The battle between the Knights Order and the Arcanist Tower is not because of their hostility with each other…

The Order was just curious about the new type of Arcana that has appeared in this world. They do not want to be left as they suspected that a lot of gun-type Arcana would appear in every ceremony for the next few years…

​​

This is what always happens when a new Arcana appears.

The time quickly passed as morning came… As expected, the commotion that they caused last night resulted in an increase in security…

"Do you know what happened?" Chrisome asked Rufus.

They were now at the cafeteria that serves them fresh meals. They were together with Lexi and Nika as they shared the same table.

"I'm not sure… I heard there was a problem with the devices on the 9th Floor… It must be a malfunction." Rufus answered. This is what he heard from his servant.

"What? Do you think that it's the true reason? It's not like they are making Magic Items as problematic as yours, how can they malfunction without outside interference?" Lexi whispered to them as she took a sip of the served vegetable soup.

"Then, what is the real reason?" Chrisome asked.

He is genuinely unaware but he saw the changes in the security and felt the shaking of the tower last night… There must be something that has occurred. Unfortunately, the 9th Floor was a bit too far from them whose residence was on the 4th and 5th Floor.

Nika, who was silently listening until now, decided to answer…

"It was a thief… I heard it from the guards…"

"Really? A thief, inside the tower? Did they manage to catch him?" Chrisome didn't want to believe but it is Lexi speaking.

"Maybe… Since they will conduct a search in each room if they haven't caught the person yet."

"Ahh… That's correct. I wonder who would do such a thing? Aren't they afraid of the Tower's top-class Arcanists?"

"Well, it only means that the thief was either confident with their skills or they're just stupid…"

They finished their breakfast while discussing the incident within the tower… Nevertheless, they felt that this is out of their concern… They can leave this to the officials to be dealt with…

After all, the three participants for the duel would have to get ready for their battles later… Instead of thinking about the thief, they should be perfecting their strategies so they won't embarrass the Arcanist Tower in front of the Knights…

***

'Are you alright? I was unable to contact you last night since I might get tracked by their Magic Item… They have impressive Tracking Skills, you know?'

Odette connected to Reiji. Her voice was pleasant to hear and she seemed to be in a good mood today.

'It's fine… Don't worry, I didn't have any issues escaping that place… I should be the one asking you whether you guys are alright… How was her injury?'

Reiji replied.

Last night, while he was busy dealing with the puppets outside the chamber, Yui and Odette briefly fought against the Mask Arcana…

It seems to be capable of controlling shadows to a certain extent… It came to the point where Yui's arm was almost dragged within the shadows. If not for Odette's strongest ability, Yui might've lost her arm at that moment.

The wand managed to restrain the mask and through mystical means, it was pulled to her storage space or something… Reiji can only guess based on what he observed…

What he saw that time was the wand's tip forming a circle in the air and it suddenly transformed like a black hole and created a suction where the Mask was sent into…

As for the puppets, he managed to broke their limbs so they couldn't follow in his escape.

'Yui has already recovered… She would like to thank you again for your help… I managed to get some traces of the defensive array that you've destroyed… Haha~ We wouldn't survive that chamber if it that wasn't removed at all…'

Odette recalls the corrosive power behind the array that Reiji has destroyed. As a slim wand Arcana meant for a young girl, her form does not boast high durability.

Even though she's at the Mythical Rank, her durability can be said to be at the level of an Epic Rank.

Only her massive number of skills can compensate for it…

Reiji just smiled after hearing her. He knows fully well how dangerous that array was… If his resistance was perhaps zero at that time, he might be losing 30 to 50 durability every second…

'Where are you now?'

'We were selected to take on the mission of helping the security of the tower. We are doing a patrol right now…'

'I see… So no one has suspected us, huh… How about the Administrator?'

'Well, I'm pretty sure that he noticed… However, he's not planning on acting yet…'

'Really? Isn't better to escape now? That Chalice might decide to just capture you… I doubt that you can fight against it within the tower.

'It would only look that we really did something wrong if we escape now… Anyway, I haven't digested the Mask yet… Once I finished, I'd probably become stronger than Alexander's sword… Kekeke…'

Odette replied as she recalls the other Mythical Arcana that were summoned on the same day with her.

'Alright… Don't worry about that Chalice for now… You have to perform well in your battle later… We will watch you. Good luck!'

Reiji noticed that Odette seemed to be gentle now after she managed to get the Cursed Mask…

***

Rufus, Lexi, and Nika just finished training together as they went out of the arena…

They are almost ready to face the young knights and represent the Tower…

"The Sun Fire Knights will arrive this afternoon… You have three more hours to rest."

One of the Tower's officials reminded them.

They didn't waste any of their time as they headed to Sir Kael's office… They wanted to clarify the information they have about the three people that they were about to fight…

Apparently, while they are practicing, they have realized that they have no ability to counter the enemy's Hazy Flash Steps…

Although they are still very young, they couldn't eliminate the chance that those three have already mastered the signature ability of the Order. It is highly likely considering that they were chosen to represent Sun Fire Knights.

"Hazy Flash Steps?" Kael repeated after hearing the kid's question…

"Yes, Sir Kael… Do you know whether they already mastered that ability? Perhaps you can also advise us on what to do in that situation…" Nika requested…

It was unfortunate that her Revolver doesn't work with Rufus. She accepted it because she hasn't trained enough yet with her Arcana…

However, these Knights were supposedly even more impressive with the art of swords… Then it means that they might be capable of targeting her bullets as well…

If they used their sword skills with their Hazy Flash Steps, they can easily initiate a close range which would be very disadvantageous to her…

If she wanted to have a good result in this duel, she needs to maximize her Arcana…

"Mhmm… The Flash Steps is quite tricky to defend against … However, you don't have to worry that they'll appear instantly behind you... After all, they would be unable to cast any Arcane Magic after about 2 seconds once they reappear from their Flash Steps. Since you have extremely fast bullets, I doubt that they'll use that on you… Is that right, Sven?"

Kael explained as he looked at the other door.

There, another old man was standing listening to their conversation.

"Ehem… You're right… Anyway, you guys don't have to defeat them… As long as you managed to use most of your Arcane Skills, they would be satisfied with it."

Sven said as he approached the group.

Apparently, Sven was quite busy as he needs to lead the investigation about the incident on the 9th Floor.

Rufus and the others then asked a bit more questions before they were satisfied and left the office…

Finally, the time for the challenge has arrived.

The Sun Fire Knight's representatives arrived at the tower about half an hour earlier… Their number has increased and there were now 12 Knights in the group including the three who will fight Rufus's group…

"They did not bring their Solar Sword…"

"I guess they are not taking this seriously."

"I think official Knights are the only ones allowed to carry them."

"I see… That explains it then…"

The Arcanists within the tower were already informed about the duel that is about to happen… They were quite excited to see this matchup since there's barely any of them that has experience fighting against the Knights.

They might be able to learn a lot if they watched them later.

After the greeting with the officials was made, everyone headed to the 7th Floor's Arena to start the most awaited match.

Reiji, on the other hand, greeted his first student…