaluation…"

Sven explained as he trusts the Arcanists that have been staying in this tower for a long while now.