"Stella… Would you mind if you tell me what kind of Arcana did you take with you?"

Hendrick asked after she told him that she's returning to the previous passage.

​​

He was actually quite curious about her choice and the method she used to detect an Arcana, but he didn't want to offend the young lady.

There are matters that should be left undisclosed especially with regards to their sets of skills.

"Ahh… It should be a storage ring…"

"A storage ring? That's interesting…" Hendrick muttered as he glanced at the glass-like ring in her hands.

He appears to be interested in taking it with him... However, Stella quickly understood his concerns…

Reiji realized this as well. His excitement about his rank-up has already died down so he could now think clearly.

He then used his Sense Link with Stella and gave her an instruction.

"Now that you said, do you want to take a look and see if there's something inside?" Stella politely asked the Knight Captain.

"That's what I'm thinking…" Hendrick smiled as he approached her to take a look.

"Do you know if the owner of the Arcana is dead?" He asked.

"Mhmmm… I'm not sure."

The Knight just nodded at Stella's vague answer. It appears that she wants to hide her abilities.

The young girl handed the storage ring to Hendrick as she let him examine it…

After a while, the man found out its details.

"Very well… The owner is dead…"

"Does it mean that we can't see what was inside?"

"We can… But I have to take ownership of it for a moment…"

"Ahh… Then will it be bounded to you?"

"Haha… So you know about this, huh. Don't worry. An ownerless Arcana will only be bounded after the new wielder wore it for a period of time."

"I see… How long is that period?"

"Well, it depends on the characteristics of the Arcana. If it's a low-rank Arcana, it may just take 10 to 15 minutes. However, if we're talking about unique rank or maybe epic rank, that would take 12 hours or even a full day."

"Whoa… There's a huge difference."

"That's right… So allow me to confiscate whatever things are inside this ring…"

"Alright… I only need the Arcana with me."

"That's good to hear…" Hendrick said as he focused on taking out the items inside.

There were scrolls filled with unknown text and some tools used for writing like ink, papers, and pen.

"That's all… We'll examine this later. Oops---"

"Mhmm?" Stella looked at the Knight who appears to have discovered something unbelievable.

"Haha… Almost. It seems that every single use of this Storage Ring would spend 10 points of its durability."

"W-what? Isn't that a little too fragile?"

"Hahaha… That's right… Here you go. Be careful, it might just shatter if you drop it."

As soon as it was on Stella's hand, Reiji told her to tap it on the shinai…

Apparently, Hendrick was telling the truth.

From the 12/90 in its durability before, it is now 2/90…

'That was close… It seems that he didn't know that it would be like that as well.'

It was a good thing that there were 2 points left, so it should still be alright to be sacrificed to Albeiron.

Reiji sighed in relief.

"Ahh… Right, Sir Hendrick. There's also another storage ring Arcana on the pile. You might want to check on it… I'll be on my way now. I'll be back in a while."

"Oh? Is that so… Thank you for informing me. We'll wait for you here."

Hendrick replied and saw her off. He glanced at this mysterious young girl's back as he really couldn't comprehend her.

As far as he knows, only Arcanist can make an appraisal about an Arcana. However, this girl who obviously doesn't have an Arcana was capable of identifying one!

In truth, he just tested her a while ago when he told her to look for the Arcana… He was expecting that she'll ask an Arcanists to do it for her.

He had been watching her all this time!

However, she examined a pile of 30 items in a matter of seconds! How incredible is that?!

Her appraisal method doesn't have a cooldown? Or is it a Mass Appraisal? A skill that's capable of identifying a pile of objects? Was there even an Arcane Magic like that?

"Sigh~ I wonder if she'll consider joining the Knights Order."

"Captain, what are you muttering there?" Misha appeared beside him.

Before he could reply, she added.

"Hey… Why are you looking at her behind?"

"What? I'm just making sure that there's no problem on her way… Have you treated the wounded?"

"Well, they have potions and stuff… They were meant to be used so I just told them to use them. This is not the time to save money."

"That's true…"

"Mhmm… So, what's with all this stuff?" Misha said as glanced at the things that were found inside the Fragile Storage Ring.

Hendrick then explained about the Storage Ring that Stella has taken as a payment or her reward in this mission.

Nevertheless, they started interrogating the captured tamers and studied those scrolls, letters, parchment, and others that were found inside the storage rings.

***

"Is this good enough, Master?"

Stella found a flat ground to put down the pocket watch and ring. The two were Arcana that her Master seems to be fond of.

She's not sure what will this Sentient Arcana was planning to do but she obediently followed him.

"It's perfect. Thank you for your help. You can rest somewhere there for now." Reiji pointed to a rock where she can sit not too far from him.

"A-alright…"

Stella realized that her master didn't mind her watching what he was about to do. He's only requesting her to take a look from a distance.

Honestly, who wouldn't be curious about a talking sword that is requesting to possess other objects?

***

'Alright… I'll get myself promoted now.'

Reiji said as he started the ritual.

He already knows how to sacrifice these Arcana so he no longer asked the Guide.

He tapped the first Sacrificial Arcana and communicated to the deity.

"Albeiron, the Sword Deity, accept my offering!"

Reiji said with sincerity…

Just like what happened before, the ring was covered by a white light.

There wasn't any noise and only the blinding light appeared. It took a few seconds before it vanished together with the ring.

[ Rank Up Quest Progress ]

[ Common Rank: 4/4 ]

[ Rare Rank: 0/1 ]

After confirming that the sacrifice was successful, Reiji continued his offering.

As soon as he sacrificed the pocket watch, a different light appeared… It was a blinding green light that covered the whole place.

'Mhmm? Would it be different light color depending on the rank of the Arcana?'

Reiji thought after seeing the sudden change of light.

[ Rank Up Quest Progress ]

[ Common Rank: 4/4 ]

[ Rare Rank: 1/1 ]

[ Congratulations! You can now advance to Rare-Rank! ]

[ Would you like to start your rank advancement now? ]

"Yes! Of course… Ahh—"

[ Commence Advancement ]

He forgot to ask about the process of advancing! What if it will take a month or perhaps a year!

As he starts worrying about it, he received a notification from the guide.

[ Advancement Progress: 30%... 41%... 52%... ]

'Oh… It seems like it will be fast.'

Reiji sighed in relief after noticing the quick changes.

As soon as it reached the 100% mark… Reiji, or the shinai, was suddenly covered by a green light.

It lasted for about ten seconds before the light vanished.

After a few moments, he received several notifications from the guide.

It should be his reward for ranking up and others.

Reiji observed himself but didn't notice any changes at all. He still looks the same…

'Finally… I can accept missions now.'

Reiji was truly happy about this. His current SP had almost reached the bottom. He wanted to improve himself so he would have more options when he's traveling.

Stella who was watching everything just remained seated on the rock as she tries to absorb everything that has occurred just now.

'What had just happened?'

The items disappeared after being covered by a blinding light. Her master was then covered by a green light as if it was his first time being summoned as an Arcana…

"Master… Are you a Rare-Rank Arcana?"

"Eh?" Reiji was surprised by her words.

"What do you mean?" He added.

"Er… I heard that during Arcana Bestowal Ceremony, the summoned Arcana would be covered by a light depending on its rank… A white light means that it's a Common Rank, a green light for Rare Rank, a blue light for Unique, red for Epic, purple for Legendary, and myriad colors for a Mythical Rank."

Stella explained as this should be something quite common for those who wanted to be Arcanists.

"Is that so? Mhmm… You're right…"

"Amazing… Are you perhaps in a weakened state and you need to consume other Arcana to get stronger?!"

"Maybe…"

"Whoa! That's great… It was like a Cursed Arcana I've heard about…"

"Huh?"

"Ahh… No… I mean, you seemed to be blessed, master… I will help you by getting more Arcana to be consumed!"

Stella enthusiastically said.