Rufus wanted to ask the name of the angel mercenary. However, he heard someone ask as well but was only told that they were also unaware…

Anyway, it's not like people would just announce their name in a war. Unless they truly wanted to get attention, they wouldn't do such a thing.

​​

'At the very least, the army managed to stop their advance… I wonder if the prince can fix this problem.'

The young man had never seen the prince but he wanted him to settle the problem in the west.

Although Rufus was considered a noble, he was at the lowest class since he wasn't even the first son of the baron. There was no way for him to meet such a high-class noble.

He wouldn't inherit their only old manor in the eastern region of the country and he has to work really hard for his future…

Nevertheless, this actually suited him the most as he managed to find his talent as an Arcanist and learn many things on his journey.

He continued his way to the associations and asked for the plot of land they could recommend for the Arcanist Tower… He listed all their suggestion as he plans to investigate it a little before he hires a messenger to bring them to the Tower…

After this, he bought some food supplies for their group and some change of clothes before returning to their house.

More than an hour had passed for all of this and as soon as he returned, he heard someone practicing…

Pah! Pah! Pah!

Apparently, his master Reiji is training the five with their sword skills… The young man smiled at this and felt a bit nostalgic after seeing the hanging wood…

Rufus can hear their cries of pain as the block of steel-like wood hits their head.

He also notices that the training was a bit harsher when he was the one training it…

'I guess I'm lucky… Good luck everyone…'

***

A couple of days had passed before Reiji's group decided to continue their way to Isengard Fortress…

The young man already achieved what he wanted within the city as he trained regularly at the Blue Canopy Forests together with the Sword Slaves… Though he still avoided the adult Ancient Gazelles, he has no problems dealing with other Evil Beasts at the lower tier.

His improvements were visible and Reiji was now confident to leave the young man alone and have his own journey…

He thought that it would still take a few more months but Rufus managed to reach 5-Dan after several risky battles. Aside from that, he had also properly integrated his technique with various Arcane Magic that his items have.

His swordsmanship skills together with his familiarity with his multiple Arcane Magic would make him a very strong magic swordsman.

There's only one last thing that Reiji wanted to do… Since the young man managed to reach this level faster than he thought, he might as well try something else before they separate…

"Master…"

Rufus entered the room and locked the door as his master instructed. He was called here by Reiji after their hunt for today.

He knows that he has really improved a lot after his several battles…

'Is he going to reward me? Do I have new training?'

The young man tried to guess but he remained silent as he waited for Reiji to speak. However, he noticed his master's tussle was actually removed.

It is currently placed on the table while the Shinai hovers above…

'How are you feeling now, Rufus?'

'I'm good, master. I've taken one of those Rejuvenation potions being sold at the eastern gate... I'm ready to train my sword swings all night…'

Rufus proudly said as he clenched his fist.

'I see… You can do that later… Do not skip with your regular training.'

'Yes, Master Reiji… Then, what should I do now?'

'We will try to summon an Arcana…'

'Summon an Arcana?! Do you know where I can attend a Bestowal Ceremony?! I'd like to go, Master…'

Reiji can hear the young man's excitement after hearing that they'll summon an Arcana.

Rufus was the one who told him that summoning a second Arcana would not be easy unless the Arcanist has reached the Second-Class rank or achieved the mutation of their Spiritual Energy…

After reaching that level, they would be notified by the royalties to perform another summoning of their Arcana. This would strengthen the Arcanists and would also become more loyal to the kingdom… In short, this is their way to bind the talented Arcansits to the kingdom without putting too much pressure on them.

'That's right… I know of another method… Are you up for it?' Reiji replied.

'Yes, Master! I'll do my best!'

The young man fully knows that summoning another Arcana without reaching the second-class is very risky… It would just be a waste of their resources and time.

However, they wouldn't know the pain of losing an Arcana, an Arcana that has the potential to contend against higher-ranks and is perfectly suited to the wielder… Only people like Rufus who went through such pain would understand…

This is why even though he knows that it will be hard for him to summon another Arcana… He was still looking forward to it and try… After all, he's unsure whether he could even reach the mutation of the Spiritual Energy at all!

There's a lot of Arcanist in this Kingdom but only a few have reached the Second-Class. So he couldn't guarantee that he'll reach such a level and have the chance to summon again. In case he could do so, he's probably in his fifties at that time. Might as well give up on summoning new Arcana if it will take him that long.

'Alright… we'll try to do the summoning now… The one in front of you is my tussle… It has a stone there that you might be familiar with…'

Rufus looked at the stone tied on the tussle… However, he has no idea about this… He has a device to identify such an item but it's not in the room right now.

'It doesn't seem familiar to me, Master…'

'Is that so? You can consider that thing as a mini platform for your Arcana Bestowal Ceremony… That's an Arcane Stone use to summon an Arcana. So you can just consider this room as the Arcane Circle and the small stone as the stone you're familiar with.'

Rufus had to process his master's words for a while… He was truly not expecting that the tussle dangling on the Shinai's handle was such as precious item.

He thought that it was just used for aesthetic purposes.

'Yes, Master… This is indeed several times small than what I used in my summoning before. Do you I have to do anything else, Master?'

'No... You can proceed as it is… However, let me remind you that we might fail in this summoning ritual... Considering the words you said before, summoning another new Arcana might be difficult. So even if we fail, you shouldn't be very disappointed.'

'Ahh… Of course, Master… I'll still be happy even if we fail… As long as I was able to try, that's enough for me…'

The young man immediately replied. He knows that his master is worried about his mental health so he wanted to assure him.

'Very well… Go ahead and try…' Reiji said as he moved aside to watch the young man summon.

Rufus placed his palm on the small Arcana Stone and closed his eyes. He poured his rejuvenated Spiritual Energy and waited for his connection to the Arcane World to happen.

At this point, he will already be happy if he managed to get even just Common-Rank Arcana.

The young man then silently prayed…

Time passed as he almost depleted his Spiritual Energy, however, there was still no response from the Arcane Stone.

He doesn't doubt its master that the stone has such capabilities but it seems that he truly can't summon anymore.

As he was losing his hope, he felt that his Spiritual Energy that has been looking for an Arcana in the Arcane World was stuck to something…

'Finally!' Rufus said in his mind as he continued his try.

He knows this feeling really well! This is the feeling of his Spiritual Energy being accepted by one of the Arcana in the Arcane World…

Then, a cloud of smoke came out of the small stone…

The smoke in this summoning was quite unusual to Rufus' eyes. After all, what was supposed to happen next was to have a colored light shine according to the level of the Arcana…

As he thought of this difference, he suddenly noticed that the cloud of smoke changed its color!

A red smoke!

If he will interpret it as what he felt it should be, then the summoned item is actually at the level of Epic Rank!

Even Reiji who was watching looks impressed at the result of the summoning!

"Hmm… It seems that this Ancient Arcane Stone is really different… Not only did he succeed, but he also received such a high-rank Arcana."