'M-master Reiji...'

Rufus can only say the name of his master as he was too surprised by what he just saw.

​​

His master told him to watch carefully as he may learn something from it.

However, after the Sentient Arcana took over his body, everything happened so fast.

'Ugh... How did master do that?'

Rufus couldn't believe that his master was capable of dodging the lightning-fast bullets.

He tried to recall his master's actions as he couldn't remember him casting any Arcane Magic at all. It was too mysterious.

He remembered when the referee announced the rules before giving the signal to start the duel, he didn't leave his eyes on Nika.

After all, he didn't want to miss the moment she draws her gun and pulled the trigger.

But even then, everything happened so fast. As soon as Nika shot the bullet, he saw his master moving his body a little to barely dodge the bullets as if he can predict the future.

'Is this the sixth sense?'

He heard something about this during their theoretical studies within the tower. However, he didn't think too much about it before...

'Amazing...'

As the battle was still not over, Rufus calmed his thoughts as he watched his master get closer to Nika...

The six bullets were used and none of it hit his body... At most, it managed to graze his face a bit...

A chance!

Once she entered their sword's range, their victory should be guaranteed.

Thud! Thud!

As they were in a race against time, Reiji pointed the tip of the shinai to Nika's throat.

His stance shows that he's aiming for a Tsuki but in truth, this is also his way to defend in case she pointed her gun at him.

Apparently, he's not aware of how long can she reload her bullets so he still has to be careful.

Whooosh!

A swift Ayumi-Ashi followed by a sword thrust surprised Nika.

Reiji instantly crossed the six-meter distance that she made while backing away...

"Hmph!"

The young lady activated one of her Magic Item's Arcane Magic.

She still has a high-grade Magic Ring that can create a weak barrier enough to get away from her predicament.

Boom!

His sword strike was filled with power as the barrier exploded the instant they clashed together.

However, it was enough time for her to complete her reload as she aimed her gun at Rufus.

This time, their distance was only about 2 meters and there was no way for her to miss...

Bang!

She pulled the trigger but she realized that she was actually aiming for his head!

Due to the heat of the battle, she forgot that she can't kill this young man!

'Oh, no!'

She screamed in her mind as she heard a thud.

"What?!"

Nika was shocked. She just saw the man deflecting her bullet using her wooden sword!

'This speed… and what kind of sword is that?'

There was no way that a Magic Weapon made of wood wouldn't suffer any damage after taking a direct hit...

Bang! Bang!

Nika doesn't want to overthink anymore as she continuously shoots the young man. However, after the third gunshot, Rufus managed to land a hit on her wrist and taking out her gun...

Clank!

The Revolver was thrown away as it hit the ground.

Nika looked where the gun dropped before she glanced at Rufus...

The young man was already pointing the tip of the wooden sword at her neck as she saw him smirked a bit.

'Sigh~ I did my best... Anyway, I'm just a newbie here in the tower. I'll definitely rank first after learning here for a couple more years. No, I just need a single year and beat everyone here...'

Nika was quite confident as she knows the potential of her Arcana. It's just that she only spend a few months practicing her weapon within this tower...

"You win. I surrender."

As soon as she said this, the referee declared the winner of the duel.

"Winner: Rufus Magnolia!"

The crowd watching the intense battle sighed in relief after it ended.

In truth, even the referee was quite worried that Rufus's head would explode a while ago... Their distance was too close and there was no way for her to save Rufus... Their healing potions may not be enough if the young man was truly hit on his head instead.

Rufus ended his Take Over as he finally completed the part of the deal. Although there is still the third part of the evaluation, it is something that only his wielder can pass. After all, it would be related to Magic Item Crafting.

There was no way Reiji could partake in that.

'M-master… What an incredible experience…'

'Is that so? Are you surprised?'

'Of course! I can't even follow your movements… Especially those bullets that are technically invisible. I'm worried…'

'Worried? Aren't you supposed to be happy?' Reiji asked while feeling quite amused to the young man.

'Well, I'm also happy. But I'm a bit worried since I don't have a skill similar to yours. Someday, if you can no longer Take Over me, I'm afraid that I'll just get beaten up…'

Rufus said using their Sense Link as he was clearly aware that his Master wouldn't be beside him forever. Their partnership now was just made through a deal that they have to follow.

Once the deal was over, there is a high chance that the Shinai would leave him and make him helpless again.

'Sigh~ Don't worry. Just like what I told you a while ago, I won't just leave anyone who practices Kendo. We'll work on your sword and combat skills after this Evaluation. Once you completed my requests and you managed to reach 1-Dan or perhaps 2-Dan in my eyes, I'll let you go.'

Rufus doesn't have an idea what 1-Dan or 2-Dan is but he understood that his master wouldn't just send him away after being used.

'Thank you, Master… By the way, can I ask how did you defend or avoid that bullet? As far as I understand, your Take Over wouldn't increase my powers and you're still using the same physical and spiritual capabilities… Is that right?'

'Well, you're correct about that. But there is one thing different… It seems that my soul has retained my Kinetic Vision so I have better eyesight.'

'Eh? You managed to avoid the bullets due to better eyesight?'

'Haha… You can say so. But you can train it as well... If you look at the gun's muzzle, you will know where the bullet will hit you. In that way, you can just move a little to avoid it. It means that you have to move even if the young girl hasn't pulled the trigger yet.'

'…'

'Of course, if you can also see your opponent's eyes, you will also predict her target so you can quickly take action. It might be difficult in words but once you trained enough, you'll be able to do it someday.'

Reiji said as he encouraged the young man.

'Unlike the Arcane Magic that sometimes has an unclear path or trajectory, the bullet stays in its course so its quite predictable.'

He added…

'I-I see…'

Rufus doesn't know what kind of training he has to do to match his master's standards, but he can feel that he'll surely change for the better once his master dedicated his time in training him.

***

'Mr. Wooden Sword Arcana… Blessed by an unknown Deity… Would you like to work together with me?'

The Wand's voice whispered to him again. She no longer has a playful voice and seemed to be quite serious. It seems that she has already realized Reiji's true abilities.

'Haa~ I'm not interested, I won't be staying here for long.' Reiji replied.

Before the wand even replied, he already tried stopping her.

'I also do not want to know your mission here or your connection with the Mind Collection. I don't want any troubles coming to me when I just want to become stronger… Got it?'

Reiji declared as his true reason for coming here is indeed to find a worthy person to wield him temporarily and of course, to complete all his mission to qualify for a Rank-Up quest.

'What a shame… I won't be bothering you then… Just look for Yui on the higher floors in case you changed your mind.' The wand Arcana said before she canceled her connection with him.

'Alright. Thanks for understanding...'

Reiji sighed in relief after hearing that he won't be bothered again.

Although he was curious about the story of the wand, he didn't want to get entangled in another Arcana's problems

***

After Rufus and Nika's match, the top rankers in this year's batch started being wary of this young man wielding a wooden sword.

None of them can guarantee that they'll defeat Nika as easily as he did. As a matter of fact, many of them were even thinking of surrendering once they're matched up to her.

"Interesting… This young man is very interesting…" Sven looked at Rufus like he was seeing a precious treasure.