Reiji observed the cavern.

There are no other entrances aside from the path they've used to enter this place. It means that aside from a Sentient Arcana, there shouldn't be any other Beast or Creature within this place that could control the disgusting lake in front of them.

​​

"Who are you?"

A deep voice coming from within the lake asked. Reiji was elated after hearing someone's response.

After all, his Arcane Sensitivity caught the Arcana's presence as soon as it spoke.

His hunch was correct, the one who killed his sword slave is a Sentient Cursed Arcana.

"We just found this place after the entrance of this tomb was opened by some minotaurs... Are you a Cursed Arcana?"

"Hmph! A Blessed Arcana, huh… Which Deity are you serving?"

"Oh… So you can tell as well."

Reiji realized the Arcana probably has an Arcane Sensitivity similar to him. Nevertheless, he doesn't have plans to hide his identity as a Blessed Arcana anymore. After all, he already has the power to protect himself even if he's faced with a powerful Arcana or Arcanists.

"What do you want from me?"

"Well, you see… I have a new ability that will only work against a Cursed Arcana… I would like to try it on you…"

"Hahaha! You're pretty blunt, aren't you? Come to me if you dare…" The Cursed Arcana taunted as it remained within the repulsive lake.

Of course, Reiji didn't move even after being taunted.

His Mystical Energy Manipulation has been active for a while now and he discovered that the lake has some kind of array bounded to it.

He tried using his Appraisal but it seems that the level wasn't enough for him to check on it.

He's unsure of its effect so he decided to spend his SP to level up his Appraisal. Anyway, he thought that it is already about time to have a higher level of such skill.

The Appraisal Ability's price is 460 Skill Points.

It is currently level 1 so raising it to level 5 will spend almost half of his current SP reserves… However, once he captured this Cursed Arcana and taken possession of the other items on that stone at the center, he felt that it wouldn't be a bad trade at all.

As a matter of fact, if he completed his current mission to eliminate a Cursed Arcana, he would be able to receive 1500 SP which is enough for him to commit to the purchase.

Though he won't get back all the SP he spent, that amount is still considerable in case of emergency.

[ Appraisal upgraded to level 2! ]

[ Appraisal upgraded to level 3! ]

[ Appraisal upgraded to level 4! ]

[ Appraisal upgraded to level 5! ]

[ You've spent 1840 Skill Points for the upgrade. ]

Then, Reiji quickly used his upgraded skill to check the Array that his skill was detecting.…

[ Greater Water Restriction Array ]

[ An array created specifically to confine the Cursed Trident Arcana. It will not be able to attack anyone outside but anyone who entered its territory would be its prey.

Array Integrity: 5% -- Unclean water weakens the array.

Array Core: 3x Aqua Pearl ]

'Hmm… A restriction array, huh…'

Reiji scanned that whole area and confirmed that the Array was indeed just within the lake's area.

As long as they do not attempt to enter it, the Trident wouldn't be able to do anything to as well.

On the other hand, he also felt worried about the current integrity of the Array… If it reaches zero, it means that the array will collapse and will release the Trident…

'Tsk… He's probably corrupting the water…'

Reiji realized that the array was perhaps very clean when it was just placed by the Arcanist who made this. The trident was just trying to escape so it was trying to dirty it for who knows how long.

'Ugh… But how am I supposed to capture it?' Reiji thought for a moment as he looked at his skill sets.

He has various skills but most of them are support types. Only his Void Slash and Overload are meant to truly destroy his opponent.

Nevertheless, he has been with these two abilities for such a long time since his Cloning Technique, Spiritual Pressure, Sword Intent, and Stealth had always been more than enough to deal with his enemies.

However, with his current situation, he knows that he has to get another offensive skill.

He took his time checking his skills list since the Cursed Arcana wouldn't be able to do anything to them anyway.

[ Skills Option ]

Poisonous Blade – 190 SP

Sword Saturation – 200 SP

Alluring Scented Sword – 260 SP

Sword Explosion – 300 SP

Burning Sword – 360 SP

Ice Wave – 390 SP

Blade Dash – 400 SP

Curse Reflection – 450 SP

Wind Blade – 460 SP

Spellsword – 800 SP

Echo Slash – 1000 SP

Self Destruction – 1000 SP

Sword Blink – 1300 SP

Illusory Blade – 1400 SP

[ Available Skill Points: 1960 ]

"Guide… Do I have the Skill to clean the water?" Reiji suddenly asked as he had something in mind.

[ You already have Cleanse Lv 5. Maxing the skill will allow you to select a target. ]

"Oh! That's amazing…" Reiji felt glad that he asked the guide.

He thought of perhaps cleaning the water to increase the restriction to the Trident.

'Ahh… Wait…'

He suddenly realized the problem with cleaning the water array… Once the integrity increased, he will also be unable to capture the Arcana… Perhaps completely destroying the array is the best option…

'Hmm….'

Reiji looked at the available skills for a few minutes. He wanted to plan his actions against the Cursed Arcana. He can't mess this up.

On the other hand, the Cursed Arcana felt annoyed at his silence as it continued harassing Reiji with verbal words to irritate him and perhaps to make him angry.

However, he's just wasting his effort as Reiji isn't the impulsive type. Perhaps it would work to his wielder but not to him.

As for the minotaurs, they felt that they are already dying from the repulsive smell of the lake… In truth, it feels like it's a bioweapon than a dirty lake.

"Alright, let's try this then…"

[ You've purchased two skills. ]

[ Sword Explosion – 300 SP ]

[ Ice Wave – 390 SP ]

[ Remaining Skill Points: 1270 ]

"Upgrade Cleanse to max…"

[ You've spent 250 Skill Points for the upgrade. ]

Finally, his cleanse can now target an area instead of just to himself…

"Alright, Trident Arcana… I'll be fighting you…"

Reiji said as he was already prepared. However, he suddenly received a notification from his guide.

[ You have resisted the Corrosion. ]

"Ahhh… So this place is already affected… Tsk… I guess it's normal with the five percent integrity… It can't be trusted."

Reiji then looked at the minotaurs as he thought of cleansing them first…

The corrosion can be considered as an abnormal status so it should be effective.

"Get close to each other… I'll be using my Arcane Magic."

"Yes, Master."

The minotaurs quickly formed a circle to follow Reiji's instruction.

After Reiji noticed that everyone's already within the Cleanse's effective range, he activated the Arcane Magic as it consumed his mental strength.

[ A total of 36 Abnormal Status was Cleansed. ]

[ Cleanse Successful. ]

"Whoa! It worked!"

Reiji celebrated for a moment but he recalled that he haven't fixed the source of the corrosion yet…

"Alright, leave this place for now and guard the entrance. I'll be handling everything from here."

"Yes, Master…"

The intelligent minotaur replied before leading the rest to the entrance. Reiji can see the happiness on their faces as they could finally leave the place.

'Hmm… This will be very useful in the future… It doesn't consume any SP and only my Mental Strength…'

It felt like it is a cheat skill at this point. After all, the "Abnormal Status" that can be cleansed was a lot…

Corrosion, Frostbite, Burn, or even Curse is included with that.

'I guess the intensity of the Mental Strength reduction still matters depending on the level of abnormal status…' Reiji thought but he still grinned at the thought of such skill being used against the Curse of a Cursed Arcana/

'Might be worth a try…'

After confirming that everything is set… Reiji set his eyes on the dark lake and located the three Aqua Pearls that are acting as the Array Cores…

Those three pearls are the only thing that is holding the array at the moment. If he accidentally destroyed them, it will release the Cursed Arcana so he has to be careful.

Cloning Technique…

Four other shinais appeared beside him.

Then, he controlled all of them to dive at the lake.

Cleanse!

Each clone can use similar Arcane Magic!

[ Cleanse Failed… ]

[ Cleanse Failed… ]

[ Cleanse Failed… ]

[ Cleanse Successful… ]

"Yes!" Reiji celebrated as he can finally see the Cursed Arcana.

The Trident seems to be very surprised at what happened… It was planning to devour the wooden sword but it suddenly activated an Arcane Magic that is almost similar to Holy Magic!

It happened so fast that he was unable to activate any of his Cursed Skills at all!