The Arcanist Tower within the city isn't just a decoration or a sign of the Arcanist Association's wealth and power.

The tower itself signifies the country's strength...

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This is where many Arcanists around the kingdom gather in order to strengthen themselves and awaken their Arcana.

That's right, most Arcana Awakening in the Kingdom happens here whether their rank is just a Common-Rank or higher.

The awakening process of an Arcana is extremely difficult and dangerous for the Arcana itself as they would most likely get destroyed or broken if it ever fails.

This process alone requires the concentrated Spiritual Energy and Mystical Energy produced within the Tower to assist in the awakening.

Aside from this particular job, the Tower is also a perfect place for Arcanists that focuses on craftsmanship, or the ones who are making the Magic Weapons and various Magic Items...

At this time, a group of people was walking towards the magnificent tower.

"What floor is our crafting room again?"

"Professor Mathew didn't tell... I heard that another explosion happened in our previous room, is that true?"

"Yes... That crazy Rufus did it again..."

"Urgh... He's really not learning. I heard that he even tried making some poisonous Magic Item."

"Isn't that forbidden?"

"Apparently, no... As long as the poison that he used has a widely known antidote, there shouldn't be a problem. However, the Raphaelis Poison that he used evolved into something else..."

"Ahh! I heard that as well... The antidote that he prepared had only managed to slow the poisonous effect of the mutated poison that he made. It caused a lot of problems and a professor almost died…"

"Haha… That's true. He said that he also didn't expect the mutation... Sigh~ I don't want to be in the same training room with that guy..."

A group of six young Arcanists around the age of 14 to 16 were on their way to the tower... They were chatting about a man who had caused several problems within the tower.

The group was wearing the same uniform indicating that they are working or perhaps studying at the tower.

"Right, I heard that he's always buying unusual materials at the central market. He recently bought a lot of weird things as I heard…"

"Yeah… He likes to experiment with various items and evil beast's parts… The evaluation is getting near, I'm sure that he's just trying to get stronger and get promoted as quickly as possible with his weird creations."

Thud…

They halted their steps after noticing a shadow in front of them.

At this moment, the six young boys were blocked by three suspicious people…

They were on a street and there were quite a few passersby along the road so they weren't worried about being robbed or getting picked on in a fight.

Aside from their strength, there are guards patrolling the vicinity of the tower and they would easily spot these thugs if they ever caused trouble…

"What do you want?" The leader of the six asked. He's only sixteen but he's still the second son of a baron. He wouldn't flinch in front of a commoner whether they are older or not.

He didn't identify himself as a noble first as he didn't want to just use his family's name in every situation…

"Are you going to the Arcanist Tower?" One of them middle-aged men asked…

"Yes… Is there something wrong?"

"No… We wanted to know how to enter the Arcanist Tower… We just want to look around. Is that possible?" The man asked as amiably as he can get.

The six young boys looked at each other after hearing an unexpected request. The three middle-aged men don't seem to be bad people and are only here to ask questions.

They have perhaps realized that the people wearing similar to their black robe are entering the tower so they asked their group instead.

"Mhmm… Are you guys new to the city?"

"Yes…"

"I understand… Anyway, it's not a secret so listen… As long as you're an Arcanist whether you are registered in the Arcanist Association or not, you can enter the tower. You can just show your Arcana to the Arcanist that is on duty at the gate… They will handle the rest…"

The leader of the boys answered as they continued walking.

"If you have any more questions, you can just go to the person guarding the gate…" He reminded them as he gave a final glance at the three middle-aged men.

It is not easy to enter the Arcanist Tower but he didn't bother explaining everything as they still have matters to do.

Anyway, they didn't think too much of this encounter and they soon forgot about these three men.

***

A couple of days had passed as Reiji and his Sword Slaves explored the busy streets of the city…

They have found an amazing smithy, a huge Apothecary, auction houses, weapons shops, and many other familiar stores but greatly differs in terms of the magnitude of their service.

The weapons shops have a great assortment of weapons that couldn't be found in any small villages… Even the Apothecaries that he found had a lot of Arcane Potions that would normally be very rare in the places that he had been before.

'Let's sell your collections for now… Leave the Arcana that I've selected…'

'Yes, Master…'

They brought most of the treasures in their hideout and it was now time for them to earn some money from it.

Of course, they also have other plans by going to this central market…

Ruthren brought a tattered piece of cloth and placed it on the ground as he displayed several of his Magic Items and even a few pieces of Common-Rank Arcana on it…

Even in this city, selling an ownerless Arcana in the street is not a common thing. After all, it involves a huge amount of money that most of them would be processed in large stores or perhaps being directly traded to the big associations…

Of course, they can't easily recognize that he's selling an Arcana unless someone checked it closely or someone could easily break Reiji's concealing ability…

Apparently, his Traceless Ability isn't just affecting him but the area around himself.

It is a perfect ability to conceal the presence, or the aura, of anything he wants to protect.

During this time, people would normally look at the items he's selling but none of them considered buying his products…

It is not because of the expensive price but because of how poorly he manages his items.

They don't appear to be in good condition and their durability seemed to be very questionable as well… There may be some people who are into this kind of product but they haven't appeared yet…

***

"I failed again…"

A man with short silver hair clenched his fist tightly after seeing the result of his experiment…

"I need to increase my strength before the evaluation… I only have three days left… What should I do?"

The man was talking to himself as he stared at the broken pieces of steel in front of him…

"Haa~ I need to calm down…"

The man took a deep breath as cleaned the mess in his room to focus his mind. After doing this, he looked at himself in a mirror and started encouraging himself…

"Rufus, you can do it… You'll make a Magic Weapon that can contend against any Arcana! Don't give up..."

The man then smiled slightly as his mood improved for a bit…

After calming down, he grabbed a clean piece of cloth before he took something out under his bed. It is a small treasure box that seemed to be well taken care of.

Rufus appears to be cleaning it whenever he has spare time.

He opened the box and inside it were pieces of a broken dagger.

It was his Arcana… An Arcana that has been destroyed due to his failed Awakening…

Rufus sighed after seeing his old weapon. He dusted the pieces of steel on the box for a while before he kept it again under his bed…

A destroyed Arcana wouldn't mean that you're no longer an Arcanist. As long as one managed to summon one during the Ceremony, they can be considered an Arcanist and they can always take ownership of an ownerless Arcana if they ever had a chance.

Of course, it doesn't always mean that the Arcanist would choose to have an ownerless Arcana as some of them were like Rufus who wouldn't accept any other Arcana aside from the one they've summoned…

"Three days left… I don't have time to make a Magic Weapon anymore… Should I look for an ownerless Arcana?"

Rufus doesn't know what to do as he felt conflicted about taking other Arcana aside from his dagger…

"Haaa~"

After making many considerations, he decided to visit the market and look around first and perhaps find some inspiration…

He's planning to look for Magic Weapons or various items on the market that may catch his interest.

After all, the evaluation within the Arcanist Tower in the next three days wouldn't just help them get promoted but it would also assess them whether they can still stay in this Tower or they have to leave and give this opportunity to others.