Reiji and his Sword Slaves headed towards the unclaimed land between the Losea and the Chodora Kingdom.

Of course, this was after getting enough provisions from the nearby town…

​​

"Master, I heard that there's a lot of Evil Beasts in that region. None of us are Arcanists, it might be dangerous for us… We also have to go through the army camp."

Ruthren voiced his concerns as they headed towards the land… There are six safe paths towards this unclaimed land and all of them are guarded by the northern army.

If they wanted to bypass them, they can consider flying over it or perhaps tread the dangerous forest and cross the steep mountains blocking their way…

Aside from that, there are cases that they would have to climb mountain rocks or swim across a river if they wanted to reach the unclaimed land through illegal means.

On the other hand, they have to be a part of the army, or perhaps get permission from them if a group of people wanted to hunt some beasts in that region.

"Don't worry… We can consider sneaking through with my ability… But in the meantime, we have to know the situation of the land." Reiji replied.

"Then, shouldn't we join Rufus at Isengard Fortress?"

"Heh~ Don't forget the identity of these four ladies. We were able to trick the members of the Night Brigade before. However, I don't think that we can do something similar when the powerful General is around."

"General Julian of the North? You're right, Master. I didn't think of that." Ruthren nodded after realizing this. Though he's a criminal as well, he can feel at ease around this region since no one should know his face.

"Master, though I know about your ability to hide our presence, will it really work even with this carriage? Won't they hear the footsteps of these horses and the noise it would create?"

One of the female sword slaves asked… It's true that the six of them are still within the carriage. It would be a difficult task to hide their presence since the carriage will leave its tracks…

"I understand. Don't worry… For now, let's find the nearest camp and see what they're doing…"

"Yes, Master…"

Then, the group decided to hide the carriage that is carrying all their supplies while they are scouting the army camp.

"Mhmm… There are only ten Arcanists around. It's lesser than I expected."

Reiji said after using his Arcane Sensitivity and noticing the 10 Arcana scattered around the camp.

Since none of the 10 are close together, he guessed that none of the Arcanists owns more than one Arcana…

The camp they've seen has a total of 8 huge tents in a circle and there's a huge bone fire at the middle to perhaps give them heat and light during the night…

Then, Reiji used his Mystical Energy Manipulation and confirmed that the camp in front of them used a Defensive Array… For sure, it is several times better than the one that Rufus used for their rented house.

So they have to stay away from that camp for now…

Anyway, the road itself wasn't obstructed by any object. It is still open for everyone but there are a couple of watchtowers and posts beside the road. It means that anyone who gets closer to the camp will be noticed by the guards on duty.

It wouldn't be easy to sneak through their security.

Nevertheless, Reiji wasn't worried about it…

"Master… Should we look for another base camp? Look in that direction…"

Ruthren suggested after seeing the tight security. He pointed in the direction where a training field was set up…

Apparently, aside from the watchtowers and the guards patrolling the surroundings, he noticed that they have trained wolves with them!

These trained wolves might be able to catch a whiff of their scent if they got too close… Their Master's invisibility and traceless ability might not work against these wolves.

Reiji looked at the wolves and found them interesting… These wolves weren't similar to the Inferno Wolves, Forest Wolves, Phantom Wolf, and other wolf-type Evil Beast he encountered before.

'They look so weak… Perhaps Wild Beast? No, just a normal Beast, I guess…'

The sentient Shinai pondered for a moment… Then, he managed to glance at the silent female slaves and recalled something…

"Hey… You four, you said that your cult used an underground tunnel to bypass these guards… Is that right?"

Reiji asked the ladies using their link.

They all looked at him as one of them answered to explain the tunnel they've talked about before.

"You are right, Master. The ancestors of our previous Cult dug a three-kilometer long tunnel to secretly enter and leave the Kingdom…"

"Whoa~ That long?"

"Yes, Master. They spent several decades completing that job without being noticed by the kingdom guards."

"That's impressive. They're capable laborers. Do you know where it is?"

"Mhmm… It should be one of the places that the Northern Hermit is guarding… We haven't been there ourselves and we only know this much, Master."

"I understand… Perhaps they're also afraid of leaking this secret. Anyway, we just have to find all of the Hermit's secret bases and we'll gain access to it?"

"Yes, Master. However, the other end of the tunnel will surely be guarded by another faction of the cult…"

"That's understandable… Do you know where the six bases are?"

"We know the rough locations master… The landmark of the closest base is the well of an abandoned village not too far from here, master…"

"Now, that's interesting… However, if the path is that small, then we won't be able to bring the carriage, huh… It's too bad that we don't have dimensional storage with us…"

After Reiji thought of this, he recalled the skill that he decided to leave until he finds it really necessary…

He has been planning to purchase this before after learning its ability a long time ago. However, because of his priorities, he decided not to take it for the time being…

'I guess it's already the right time to take it…'

Reiji thought as he opened his Skills Tab.

[ Void Slash – 1650 SP ]

It is so expensive… However, he learned from the guide that there are skills that he can only get depending on the current skills he has.

So he has been tempted to purchase this powerful skill for a while now.

That's right. Aside from ranking up, he has to learn or purchase more skills so he would get to see other skill options in the tab… It wasn't that surprising since he has already noticed this as well since the beginning.

He looked at his available SP and he still has 2970 Skill Points which should be good enough.

'Haa~ Although we're not in an emergency that pushes me to purchase this, I think it's about time to get this ability. I'm sure it will be convenient'

Reiji rationalized his decision for purchasing the ability.

After pondering for about 3 minutes in the cold region, Reiji finally spent his SP.

[ - 1650 Skill Points ]

[ You obtained Void Slash ability. ]

His savings went down by more than its half as he received the notification that he learned the ability.

'Finally…'

As soon as he confirmed the purchase, Reiji floated away from the slaves… He's unsure about the effect of the skill so he wanted to avoid any accident that may happen.

He wanted to slash the nearby tree with the Void Slash but unfortunately, he's worried about the nearby guards who may be able to notice their presence.

Instead, he decided to just use the ability to slice on the air…

Whoosh~

The slaves looked at their master slice on the air… They thought that he was exercising or warming up…

However, they suddenly notice a lingering cut in the air that their master sliced!

The five slaves gulped as they couldn't understand what they are seeing right.

Was it black ink? But why would it float in the air?

Ruthren had an urge to touch the tear but decided to clasp his hands to stop himself.

"Is everything alright, Master?"

One of the female slaves asked. Her master was only asking about the tunnel a while ago but he suddenly went silent and decided to slice the air…

The sentient Arcana didn't answer so remained silent. It seems that Reiji was lost in his thought.

After about three more minutes, the floating black ink that was shaped like a tear finally disappeared…

Then they heard their master talking to them…

"Great… It barely consumes my Mystical Energy… Haha… I should've purchased this before… Everyone, let's head back to the carriage. Hurry!"

Reiji suddenly said as the Sword Slaves complied without any more questions. Their master seems to be excited for some reason so they just decided to follow him for now… Their questions are still be answered later…

Ruthren did the same but he didn't forget to put his hands from where the black ink was floating a while ago. There's nothing there…

The slave then decided to forget about it and followed the group.