Perhaps, visiting the Erliente Dukedom and paying for a chance to attend a Bestowal Ceremony is the best option to summon your Arcana.

After all, a chance of 4 times a year is still a bit too low considering their numbers.

​​

However, the danger that the half-imps would face isn't any lower when leaving this chaotic land.

They are hated due to their bloodline that is synonymous with evil.

On the other hand, their elders can also create a ritual to request some Arcana to their imp god depending on their sacrifices. The only problem with this process is that the Arcana is definitely a troublesome one and could even be at the level of a genuinely Cursed Arcana.

This is why they are quite excited about Ruthren's plan for Bestowal Ceremony. Though only a few of them can get a chance, it will still help them a lot in the process.

"Ehem… Ehem… The three of you did great… Even if none of you managed to get the chance to summon an Arcana tomorrow… We will still put you in priority on our list. Once we have enough human sacrifices, you three will be the first to get a chance to receive an Arcana…"

One of the three elders of Bhibra Village approached Mourad, Droltob, and Imane.

They have performed really well in today's assessment and they deserved to receive such special treatment.

"Thank you, Elder! It will be difficult but I will do my best!" Droltob replied after hearing the good news.

In truth, he's not too confident about winning the entire match after seeing the others' skills… Especially the dual wielder Stasis…

He thought that he had learned enough techniques to fight against dual sword wielders but seeing his matches against the others made him realize the absolute advantage of an additional weapon…

He looked at Imane and Mourad thinking that they will also get discouraged. However, he saw the two just smiling mysteriously before answering the elder.

"Thank you for that, Elder… But I'll be taking the chance tomorrow to summon my Arcana…" This was said by both Mourad and Imane at the same time. They are serious about this competition and they wanted to take the top spot!

'These two…' Droltob remembers that Mourad shouldn't even be in the top 10 or 20 within their previous rankings.

He just suddenly appeared with incredible skills that could match the top 3 in terms of swordsmanship!

No! Perhaps he is even better than him and his two brothers!

On the other hand, Droltob already knows that Imane is just hiding her true strength… Of course, he was still surprised that she was actually even more powerful than he was expecting.

He could only shake his head as he went to meet his brothers.

Only one of the triplets managed to reach the top six, so he wanted to comfort them… He's sure that they are also expecting to get the chance to summon their Arcana.

However, as soon as he walked in their direction, he found Vrogh and Aknel flirting with the female practitioners of Reboroz and Ormug Village!

"You—You didn't even wait for me!" The young man shouted at the two as he joined them in their conversation…

As for Mourad and Imane, they only looked at each other for a few seconds before separating on their ways.

They would have plenty of time to know each other after their match tomorrow…

Aside from that, they also needed to take a rest and perhaps train a bit more for the final matches. They know that their opponents this time will mostly be their fellow disciples so they can't be too careless.

***

"Brother! You're so strong!"

Saira, Mourad's little sister, greeted him with a hug after he approached her… It seems that she wanted to let her classmates know that they are close to each other.

Mourad wasn't used to this so he just changed the topic as he whispered to her ears.

"Heh~ Aren't you too mischievous? How did you even let that guy give up?" Mourad is referring to the guy who would supposedly compete in his current spot but decided to pass the chance to him.

"Keke… When I grew up, I want to be the most charming half-imp! So you shouldn't be surprised with that!"

"What?"

Mourad felt worried as his sister seems to be having such dangerous thoughts!

'Anyway, she's still too young… It will surely change.' The man mused as he felt his stomach grumbling. He's hungry.

They decided to return home hoping that their father was already at home… But just in case, Mourad went to a meat shop to purchase a few slices of edible wolf meat enough for three people.

The meat shops within the village are normally operated by half-imps that has storage space bag. This is to avoid having their products spoiled after a day or two…

Of course, the others that do not have such Arcane Magic can still use the normal method like storing in cold places, putting spices, or drying to prevent spoilage.

He then thought of purchasing other vegetables that aren't planted in their mini garden outside their house…

'Hmm… It's also quite good to live just like this… If I won tomorrow, can I still live the same life?'

Mourad suddenly felt worried. His previous competitive spirit has died down after the matches he fought with.

Now that he's relaxing, he felt that it totally suits his lifestyle… As expected of the lazy Mourad…

***

Ayumi has already entered the Dimensional Storage Space created by the Void Slash leaving Reiji and the 12 Minotaurs to explore the secret passage that they've found…

The passage was quite spacious as two minotaurs walking side-by-side wasn't an issue.

Of course, even though the creatures have very good vision, they still brought some luminous stones to search the place. The stone wasn't something rare as it can be found almost everywhere within the forest. The only trouble is to find a null flower that is needed to trigger the stone's effect…

"Hmm… Those traps… They're no longer functioning, aren't they?"

Reiji commented after seeing the minotaurs dismantle the already broken traps along the way. He was actually pointing to some suspicious spots from time to time where he felt the traps could be placed.

He wanted to see the structure of the traps or the method of how it was made as it could probably give him an idea about the tomb they're in…

Clank! Clank! Clank!

An arrow trap activated but was unsuccessful because of its strings that are cut off before they are even released…

Reiji was about to check the arrows when he heard his Sword Slave.

'Master… I smell something really bad ahead… Ugh! It stinks…'

The minotaur suddenly made a report expressing his disgust. They seem to have heightened senses so the stinking smell is probably unbearable for them.

'Mhmm… Let's move slowly then… We can't be sure that there are no other beasts around here. There could be another entrance that we're not aware of and they left some of their food to rot here'

"Yes, I understand, Master." The minotaur answered as he held his axe tightly and lead the way.

Though he and the other minotaurs found this repulsive… They know that they have to obey their Master's instructions at all costs.

After moving ahead and following the repulsive smell, it didn't take long before Reiji and the others saw the abhorrent dark green lake ahead of them…

"This—" Reiji was a bit surprised about the unexpected find.

They are now in a cavern that seems to be the end of this tomb. Though they can see a lake in front of them, the most eye-catching one is still the huge stone at the center where a silver human skeleton laid peacefully…

There is a white robe on its body that was also not corroded by time and three other items that Reiji is suspecting to be the dead person's Arcana.

One of those three is highly likely to be the Cursed Arcana so Reiji has to prepare himself.

"You, swim on the lake and take everything on the stone at the middle…"

Reiji pointed to a random sword slave…

The minotaur just nodded at this as he dropped his axe and heavy armor before jumping at the dark green lake…

He didn't care about the smell as long as he could follow his master.

Reiji watched this carefully as he feels that there's something wrong with the lake.

As expected, as soon as the minotaur jumped, the area of water where he dived in had actually opened up like it is a mouth of a huge monster before munching at the poor minotaur…

The beast was unable to even call for help as he died within the sentient lake…

"Interesting… Are you the Cursed Arcana?"

Reiji asked as he floated above the remaining minotaurs not too far from the lake. He thought that the Arcana was one of the items in the stones… However, it appears that he's actually wrong.