It didn't take long before Reiji was brought within the minotaur's settlement…

'Mhmm… This is actually a decent place…' Reiji commented after observing the place.

​​

Perhaps there's a lot of minotaurs with high intelligence in their base as their place looks a bit better than what he expected.

He thought that the place is filled with dirt, leftover food, and stains of blood all over the place, but they actually have clean surroundings and he can see the discipline in each of them.

This is quite an interesting sight for Reiji.

Roar!

A minotaur with darker blue skin appeared in front of his minotaur Sword Slaves…

"Stop!"

The minotaur blocked their path as the beast seem to have sensed the problem with Reiji's slaves.

Then, the leader of the slaves approached the other to ask about their problem… They talked for a moment before he reported to Reiji.

'Master… The one in front of us is our elder… He wanted us to return to our post. However, we will only follow your orders… Should we force our way in?'

'Mhmm… I understand… No need for you to act, I'll deal with them all…' There is no need to hesitate. He sensed that there are only 55 Minotaurs in this settlement and he knows fully well that he's capable of handling them.

Though he could take a few more Sword Slaves as well, he's planning to use the slots for a different Evil Beast that he may found here in this forest later on.

Whoosh!

The shinai floated in the sky as it took the attention of all the other minotaurs on the ground. Reiji can see that their settlement uses logs and stones to create a barely livable house for themselves…

There are other creatures inside the houses they made but they weren't able to escape Reiji senses at this point.

Shinai Cloning Technique!

Then, a total of fifty-five bamboo swords appeared in the sky… They floated eerily and silently as none of the minotaurs felt the danger yet.

However, as they thought of continuing whatever they are doing, a suffocating pressure caught them off guard!

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Everyone except for the current slaves was affected by the Spiritual Pressure!

They kneeled on the ground as they quickly looked for their weapons. They know that they are under attack and this is their immediate reaction… However, even after holding their axe, they can't do anything with it… They know they have to stand up and face the hiding opponent but they couldn't stand up!

Roar! Roar! Roar!

A series of roars from the many minotaurs were heard across the hill. They are doing their best to release their energy and overpower the pressure bearing down on them.

Unfortunately, Reiji wasn't finished yet. As soon as he cast the Spiritual Pressure, he also activated his Sharpness…

It took a bit of time since there's a lot of him at the moment… However, as soon as he completed this, he dived down straight to the minotaurs kneeling on the ground.

Ssak! Ssak! Ssak!

A stabbing sound of the swords to the flesh of the beasts can be heard as Reiji killed all the minotaurs…

They only whimpered for a brief moment before losing their life from the Sentient Arcana.

Then, Reiji also heard a notification from that guide about the mission being completed.

[ Congratulations! You have completed the Killing Spree II Mission! ]

[ You have received 800 Skill Points ]

[ New Mission Created ]

[ Killing Spree III Mission ]

[ The host must kill 100 creatures with at least 40 units of Spiritual Energy at the same time. ]

Reward: 1500 SP ]

"Whoa~ Not bad…" Reiji was satisfied with the result of his actions.

The Killing Spree II Mission that he just completed requires him to kill 50 creatures with at least 30 Units of Spiritual Energy at the same time…

It is quite a tough task since finding such a huge number with that unit of energy is not easy…

"But this mission now is too difficult…"

Even after he maxed his Shinai Cloning Technique's level, he can only clone himself a maximum of 80 times. Aside from that, if he used the maximum limit, the duration will also be lowered in exchange…

'How am I supposed to complete this mission… Oh, perhaps skewering them will work.' Reiji mused for a moment before glancing at the dead minotaurs…

He was then reminded of something as he ordered his Sword Slaves to take the Cores of their fellow minotaurs.

He also pulled out Ayumi to help with the collection of the cores.

After about 15 minutes or so, they cleared the settlement of the minotaurs to look for the signs of the tomb…

Unfortunately, it seems that they have to look for another settlement since even after looking around, they couldn't find any secret entrance or any suspicious thing around the hill…

"Wait, Master Reiji…"

Ayumi called for the shinai as she seems to have noticed something. The settlement of the minotaurs is surrounded by rocks and forest…

Their houses are made of pieces of logs put together creating a tent-like structure where they could have a cover in case there is rain or perhaps in the cold winter…

Nothing strikes their sight at first, but Ayumi noticed the bonfire that the minotaurs are using… It is filled with charcoals at the moment but she realized that the spot hasn't been searched yet…

Thud! Thud! Clank!

Ayumu used her sword to tap on the ground. Her first two taps are normal sounds, however, the third tap sounded like she hit another metal…

She immediately cleared the spot and found a blackened rock on the ground…

Reiji noticed this as he used his senses on the rock.

'I see…'

He then quickly asked the only intelligent minotaur around.

"How long have you been using this place as your settlement?"

The minotaur perked up after being questioned. He understood what his master wanted to learn so he answered accordingly and added everything he knows that might be helpful.

"Master, we've been here for more than seven generations already… We've been using the same spot for our bonfire ever since. I've noticed it before when I was cleaning it but never bothered about it…"

"Mhmm… I see… I guess the clue wasn't all that wrong." Reiji muttered.

The clue he was referring to was the information that the half-imps have provided… It is about the red rock at the entrance of the tomb.

Though the rock itself is black, the red rock was probably used as a symbol referring to the rock being used to start the bonfire.

He then ordered the minotaurs to dig around the rock to move it away and reveal the secret entrance to the tomb. That's right, Reiji's Arcane Sensitivity already confirmed the existence of the hidden tomb!

'Finally… I can probably complete my other two missions here…'

Reiji pondered as he looked at the dark passage underground…

***

Ruthren and the other Sword Slaves supervised the assessment as they witnessed the hidden skills of the practitioners from the three villages.

They were aware of the identities of the Reiji's secret students so they thought that they wouldn't be too surprised by their skills.

However, after watching them compete, they realized that their master was truly a genius when it comes to selecting a student.

When Ruthren and the others saw them before, they didn't find anything amazing about the kids. They were previously frail that even a normal beast can probably eat them…

But the battles just now were so intense, especially between Vinete and Mourad as they used impressive kendo techniques that even with their Sword Affinity, would probably take years of mastering them.

Finally, after the assessment that lasted for 5 hours, the top 6 practitioners are called in front…

The results weren't surprising after seeing their initial matches.

From the Ormug Village, only Stasis was able to pass… For the Reboroz Village, Vinete was surprisingly not alone as Alee, the top 2 in their village, wasn't matched to any practitioners that Reiji has taught.

Of course, the last three practitioners were from Bhibra Village… They are Imane, Mourad, and Droltob…

"Congratulations for reaching this stage… I would like to give the six of you an award but that will still take some time until Ayumi returned…"

Ruthren said to the six which was heard by everyone. Though what he truly meant to say is that they needed to wait until the Sentient Arcana that was together with Ayumi, returned.

Nevertheless, they just thought that Ayumi had actually left the village to find a reward for the six of them…

"Ehem… Only one of you will be allowed to get the chance to attend the summoning ritual. But don't worry… This will happen four times a year so some of you will still get the chance... Anyway, we will be continuing this tomorrow as I noticed that the six of you are all exhausted. We can't continue like that."

The man said as this excited everyone. They might not get the opportunity for today, but in the next few months or years, it might be their time!