I Reincarnated as a Shinai

"Master… What are you doing?" Ruthren asked after seeing his master slice the air again.

They have already returned to the carriage and the Sword Slaves thought that they will be going to another base camp or perhaps charge ahead without caring for the army guarding the path.

"Just throw them inside…" Reiji commanded ignoring Ruthren's question. He's referring to the supplies inside the carriage.

"A-alright, Master…" The Sword Slaves answered as they carried the crates filled with food and other supplies and threw them at the void created by Reiji's slash.

Whom~ Whom~

The items disappeared after getting inside the tear that their master made!

"Master… What is this thing?" Everyone was so curious as they haven't seen anything like this before. They thought at first that it was a floating black ink, then an anomaly or void created by their master's slash, but now, it seems that this wasn't as simple as they thought it was…

"Just a dimensional storage space… There's an Arcana capable of doing that, right? You shouldn't be too surprised…"

Reiji said considering how he sacrificed two storage rings to advance his rank.

Then, he also learned that Odette has a similar ability which made him think that they weren't that unobtainable after all. 

There might be numerous of these Arcana with Storage Space and he's just not aware of it.

"A dimensional storage space… Incredible, master… Can I also get in?"

Ruthren asked as he admiringly looks at the void that he tore. Reiji looked at the man and thought that he's actually impressive!

What a brave man! Very commendable!

"Do you want to try, Ruthren?" The Arcana asked. He's not aware whether the space he created can only hold an inanimate object or perhaps living things as well…

"Is it safe, Master?" 

"Mhmm… I'm not sure… But let me experiment first…"

Reiji decided to cancel the Void he created and planned to pull the things they threw inside.

Whoosh~

He made a slash to activate the Arcane Magic, then he willed his mind and confirmed that he can control what object he can bring out… 

Thud! Thud!

Two crates filled with items were pushed out of the void.

The storage space he made was quite wide and perhaps, he can even fit five carriages inside if he wanted to…

After returning the crates, Reiji then looked at a couple of horses with the empty carriage in front of them, he then ordered his Sword Slave to remove the rope tied on one of the horses and to bring the horse to him.

The female slaves quickly acted as they untied the horse while Ruthren guided it in front of their master. 

The man glanced at the shinai and noticed that it was about to do something.

Then, Ruthren immediately stepped back as he realized that Reiji is about to use the Void Slash... It might be dangerous to get closer to this void.

Whoosh!

As expected, his master is attempting to put the horse inside the void!

The void was large enough to fit the horse but because the horse is not moving, Ruthren thought of pushing it to enter the void.

'No, let me try something.'

Reiji spoke to him using their Link. The man stopped his attempt to push and waited at the side. 

Soon, the Sword Slaves saw the horse being sucked into the void!

Thud! Thud!

The horse tried to put all of its strength on its front legs to fight the pulling force coming from the void… However, Reiji willed his mind to strengthen the suction force…

As soon as the horse's head entered the void, the suction became quite easy as the horse entered his dimensional storage space!

Ruthren and the others waited for their master's verdict… Will the horse survive the void? Or will it die inside?

If the horse survives, this will be great news for them since there would be a lot of things that their master can do from now on…

Even Ruthren, who wasn't too bright at this, knows the importance of the storage space if it can store living things.

"Let's at least wait for 10 minutes before calling it out…"

Reiji said as he noticed that the Sword Slaves were waiting.

"Yes, Master Reiji…"

They sat down on the snowy ground as they waited for the time to pass.

On the other hand, Reiji realized that he's unable to connect to the void without activating the Void Slash. It means that even if the experiment is successful, it would be a bit inconvenient since he won't be able to use his Sense Link to the living things inside…

'Well… That should be fine… I guess it would be too unfair if it's that amazing.'

Reiji justified the Void Slash's problem. Anyway, he's not expecting to become an extremely strong Arcana just by purchasing a single Arcane Magic. 

Time passed and as Ruthren was getting bored staring at the snow, his master finally confirmed that it has been 10 minutes…

The shinai slashed the air again creating enough space for the horse to go out…

Thud!

The horse dropped to the ground... Then, as if he had just woken up from his sleep, the horse quickly stood up and looked around. It was planning to run away but one of the ladies quickly grabbed the horse and tied him to a tree…

Then, Reiji quickly used one of his abilities.

'Target Appraisal.'

The skill quickly activated as he learned the status of the horse…

'Whoa~ It's healthy!' Reiji exclaimed.

There are no detrimental effects from it which made him really glad.

"How was it, Master?" Ruthren asked. The four ladies, on the other hand, remained silent about this topic… It seems that they can sense what was about to happen.

"It's good, Ruthren… No harm was done to the horse… You can try it now…" Reiji said with a smile. Though they might not see his smile, they can definitely feel it.

"Eh… Of course, Master… I will do as you command." The man replied. After becoming his Sword Slave, they would have to follow Reiji's words. 

This Sword Slave Marker is actually very scary, the slaves will feel that they are still in control of their bodies and that the reason they are obeying their master was due to their loyalty… They were unaware that their minds were already conditioned to be like that.

The man then waited in to be sucked by the Void that his master created… However, he suddenly heard his master's instruction…

"Can you just enter the void willingly? It will consume some mental strength to suck you in."

Reiji informed the slave. Though he has the ability to pull Ruthren into the void, his mental strength would be spent for it… He no longer wants to exhaust it for now since they will still have to go to the abandoned village and look for the tunnel.

Well, if he can really place his slaves inside, he would be able to get past the security of the northern army very easily… However, the existence of the secret tunnel and the evil cult made him feel a bit curious about it. Who wouldn't?

After all, even general Julian, who has been here for a very long time, was still unaware of these secret passages. 

Step… Step… Step…

Ruthren slowly stepped inside the void… No one knows what he's thinking but he's definitely feeling scared… The void is completely black and there's also the fear of never getting out.

"Alright, let's wait for at least five minutes…"

As soon as the slave entered, he closed the void and started counting the time.

"How about you four, are you excited?" Reiji asked while waiting for the time to pass.

"Mhmm… It's an interesting ability, Master. Though we've seen someone use a storage space before, the items they can store were only small objects. 

"Really? Is it someone from the Cult?"

"That's correct, Master. Perhaps all of the faction leaders have storage rings. They're the ones who hold the secrets of our Arcane Circle or marking on our bodies, so they are always keeping one with them.

The slave answered as she looked at her palm with the markings of an ancient language that she's not aware of. She knows that people call it Arcane Circle.

"I see… About the forces that we may encounter, do you have an idea about their strength?"

"I'm sorry, master… We haven't seen them in person yet. However, if we would base it on our faction… Then it wouldn't be surprising to encounter cultists with the strength of Knight-Lieutenant or Three-Star Hunter…"

"Whoa~ Then they're impressive! How about the Arcanist?"

"Mhmm… The strength of the Arcanists within the Cult would depend on their number… If you're fighting them alone, it would perhaps be easy, Master. However, a group of five or eight Arcanists can be very difficult since the Arcana they have are all modified…"

With the slave's words, Reiji finally recalled his conversation with his fellow Sentient Arcana regarding the existence of the Artificial or Modified Arcana.

"It's time now, Master." Slave four reminded Reiji…

"Right, Let see if he's still alive…" Reiji said before activating the Void Slash and pushing out the sleeping Ruthren.