I Reincarnated as a Shinai

After Rufus managed to beat Lee and advanced as one of the top 30 trainees, his friends applauded him as they gathered outside the arena.

"Rufus! You hid it really well. I never thought that you're practicing a sword technique."

"That's right… I heard that you're always looking around in the market… I guess that it's not true and you've been secretly learning the way of the sword."

"Yeah… You even hid it from us. You should've told us. I also want to learn how to use a sword…"

"What? You can't even control your Spiritual Energy… You should learn how to use Arcane Magic first…"

They bantered for a while as they waited for their names to be called. Each duel lasted only for about 5 to 10 minutes as everyone doesn't have huge Mana Reserves and most of them are trying to save it for their next battle or next evaluation.

These trainees were also quite unbalanced as they would normally specialize in one of their abilities…

Like Nika's Gun Arcana, she doesn't have any other means of combat aside from her Revolver… She has weak defensive abilities and doesn't have impressive agility…

It was the same for the others… There can be a trainee with absolute defense but their combat prowess would fall short.

Due to this, most of the duels were just a way to exhibit their skills in front of the judges… 

Time quickly passed as the second part of the duel started. 

This time, Rufus was matched against someone he didn't want to fight... 

'Master… I'm matched against Nika Daime. She's using a gun with extremely fast bullets… There's no way to avoid her shot. Should I bring armor? I've made armor in case I'm pitted in a situation like this.'

Rufus stated his concern. He had seen Nika's Revolver and saw how fast the bullet comes out of her gun. It is almost instant the moment she pulled the trigger.

Given the distance within the Arena. There was no way for him to dodge it…

He saw what happened to Myla, the Lance user, who was helpless against the gun…

Before Reiji could reply, someone held Rufus's hands.

"Ahh… Rufus... You're up against Nika. I think you should surrender here. Although she wouldn't aim to kill you. It would still hurt a lot if you get shot by her Revolver." 

Chrisome went to his side after noticing the matchup. He was worried that Rufus would get hurt and perform poorly in the last evaluation.

Perhaps, everyone remembers Myla's painful cry after being shot a while ago. He didn't want that to happen with his friends.

There's still the third Evaluation and he needed to be in the peak condition for that.

Chrisome then reminded Rufus that he already passed the first part of the evaluation and reached the top 30  in this duel so it shouldn't matter that much if he made a tactical retreat in the next fight…

However, although Rufus was thankful for his friend's advice, his master's opinion matters the most. 

He then turned to his master to know his thoughts about the next battle. 

'Well, I promised to help you. We have a deal, so there's no need to ask.'

Reiji replied as he sounded confident even if they are matched against Nika.

It is true the Reiji was a bit concerned about facing Nika… After all, he doesn't have real experience fighting against gun users. 

The closest experience that he had was when he dealt with the bullies in his senior high school who used airsoft guns to harass him.

During that time, the kids don't have much experience using those guns as they just probably stole them from their parents… 

Their aim was terrible and they are probably nervous as well while holding that airsoft gun.

Using his superb kinetic vision, he managed to calculate the trajectory of the bullets by looking at the muzzles. 

In the end, he had no choice but to put them to sleep using the shinai that he's always carrying when going to school.

'Thank you, Master Reiji. Just tell me what I should do once we're called.'

'Mhmm… Nothing… I'll Take Over. The cooldown is up so don't worry… Just try to learn whatever you can once the battle started. Okay?'

'Ugh… Yes, Master. I understand.'

Rufus sighed in relief after hearing that his master will take over. 

If the sentient Arcana decided to let him handle Nika, he'll probably have some holes a few seconds after the duel started. 

There was no way for him to outspeed her bullets. 

In the meantime, Rufus watches the other duels going on.

Himilco surprisingly managed to reach the top 30  but he was unfortunately matched against Lexi…

Although the man did his best to fight against the top 1 trainee. He still didn't last more than 30 seconds as he has a poor close combat ability. This was already known from the first part of the evaluation so Lexi took advantage of it and never left his side after she managed to get close to him.

Luckily, before he sustained heavy injuries, the referee decided to end the duel saving the young man and the tower's mid-grade healing potions.

"Rufus and Nika. Enter the fourth arena…"

As soon as this was announced, everyone looked at the two.

The young man managed to defeat the Cloning Nightmare Lynx alone and even defeated Lee, someone that was considered to be in the top 10 of their batch.

On the other hand, the young girl he's facing is a new and rising trainee who uses a new type of Arcana. Although it was seen that her defense was quite weak in the first evaluation, the duel against Myla showed them why her defense doesn't need to be improved.

The lightning-fast bullet from her Revolver can definitely cause trouble even to Lexi…

Everyone wanted to know that will Rufus do in this situation as the young man seem to be capable of getting out of any tight situation.

As soon as the two young trainees entered the arena. They gave each other a glance as they faced the referee.

The referee looked at the two as he reminded them of the rules.

'Mhmm… Let me Take Over now…'

'Yes…'

As soon as Reiji took over Rufus's body, the referee signaled the start of the battle.

Bang! Bang!

Two gunshots were immediately heard.

This young lady was serious about winning this match… She didn't want him to build up his defenses as she quickly pulled the trigger the moment she had the chance.

Rufus's friends were worried for him and some of them even closed their eyes as they heard the gunshot.

They didn't want to see his first defeat.

"Lea, Chrisome… Is the medic ready? They should quickly heal him…"

"What? Open your eyes! I think that Nika missed her shot. Rufus is still standing."

"Huh? Are you serious?!"

Not only Rufus's friends, even Nika's previous teammates, the Red-Robed Arcanists, and the two Second-Class Arcanists were surprised…

Of course, the Wand Arcana watching the fight was also intrigued.

Even though she's a mythical-rank Arcana, she also couldn't follow the bullet's trajectory and her method of fighting against it would perhaps through erecting a full-body barrier before the fight even begins.

"What's going on? Is that a warning shot?"

"Huh? You mean that she purposely missed it?"

As they started speculating, they heard three more gunshots in the arena…

They looked at the young man that should be Nika's target and see whether he's still alive…

However, they only saw Rufus wiggle a little as he continuously walks towards Nika.

The young lady seemed shaken by the young man's action as she started moving back while pointing the gun at Rufus's body.

She was using a single hand a while ago but with her last bullet, she decided to use both of her hands to make sure that her aim was good…

Bang!

Her sixth bullet was shot but Rufus was still standing…

"How?!" 

Nika was shocked. This time, she clearly saw what the young man just did, he managed to dodge by tilting his body a little!

The crowd went quiet after realizing this, they noticed that the bullet grazed Rufus's cheek but the fact that he managed to dodge the almost invisible bullet truly stunned everyone.

"Is that even possible?"

"No way… I think that he's using a Time-Based Arcana!"

"Impossible, Time-Based Arcana are things of the past."

"He's probably using an invisible barrier…"

"No, perhaps they planned on doing this to entertain us."

The man who made the last statement felt several stares from the crowd.

Rufus did something incredible again and none of them could explain what was happening.

Perhaps, only the referee close to them or the Second-Class Arcanists watching the fight were capable of understanding the magic behind Rufus's actions.

"Hmph!"

Thud! Thud!

Rufus rushed towards the young lady who was trying to fill her gun with bullets.

Although Nika was flustered, she managed to quickly back away as she focused on running away… 

She knows that she would be defeated once she entered Rufus's sword range, she has to be quick!