I Reincarnated As A Stick

Chapter 358: Evolving to Magic Grade

While Torvas had left Argentum to himself after giving him two prophecies to think about, Argentum was currently making his mind ponder over those prophecies to the limit, wondering if his words would become true in the future or not. Surprisingly, after thinking about it for about ten minutes or so, he had returned a state of calmness as he thought to himself, ‘There’s no point worrying about something that will happen in the future. In any case, it’s better to consider it as a heads-up so I wouldn’t be caught unprepared once it happens.’

‘Speaking of being caught unprepared, should I tell Aurus about his prophecy?’ he soon thought not long after, eventually coming to the conclusion that it wouldn’t hurt to tell Aurus about it, given how Kevin had told him of a prophecy regarding him being in danger. Sure, the prophecy didn’t happen, but he did take note of it, utilizing the [Spirit Clone] skill to create Argentum in preparation for this danger…though he eventually realized that the skill was actually [Spirit Imbuement].

Nevertheless, with his mind now set, he stood up from the bench he was sitting on and made his way back to where he had first appeared in the Origin Pantheon. With the help of his movement speed boosting spells he had created through the four Sage’s Magic skills he had, it did not take long for him to arrive at the entry point of the Origin Pantheon.

Asking a person nearby as to how he would be able to leave the Origin Pantheon, he soon obtained the method of leaving. With that, he allowed his mana to radiate throughout the surroundings and meld with the atmosphere as a resonance between the Origin Pantheon and his energy had occurred. Not long after, his body had disappeared from the Origin Pantheon’s entry point without a trace, returning him to where he had come from.

Whoosh!

Unlike entering the Origin Pantheon, it took him less than an instant for him to appear in the outside world once more, noticing that he had appeared in the same place where he had formed [Lesser Origin Affinity]. After softly telling himself that it was good to be back in Erudinia, he then employed the help of the system by marking the Flame Spirit Inheritance’s location on the map. After that, he activated his movement speed boosting spells once more, allowing him to arrive at the entrance of the Flame Spirit Inheritance in half an hour or so.

At this moment, the sun was at its peak, shining down at the ground with its strongest rays…to which Argentum couldn’t care less thanks to [True Fire Affinity]. Channeling his energy towards a certain point in his body, he was soon connected to Eleanor as he said, “Eleanor, I’m in front of the Flame Spirit Inheritance. Could you let me in?”

“Argentum?!” Not expecting Argentum to contact him out of the blue, Eleanor was surprised to hear him talk through their connection. Hastily calming herself down, instead of doing what he asked her, she instead asked him, “How did you do in the Origin Trials?”

“I’ll tell you about that later,” Argentum hastily replied as he continued, “For now, just let me enter the inheritance.”

“Alright, alright. Give me a second.” Noticing that Argentum was trying to make her hurry up, Eleanor went ahead and teleported him to where he was, even though she was slightly curious as to what made him hurry her up.

After appearing at the center of Eleanor’s room, Argentum could not help but let out a light sigh of relief as he felt more assured inside this place. While Argentum was pondering as to what he should do next, Eleanor went ahead and asked him, “So, mind telling me how you fared in the Origin Trials?”

“Given that my body has changed color, I’m pretty sure you already have an idea of what happened, Eleanor,” Argentum said succinctly. “If you want more proof, I can even show you my Origin Core.”

“Origin Core? That means…you succeeded?” Although Eleanor didn’t dabble in the world of the Origin, she still heard a few things from those that do, committing the term ‘Origin Core’ into memory. Recalling what she knew about those who dabbled in the world of the Origin, the ‘Origin Core’ was basically a sign that they had been fully accepted by the Origin and had become successful at the Origin Trials.

With a light nod, Argentum had answered his question. Of course, Eleanor could not help but be happy for him, eager to give him a big hug to congratulate him. But just as she was about to do so, Argentum asked her, “Do you know where Aurus is?”

Unsurprisingly, Argentum’s question had killed Eleanor’s excitement, with the serious aura surrounding him killing it even more. Lightly coughing to hastily adjust her demeanor, Eleanor went silent for a bit as she gestured with her hands, manipulating the energy controlling the inheritance. A few seconds later, a corridor connecting to another room of the inheritance had appeared, allowing Argentum to see a jade green entity sitting cross-legged at the end of the corridor.

With that, Eleanor told Argentum, “He accompanied Herellia for about a day before asking me if I could allocate him a room so he could hone his skills. It’s been about a day since he entered that room.”

“I see,” Argentum said as he nodded in response. He then thanked Eleanor, telling her that once he was finished talking with Aurus, he would tell her what happened in the Origin Trials. Hearing that, Eleanor’s slight anger had disappeared, being replaced with a hint of expectation as Argentum made his way to where Aurus was.

At the very moment he had appeared in front of Aurus, he noticed a raging wave of blood red particles surrounded Aurus, as if he had turned into an entity that controlled blood and wind at the same time. But after examining the blood red particles for a while, he noticed that these blood red particles were actually connected to Aurus.

Realizing this, he knew that Aurus was possibly grinding out a skill, prompting him to scratch his head if it was the right thing to disturb him. Fortunately, Aurus had noticed Argentum’s presence as the blood red particles surrounding him had disappeared while his sense of vision had focused on Argentum in front of him.

Standing up, Aurus looked at Argentum from head to toe and asked, “Did you pass the Origin Trials?”

“You bet,” Argentum radiated an aura of slight joy as he responded, prompting Aurus to let out a chuckle in response as he asked in response, “So, did you come here to ask me to fight you?”

“Nope. I have something else to tell you,” Argentum shook his head as he replied, piquing Aurus’s interest as he asked, “What is it?”

Just as Argentum was about to explain that he had met someone in the Origin Pantheon that gave him two prophecies, he eventually remembered that he could just share his memories with Aurus. With that, he activated [Experience Sharing] and converted it to the [Memory Sharing] skill, allowing him to share his memories regarding the Origin Pantheon with Aurus.

Wondering why Argentum had instantly become silent, Aurus was about to ask, only to notice that an influx of memories had entered his mind, instantly thinking that Argentum was the one who sent this to him. With that, he had gone silent as well as he looked through the various memories Argentum sent him.

At first, he was proud for Argentum as he had basically broken the long-standing hierarchy of the Origin Pantheon in terms of Origin comprehension…or so it seemed. But then, after continuing to look through the memories Argentum had given him, he then noticed that a person had told Argentum of two prophecies, one directed at Argentum, and one…directed at him.

Closing his sense of vision for a bit as he pondered over the prophecy, he eventually looked at Argentum and asked, “Is this the reason why you wanted to find me? The prophecy?”

“I wouldn’t have come here in a rush if not for this,” Argentum said in response before continuing, “I feel like this prophecy is akin to Kevin’s prophecy in the past. Although there’s a low chance of it happening, I have a hunch that we should heed this prophecy more than we think.”

“Hmm…” Aurus mulled over Argentum’s words before eventually saying, “Your words do make sense, but at this point, I think it’s better to think of it as something that’s near impossible to happen. Remember how Kevin told me that I would be able to escape danger if I used [Spirit Clone]? Indeed, I used the skill, creating you, but did I fall into danger at all? Not even once.”

“Although this Torvas guy is at the Transcendent level, there’s no need for us to pay it any heed,” Aurus said soon after, prompting Argentum to scratch his head before letting out a sigh. Even though Argentum and Aurus basically shared the same soul, at this point, Argentum could not help but feel like Aurus was different from him. He felt like Aurus had become more headstrong and arrogant because of his strength. Sure, he also felt that way from time to time, but not as much as Aurus.

Eventually, he placed this thought at the back of his head as he left the prophecies up to fate. If it happened, then it happened. If it didn’t, then it didn’t.

After talking with Aurus for a bit more regarding another topic, Argentum eventually left Aurus on his own once more as he made his way back to where Eleanor was. Naturally, the aura surrounding Eleanor was that of heightened expectation as she was waiting for his narration regarding the Origin Trials.

Shrugging his shoulders in response, Argentum then started narrating the various things that had happened while he was undergoing the Origin Trials. Of course, he omitted the part where he had obtained two prophecies from Torvas, twisting his words to where Eleanor would interpret it as a situation where the two Origin Sages had become acquaintances.

At the end of his explanation, Eleanor went ahead and gave Argentum a big hug as she congratulated him for what he was able to achieve in the Origin Pantheon. Not only that, but she thanked him for allowing her to know more about the world of the Origin, as well as the various things that go on in there.

“So, what are you planning to do next?” Eleanor asked after Argentum was finished narrating his adventures in the Origin Pantheon.

Argentum pondered over the question for a bit before replying with, “I guess I’ll evolve to the Magic grade. Now that I’ve achieved Lesser Origin, there’s no point delaying my evolution further. After that…I guess I’ll have to ask Felix, Rosalia, and your help regarding something I’m planning in the future.”

Listening to Argentum’s first statement, she thought that it was a given for him to do so, given how he was already able to unleash a level of strength beyond his current grade. As for the next statement, it had definitely piqued her interest.

“What do you need my help with?” Eleanor asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. In response, Argentum chuckled with a hint of mystery surrounding him as he said, “I’ll let you know when the time is right.”

After telling Eleanor a few more things she needed to do when Aurus asked her, he then left the Flame Spirit Inheritance and headed towards an area of the Inferno Plains that was devoid of life once more. He then went silent for a bit before deciding to utilize [Niflheim Horizon] to make sure that a being wouldn’t even get close to him if there was one nearby.

With the ground around a certain radius surrounding him now made out of ice, he then sat down on the ground cross-legged and closed his sense of vision as he commanded the system in his mind, “System, I would like to evolve to the next grade.”

Ding!

Accompanied by a notification sound, the feminine-sounding voice of the system resounded throughout his mind not long after, telling him, “You have met the necessary requirements to evolve the next grade, the Magic grade. As your current species is incredibly rare in the world of Erudinia, there are no evolution choices for you to choose from.”

Although Argentum was slightly surprised to hear that, he did not think it was weird as well, given how Lesser Origin was a higher-tiered element than the four foundational elements. Of course, the system wasn’t finished talking, asking him soon after.

“The species that you shall evolve into is the Lesser Origin Spirit. Would you like to evolve right now?”

Naturally, only one answer could come out of Argentum’s mouth at this point.

“Yes.”

Ding!

‘…’

‘…’

‘[Argentum — Lesser Origin Elemental] has evolved into [Argentum — Lesser Origin Spirit].’