Reiji was quite surprised after sensing a group of people near them.

After entering the forest, he had always activated his Arcane Sensitivity and heightened his senses. This to make sure that they wouldn't get too surprised if a magical beast just started pouncing on them.

​​

He immediately focused his senses on the group hiding not too far from them and quickly recognized who they are…

'They're following us?'

The members of the Night Brigade were definitely not concerned about their well-being…

The sentient shinai can only guess since they barely have any interaction with them.

'Are they here to steal from us? No, we do not have expensive-looking items. Oh, perhaps they recognized the Elite Gram Sword as a weapon from Northern Army or the Losea Kingdom?'

When the weapon was introduced to them before, the owner said that the sword was taken by their scavengers from the battlefield here in the northern region…

It means that this weapon could be from either the Losea Kingdom or this Kingdom's northern army.

However, nothing is surprising about this sword since this is still a Magic Weapon and not Arcana…

'Wait… Are they here for me?'

Reiji suddenly realized that the group may actually have an item that can see through his disguise and recognize him as an Arcana…

If that's the case, he wouldn't be surprised if tons of people started following them… After all, who wouldn't be tempted to be the wielder of such slender and sparkling clean sword like him?

'Hmph… You guys should know your place…'

He is not looking for another wielder yet so he decided to scare off the three.

He activated his Blood Thirst and used his Mystical Energy Manipulation to focus it on them…

As soon as Reiji saw them flinching… He knows that his power worked on them even by a little… Since the distance was too far, they probably only felt 30% of his Blood Thirst.

However, it was enough to give them a message to back off…

***

Haa!

Rufus confronts the humanoid gazelle in front of them. The creature doesn't seem to be scared even though it was outnumbered…

It is good for them that the beast did not just run away as the five servants surrounded it to ensure that it wouldn't be able to escape…

They have withdrawn their swords and positioned themselves in a way they could easily block and of its attack… Their form is similar to Gedan no Kamae or Earth Stance in kendo…

They must've seen Rufus numerous times in his training that they adapted some easy sword stance they could use at this moment…

Bam!

Rufus' sword strikes and the beast's hooves collided and created sparks…

This surprised the young man a bit but he didn't lose his focus… He stepped sideways with his Hiraki-Ashi as he decided not to go with the beast's pace…

He wanted to stay in the space he marked in his mind and decided to defend it with all his might.

Reiji just watched the young man fight against the Ancient Gazelle and did not give any advice for now… He wanted to see the limits of this young man as he's already thinking of letting him explore the northern region on his own once they arrived at Isengard in a month or so.

Thud!

Finally, the gazelle collapsed after the five sword slaves helped Rufus trapping the beast and making it unable to move around with its feet.

'Five minutes… It's not that bad since this is a powerful evil beast…' Reiji said after confirming the time that his student took to defeat the beast…

Aside from that, Rufus also spent more than half of his Spiritual Energy…

'Ruthren, take care of cleaning up the beast… Make sure not to damage the Core…'

'Yes, Master…'

Of course, the horns must also be taken and it doesn't matter even if it's damage as it would still fetch a high price.

Their hunt for the Ancient Gazelle's cores and horns just started and they still have plenty of time before it gets dark…

Rufus was still on the verge of evolving his Kendo skills and mixed them with his Spiritual Energy and Arcane Magic…

He patiently studied the proper use of his Rapid Slash and Illusory Blade until he perfected it to the point that a young Ancient Gazelle was no longer giving a good fight…

'Don't be too happy… These beasts weren't even at their full strength… The sun is still high. These must be young gazelles who can't stay put in their lair and decided to roam outside…'

'Ahh… You're right, Master…'

Rufus said as he took a deep breath… There was no way he would fight these gazelles alone during the night…

He's already exerting all his strength fighting against these beasts and if they doubled or tripled their power, he would surely be thrown in a single clash that might be his end…

Nevertheless, they continued looking for the high-paying beasts… They would sometimes encounter other beasts like Mist Python, Meteor Bears, and other Wild Beasts that are also quite hard to deal with if they aren't prepared.

Reiji was satisfied with this hunt and felt that Rufus can already survive on his own and just needed a bit more experience.

This way, the young man would still be alive until he managed to create his own dojos… He would surely consider taking him as a teacher…

Reiji couldn't help but smile at his random thoughts…

'Right, you should also be looking for a place to build another Arcanists Tower…'

'That's right, Master… There's a lot of empty land but the Tower is looking for a place suited for investing in agriculture…'

The requirement was quite weird since they were supposedly going to build a tower there… Why would they require cropland for that?

It is very intriguing but it was perhaps something to do with the new specialty of the Tower that they will try to build.

***

Yui and her Sentient Wand Arcana entered an isolated room within the mansion of her relative…

In truth, no one is managing this place aside from the caretakers and guards that were hired to man this place,

It means that Yui is currently their boss as long as no other closer relatives of the owner had arrived.

Several days have passed and they still didn't leave the room and it already worried the servants looking after her…

However, they were told not to enter the room whatever happens. Because of this, they can only pray that the young miss would come out alive and well…

"Odette…"

Yui muttered the name of her Arcana as she looked at it floating and pulsating with dark energy…

She could no longer help her Arcana at this point and it would have to rely on its own resilience to evolve itself.

She's unsure whether the Arcana could hear her but she's hoping that Odette wouldn't forget that her wielder is waiting for her to come back…

"Odette… You can do it… Please, return…"

Yui clasped her hands and prayed for the deity that blessed the Arcana…

The wand has already suffered a failure during its first awakening… This was a huge setback for her and the damage that was done to the wand was huge…

Yui was unable to even use it during their training in the Wailing Forest and had to rely on her Magic Items…

It took a very long while before it recovered… However, Yui was always worried that the Wand had become more fragile…

She doesn't even want to go for another Awakening process but Odette wanted to…

It was a good thing that they became successful but the Sentient Arcana doesn't want to stop getting stronger…

Odette targeted the Cursed Arcana and planned to consume all of its power! This is such a dangerous move but Yui also likes to be strong as she also has dreams she wanted to fulfill.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The pulsating of energy grew stronger as Yui felt that the Wand is reaching the limit of the power it could contain…

It feels like her prayer is not being answered as Odette is now in danger!

There is nothing that she could do as her Spiritual Energy would just create chaos and perhaps hasten the destruction of the Arcana.

Bam!

However, she did not stop praying! The young girl kneeled on the floor and called for Granger, the Wand Deity…

'Please, save Odette! I will do anything for my Arcana! She's the only one I have!'

The time she spent together with the Arcana is irreplaceable… She doesn't want to end their journey here…

She knows that this is a difficult task for Odette…

The Cursed Mask of the Overlord is blessed or perhaps cursed by an Evil Deity, by consuming the Cursed Arcana, Odette would have to take over its curse as well…

It means that she will have the power gifted by the Evil Deity to the Mask and the blessing gifted by Granger…

Thump... Thump...

The pulsating Wand Arcana lasted for 10 more minutes as it alerted everyone in the mansion. It wasn't getting weaker at all...

However, as Yui was starting to lose hope, she heard Odette's voice in her mind…

'Kekeke… I did it, young lass…'