I Reincarnated As A Stick

Chapter 317: The Destined Meeting

“You’ve got to be kidding me, right?” Horell could not help but look at Herellia with a panicked aura surrounding him as he asked. Although he was expecting a change to how the alliance was going to be moderated since Herellia was going to leave for quite a substantial amount of time, he wasn’t expecting that the change would be him turning into the official leader of the Verdant Blossom Breeze Alliance.

While maintaining his panicked aura, he then shifted his vision to Argentum, who was beside him, and asked her, “Wouldn’t Argentum be a better fit for that position?”

In response, Argentum could not help but let out a light sigh as he responded to Horell’s question with a question of his own. Looking at him, he asked him, “Are you sure about that, Horell? I’m pretty sure Herellia doesn’t think the same way as you, though.”

“You’re definitely a better fit for this position that I am, Argentum,” Horell replied with an insisting tone, adamant that Argentum was a better fit. Normally, one would accept such a position without hesitation since that meant an increase in authority and power. But for someone like Horell, who was afraid of messing things up, more authority meant more things he had to balance, which could eventually lead to a scenario where he would mess everything up.

Of course, such a situation only existed inside his mind, unless he did nothing to change it in reality.

With that in mind, he continued to give out reasons as to why Argentum would be a better leader than him, explaining, “First off, Argentum is far stronger than me. With such a being taking the helm of the alliance, all of the members would rest assured that we wouldn’t be beaten by any external entities that easily.”

“Second, he doesn’t take anything at face value,” he continued. “He always makes sure to get every perspective on a certain problem before giving out a solution for it, only settling for the outcome that would result in the best effect. That’s a big plus for managing the alliance, especially with a few internal problems popping up here and there.”

“And lastly, I have great confidence that he knows a lot of methods to nurture and improve the average strength of the alliance,” he added after taking a deep breath. “With all of these reasons I’ve just said, how could Argentum not be a good fit for the leader position of the alliance?”

“Well, Horell…” After Horell was finished explaining his side, Argentum patted him on the shoulder as he said, “You’re missing something. I’m sure Herellia has thought about making me the leader of the alliance while she was pondering a while ago, but I have something that you lack.”

“Exactly what Argentum said,” Herellia nodded in response to Argentum’s words as she looked at Horell before saying, “There’s something Argentum lacks that only you have. I consider it the most important element when appointing someone as the new leader of the alliance.”

“What do you mean, Herellia?” Horell asked, his aura now taking hints of calmness. He then went through the various reasons he made to stabilize Argentum’s position as a better leader of the alliance in his mind and thought that there were no problems with it. With that in mind, he continued, “He’s more or less a perfect fit in every way. What part is he lacking in?”

“The thing that’s he lacking in…” Herellia responded.

“…is sociability.”

“Sociability?” Horell could not help but tilt his head in response, pondering in his head as to why that was a reason why he was chosen to become the next leader of the alliance and not Argentum. Fortunately, at this point, he had finally come to his senses, understanding what Herellia meant by sociability. Sensing the slight change in Horell’s aura, Herellia lightly nodded as she asked him, “Do you finally get what I’m saying?”

“Is it because I know more about the various members of the alliance than Argentum does?” Horell asked, to which both Argentum and Herellia responded with a nod. Argentum then said to Horell, “That’s one of the most important reasons why you’ve been chosen as a leader instead of me. The fact that you know more about the members means that there’s a higher chance of having the internal conflicts be solved peacefully at a faster rate.”

“Also, if you think about it, only you two know that I’m a part of the alliance. In any case, Aurus would be a better contender for the leader position than I am. At least he’s recognized by the other members,” he continued, letting out a light chuckle at the end. Seeing that Argentum was taking all of it nonchalantly, Herellia did not mind it and looked at Horell before asking, “So, are you sure that you don’t want to become the temporary leader of the alliance? At most, I’m just asking you to make sure that things run smoothly. You don’t really have to do anything drastically different while I’m gone.”

Since it seemed like there was no way for him to talk his way out of the position, in the end, Horell let out a long sigh before saying, “Fine, fine, fine. I’ll be the leader of the alliance while you’re gone.”

“Glad to hear,” Herellia lightly smiled as she responded before closing her eyes not long after. A few seconds later, a faint energy surrounded her body, which soon moved towards Horell’s body before being absorbed by him. In less than an instant, the aura of power surrounding him had undergone a slight modification, increasing the feeling of magnanimity one felt when looking at Horell.

Sensing that the transfer of authority was successful, Herellia opened her eyes and lightly chuckled as she said, “Congratulations, Horell. You’re now the new temporary leader of the Verdant Blossom Breeze Alliance. Make sure to keep everything running smoothly while I’m gone, okay?”

“Well, I can’t say no to that now, can I?” Horell replied, letting out a meek laugh soon after. He then looked at Argentum and asked, “You’ll help me out on the other problems of the alliance, right?”

“Unfortunately, I cannot do that, Horell,” Argentum said in response to Horell’s question before adding, “Once Herellia arrives safely at the place where my friend lives, I’ll be gone for quite some time as well. The earliest time I’ll be back would be when Aurus wakes up.”

“You’ve got to be me kidding me, right?!” At this point, Horell felt that all hope was lost, kneeling on the ground with a thud as he let out a loud sigh of disappointment. In response, Herellia and Argentum looked at him before looking at each other while laughing.

After that, the three of them made up in their own ways, which led to Herellia and Argentum leaving Horell as they headed to the Flame Spirit Inheritance. As for Horell, he looked at the fleeting silhouettes of the two for a bit, only turning around to head back once he could just barely make out their silhouettes.

“I wonder how long it’ll take for you two to come back,” Horell muttered to himself as he made his way back to the Verdant Blossom Breeze Alliance, lightly chuckling as he thought about the things he had to do while the two of them were gone.

…

Whoosh! Whoosh!

While Horell was at the alliance, informing everyone about the change that had happened to the way the alliance was run, both Argentum and Herellia were heading to where the Flame Spirit Inheritance was at great speeds. Thanks to the movement speed boosting spells Argentum had in his arsenal, it did not take long for the two of them to arrive at the border that separated the wilderness and the Inferno Plains, the place where the Flame Spirit Inheritance.

Experiencing firsthand on how hot it was, Argentum looked at Herellia and asked her, “Do you have any skill that increases your resistance to the Fire element?”

“Hmm…let me check,” Herellia said before checking through her skills in the system she had. Not long after, she shook her head as she replied, “Unfortunately, I do not. Evolving to the Animate existence level removed all of the skills I had placed a ton of effort on raising.”

“Well, that’s natural,” Argentum replied, not surprised that Herellia’s skills were wiped clean. Nevertheless, they still had to cross through the Inferno Plains in order to arrive at the place where Eleanor was, so they had to find a way to make sure that Herellia would be able to cross through the plains without feeling too much heat, or no heat at all.

Fortunately, Argentum had access to Aurus’ memories, allowing him to skim through the various methods Animate players had to withstand the harsh elements without having a skill that increases their resistance to it.

“Could you manipulate your mana?” Argentum asked her, to which Herellia closed her eyes for a bit as she tried to get a feel for the energy circulating inside her body. Due to her evolving to the Animate existence level, the usual energy she manipulated, which used to be Stick Points, had been condensed and purified, with a single point containing tons more energy than a single Stick Point. This new form of energy was commonly called mana by the Animates, though it was unknown where the word mana came from.

After a while, a strand of light red energy was released through one of her fingers, prompting Herellia to open her eyes as she replied, “I can manipulate it…though it’s a bit hard.”

“You just have to make sure that the energy you’re manipulating covers every inch of your body,” Argentum said to Herellia, inwardly letting out a sigh of relief that Herellia was able to manipulate her energy. Of course, if she could not do so, he would not hesitate to use his energy to cover her body. The reason why he was doing this was because he wanted to help her obtain better control over her energy, which could be done while they were heading to the Flame Spirit Inheritance.

Lightly nodding in response to Argentum’s words, Herellia continued to manipulate the energy inside her body, releasing it through her pores as she spread the energy she released throughout her body. Due to her inexperience with mana, it took around ten minutes for her to create a somewhat stable barrier over her skin, giving her a faint red hue.

Making sure that there were no holes in her barrier, Argentum then told Herellia to follow him, to which she did. At the very instant they passed the boundary that led into the Inferno Plains, Herellia instantly felt a wave of heat permeating throughout her body, which was fortunately mitigated by the energy barrier over her body. Although it offered her a bit of discomfort, it was not to the point where it was unbearable.

Of course, Argentum noticed the discomfort Herellia was feeling, so he told Herellia that they were going to pick up the pace. Thanks to this, they had arrived at the boundary separating the inner area of the Inferno Plains from the outer area in around fifteen minutes thanks to Argentum’s buffs.

At this point, he was not going to take any chances, using a decent portion of his energy to cover Herellia in a thick layer of energy, knowing how hot it was in the inner area. Making sure that every inch of Herellia’s body was covered in a thick energy barrier once more, they then set forth into the inner area, with Herellia feeling a bit more discomfort at the very instant they set forth into it.

Fortunately, the heightened feeling of discomfort did not last long as the two of them had arrived in front of an abandoned building that was charred to ruin around five minutes later. At first, Herellia was curious as to why she came to this place with Argentum, but after being transported into another space a few seconds later, she now understood what was going on.

Whoosh!

In less than an instant, both Argentum and Herellia appeared in a large room decorated with various trinkets that were of various shades of red. Looking around, one could see sofas and chairs that were also a shade of red, though it contrasted very well with the walls of the room, being a lighter shade of red compared to the chairs.

“Are we where I think we are?” Herellia could not help but look at Argentum beside her and ask. In response, Argentum lightly nodded as an aura of slight glee radiated from him as he replied, “It’s exactly what you’re thinking, Herellia.”

“We’re inside an inheritance. Namely, the Flame Spirit Inheritance where one of my friends reside,” he continued, only to stop talking as he noticed a presence enter the room they were in. Focusing his vision on the presence that entered the room, he was left at a loss for words for a bit, which soon transformed into a light chuckle as he then said to Herellia, “This is one of the friends I made on my journey. Herellia…”

“…meet Eleanor.”