I Reincarnated as a Shinai

Ryu, the Cloak Arcana, appears to be a kind, old man.

Luoyang, the Taichi Sword Arcana, appears to be an intelligent and dependable old man.

Dingxiang, the Kris Sword Arcana, appears to be a warrior who wanted nothing more but to engage in battle.

This is the impression of the seven practitioners after hearing conversing with them for a while.

"Right, may I know what happened here? Why are you guys attacked by the Dark Elves?"

Diether asked after they changed their locations. The stench of blood from the dead bodies of the Dark Elves would soon be smelled by the Evil Beasts around the area.

Though their group is quite strong, they do not want to waste their energy by fighting unnecessarily. If they can avoid doing that, they are more than happy to do so.

"Attacked? Haha!" 

Instead of answering, Dingxiang just laughed it off prompting Ryu to answer. 

"Well, we weren't really attacked by these Dark Elves. This Sword here just wants to kill a few Dark Elves along the way. In truth, he wouldn't mind attacking any other species once he started thirsting for blood. Sigh~" 

Ryu helplessly answered. However, this made the seven practitioners wary of the Kris Sword. 

After seeing this, Luoyang immediately added… "Don't worry, he won't attack you guys. He can still control his urge after all. He's just letting it run wild if he knows he's free to do so."

"Oh… That would make sense then." Rufus replied as he looked at the several chipped parts of the Kris Sword.

It seems to have gone through many battles and lost lots of durability in the process. 

As for the Taichi Sword, it seemed to be well taken care of which is quite impressive. It even looks like it receives daily maintenance!

***

An hour quickly passed as the group of seven Kendo Practitioners and the group of Sentient Arcana decided to discuss several things.

They realized that they have one solid connection, and that is the Sentient and Blessed Sword Arcana, Reiji. 

Well, most of them weren't even aware of the matters regarding the Blessed Arcana! Only Diether and Rufus heard about it since they have learned it from Sun Fire Knights! It was even just a theory and wasn't the main topic which made them forget it so easily. 

However, they have never thought that their master is actually one of the Blessed Arcana until today!

Aside from that, Diether and the others also learned the existence of Mind Collection! A secret organization working behind the scenes of the Kingdom! 

It wasn't a group made of powerful Arcanists but a group of Sentient Arcana like their Master Reiji!

This is such shocking news to everyone. After all, even if they know that there are Sentient Arcana like their master, they're not aware that they are so many and so organized that they even managed to create an organization capable of influencing the whole Kingdom!

It feels like they are all living at the bottom of a well.

"Incredible… It's a good thing that we've met each other here." Stasis couldn't help but be amazed by this coincidence.

However, after thinking about it, then this might not be a coincidence at all.

"Right, may I know what brought you guys here?" He immediately asked. 

They got too much excited after knowing that they have some kind of connection. They had to introduce themselves and find more connections if possible.

However, now that the introduction phase is done and they pretty much understand each other, they needed to know their purpose for coming here.

"Oh~ I do think we have the same purpose. Are you guys looking for Reiji as well? Looking in the direction you're heading to, I don't think I'm wrong."

Ryu answered confidently. 

"That's correct, Sir Ryu. So we really have the same purpose, huh. May I know what you guys know about our Master's current situation?"

Diether asked. Honestly, he felt that he knows how they got information about their Master being in the Dark Elven Town. 

As expected, his speculation was correct. 

"Well, one of our leaders decided to attack this town before. However, they've lost against someone. A Dark Elf wielding a familiar Sword Arcana." 

The answer came from Dingxiang. From his voice, he seemed to be quite excited. As if he wanted to challenge that Dark Elf the moment he sees him.

"A Sword Arcana?"

"Ugh… Don't tell me—"

"Is it Master Reiji?"

"Then I guess, that would answer our question."

The seven practitioners looked at each other as they could already guess the identity of the Sword Arcana Dingxiang mentioned. 

"To be able to organize such a huge organization of Sentient Arcana, I'm sure that your leader is quite strong. I wonder what happened. Why did they get attacked? Or why did they visit that town in the first place?" Stella asked calmly as if she's trying to solve a puzzle. 

She indeed finds it weird that the leader of such an important organization would first make a move personally and now, they are sending three normal members to investigate or fight that Sword Arcana. Something doesn't add up.

The order of events seems to be quite wrong. 

"Hmm… We're not sure. The Mind Collection right now is quite a mess. So information doesn't flow as smoothly as before. However, we know that our leader at that time felt threatened about the existence of someone here in Chaotic Land. We don't know whether it's the Dark Elf, the Sword Arcana, or even the Half-Step Deity. Whichever he's talking about, it is something we need to take seriously."

Ryu answered truthfully.

The Cloak Arcana further explained that the Collection had a sudden change after their leader was removed from a curse. It feels something was off so they decided to make a move by themselves and find out the truth.

"I knew it." Diether and Rufus said at the same time. 

The leader of the Mind Collection was indeed the Sacred Sword that was previously stuck in a stone!

However, this just added a question to their minds! They really want to meet their Master as quickly as possible!