Chapter 174: Overload

Rufus gladly obliged and without any hesitation, he hit the boastful man several times even if his strikes weren't strong.

"Hahaha! Is that all you've got?"

Lee laughed loudly after realizing that this person's sword strike was nothing to be worried about. 

"I guess you just got lucky from your first evaluation." 

He was actually quite worried due to Rufus's performance against the Nightmare Lynx a while ago. 

He heard that the source of the Spiritual Pressure a while ago was perhaps from Rufus's new invention.

However, it seems that he worried too much as the silver-haired boy was barely doing any damage to his body.

The crowd watching the battle was similarly having the same thoughts…

They can see that even though Rufus has the speed, he doesn't have the strength to even move Lee from where he was standing.

Up until now, Lee just remained standing at the center of the arena while he let Rufus hit his body with his wooden sword.

"I'm worried for Rufus… Do you think that he exhausted most of his strength fighting that cloning Lynx…"

"Ahh… That makes sense…"

"That pressure we felt a while ago and hit sword technique… He must've taken a toll as well…"

"Pressure? The Spiritual Pressure? Are you sure that he's the one who did that?"

"Well… Who else can do that?"

Rufus's friends noticed how he was struggling to deal significant damage to Lee.

However, they didn't think that he was truly incapable but thinking that his previous fight has taken a toll on his body making him appear so weak…

"I'm sure that he'll easily down that Lee guy if he is at the peak of his strength."

Chrisome said as he looked at his friend…

The other red-robed Arcanists and the judges were similarly confused by Rufus's performance so they blamed his previous fight for his unseemly performance this time…

Sven and Kael looked at each other as they were sure that Rufus should be capable of using the Spiritual Pressure again. 

They know that he did it before through an unknown method…

'Is he hiding his skills?' Sven wanted to know Kael's thoughts about Rufus's sudden decline in his performance.

'Maybe… He already showed a good performance and he's probably thinking that it's enough to let him stay within this tower…'

'Is that so?'

'Yes… If he did well in the 3rd Evaluation later, then he's guaranteed to stay inside the tower.'

As they speculated the reason behind Rufus's unsightly performance against Lee, the man himself was similarly confused about what he was doing…

'Master, am I doing this right?' Rufus inquired as even though he fully trusts his master, he doesn't have an idea what the Sentient Arcana was trying to do…

'Yes… Don't worry… The effects should be showing by now… Later on, strike him with an intent to put him down. For now, just let the shinai touch any part of his weapon, armor, body, or his clothes.'

Reiji calmly replied… 

The bulky man named Lee was too unsuspicious that it made him doubt that this guy is an Arcanist.

After all, as far as he knows, any Arcanist that confronts an unknown Magic Item or Arcana, shouldn't be this careless… Everyone would be cautious until they know the true effect or Arcane Magic that the weapons have.

"Hmph! I'm done playing around… Take thi---"

Lee decided to end the fight after realizing that Rufus wouldn't be able to give him a challenge. However, he suddenly realized that he's struggling to raise his left hand with an Arcana…

He was shocked at this as he suddenly realized that he was being pulled down…

Thud!

He kneeled on the ground while Rufus was looking down on him. 

Lee became nervous as realized that he has fallen into a trap.

'Crap… I didn't notice… When did he activate such Arcane Magic? What Arcane is this anyway?! Why am I being pulled down?' Lee was confused as he couldn't feel any Spiritual Energy fluctuation around him.

The Spiritual Pressure can force him to kneel, however, that kind of pressure is suffocating, unlike the one that is happening to him now. 

He should also feel the presence of Spiritual Energy if it is indeed a Pressure…

'Tsk… This guy… What did he invent this time? Is it a poison?'

He's not suffering from suffocation but it felt like something is sucking him from the ground… He looked at his surrounding but there's nothing on the ground…

He could only think that it was some kind of slow-acting poison or perhaps an Arcane Magic that makes him hallucinate.

'Master… Should I end this now?' Rufus asked since he doesn't know what's happening either…

He's unaware whether it is safe to act now or his Master still has something to do and he needed to wait.

'Go ahead...'

As soon as he heard Reiji's signal, Rufus controlled his Spiritual Energy to flow through the shinai as he prepared to beat up the man…

Luckily, the sword doesn't have a sharp blade so he didn't have to worry that he'll accidentally kill the man…

'Keke… You're insulting me just now, right…'

Bang! Bang!

There's nothing much to be said after Lee was rendered motionless. He couldn't defend against his attacks and even though he has some defensive Arcane Magic that he can still cast, it can only delay his sufferings…

'Ho~ It seems that he's still hoping that he'll be able to move…'

Rufus saw his opponent's eyes that were still not giving up and waiting for an opportunity.

Well, restraining magic should have duration so as long as he endured Rufus's beating with his impressive armor and physique, there might be a chance for him to counter…

Aside from that, this type of magic has a limit when a stronger force was used to break it…

"AAgggrrhh!"

Lee gathered all his strength as he forced himself to stand up…

Even though Rufus was trying to beat him up, the man actually managed to break his master's restraining magic!

Rufus was shocked as he stepped back a bit…

'What are you doing?' Reiji noticed this and asked his student.

'Master… He managed to break your magic!'

'What? Restraining Magic? Of course not… That's just his last-ditch effort… Just end it…'

'I understand…' He immediately acted as he felt embarrassed for doubting his master's magic…

He also realized that his master was surprised that he called it "Restraining". If that was the case, it must be a different type of magic like poison or something…

***

"Kael… Have seen through Rufus's Arcane Magic?" Sven asked after trying to understand what happened to Lee…

The two of them had researched a lot about many types of Arcane Magic so there's not a lot of skills that would surprise them.

However, Rufus's actions were quite unusual.

"His seemingly useless attacks a while ago appears to be a form of ritual…" Sven replied after a moment.

"A ritual?" 

"Yes. You're aware that the Orcs are also capable of utilizing a different form of Arcane Magic through a ritual… I think that Rufus did something similar as I haven't felt any activation of Arcane Magic or Spiritual Energy connecting to his opponent…"

"Mhmm… A ritual, huh… I'm thinking that it must be the Mystical Energy that we heard about…"

"That energy. It might be connected but…"

As the two were discussing the source of Rufus's abilities, they heard another cry from Lee as he went limp on the ground. 

The referee immediately acted and stopped Rufus from hitting Lee again…

The two Second-Class Arcanists look very serious as they look at the wooden sword that the young man is holding.

***

Reiji canceled the activation of his Overload as soon as the referee announced their victory…

On the other hand, Lee regained his sense of weight as his weapons and clothes returned to their original weight…

'Hey… What was that just now?! I want to learn that too!'

A female voice connected to his mind again.

It was from the Mythical Wand.

'Tsk… For someone who's hiding a lot of things from me, aren't you asking too much?'

Reiji replied. 

'Oh… I'm sorry… Yui went somewhere so I had to cancel my connection to you a while ago… Anyway, you can call me Miya the Strongest Wand!'

The voice announced proudly.

However, he doesn't have the intention of calling her the strongest wand.

'I see… Nice to meet you.'

'Huh? Are you not going to give me your name?'

'Well… I don't want to. Anyway, I will leave here once my task is done.'

'Really? Then you're not here for a mission? Are you really not from the Mind Collection?'

Reiji sighed as he decided to stop entertaining this Wand. This sentient Arcana seemed to be a trouble as she said that she's doing an undercover mission. 

He's no longer interested to know her mission as he also didn't want to be implicated by it.

'I'm not trying to do any mission for the Mind Collection. Anyway, I can't teach you my skills. So please stop connecting to me… I'm quite busy since I need to help my current wielder…'

Reiji said as he tried to block her from communicating with him… 

However, he couldn't do so…

"Sigh~"