Chapter 220 - Inferno Plains

"Should I evolve to the next grade as well?" Argentum muttered to himself with a light chuckle as he continued to move through the path he made for himself for this journey. Not long after, he turned down this idea in his mind as he soon said to himself, "Although it's quite tempting for me to evolve to the next grade right now so I could clear the first Power Baptism more easily, there's still tons of room for improvement for my skills."

"Not only that, but I would also get a lot more skills once I reach Verdant Breeze Town," Argentum continued before adding, "In becoming a Super Animate, one must have an incredibly sturdy foundation, right?"

After saying those words, he let out a chuckle once more as he soon focused his attention back to the skills he currently had, making sure to grind all of them unlike before, where he only grinded a few of his skills to their limit due to the synergy they had. 

Ding!

"Hmm?" Hearing a notification sound resound in his mind, Argentum could not help but wonder as to why the system would notify him at such a mundane time, prompting him to open up the notification screen in his mind soon after. Reading through the latest notifications he had obtained, Argentum pondered over it for a while before saying, "Well…that's natural. If I could reclaim the energy I lost from the attempt, then I could just attempt the Power Baptism at any time, using it as a way to gauge my strength."

'The user has attempted a Power Baptism.'

'The energy has been used to summon the Power Baptism.'

'The user has unfortunately failed the Power Baptism.'

'The energy used for the Power Baptism has dissipated.'

"Now that I think about it, these notifications pretty much summed up what happened in my first attempt," Argentum could not help but say as he let out a light chuckle, which gradually transformed into a long sigh not long after. Radiating an aura of determination and conviction, he then muttered to himself, "I'm seriously going to clear that Power Baptism as fast as possible, even if it's the last thing I'll do."

After saying those words, Argentum went back and focused his attention on grinding his skills once more while part of his mind was focused on him traversing through the terrain as fast as possible. Surprisingly, even though Argentum was currently disguised as a speck of black sand, the speed at which he moved was equal to the speed he moved at in his original form, or perhaps, even greater than that of his original speed.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

As he continued to move through the terrain, gradually getting closer and closer to the first stop in his mind, Argentum could not help but ponder about multiple things right now. His current strength, the amount of time it would take for him to at least reach the same level of strength as his original's body, the future of his original body, the future of himself, and so on, these were some of the topics that passed through his mind as a way to distract himself as he monotonously moved and grinded along the journey to Verdant Breeze Town.

While thinking about these topics, a topic related to the Power Baptism had popped up in his mind all of a sudden, fusing with one of the previous thoughts in his mind as a question was formed. With this question in mind, Argentum's curiosity was awakened quite a bit as he thought about it and had the notion that it made some sense in one way or another. Of course, from another perspective, it also did not make sense, which prompted him to go ahead and ask the system to clear the uncertainty from this question.

"System, is it possible for me to absorb the energy from the Power Baptism while I attempt it?" Argentum soon asked this question to the system as he thought to himself, 'If I absorb the energy from the Power Baptism while attempting it, I would be able to weaken the power of the red lightning bolts and I'll probably be able to clear it without a problem.'

Ding!

It did not take long for the system to formulate an answer to Argentum's question as he continued to move, a notification sound accompanying the system's voice in his mind as it said, "The user cannot absorb the energy from the Power Baptism amidst the attempt. The system considers the energy from the Power Baptism as a type of energy that is used by the system."

"So…the energy from the Power Baptism is just like how you treat my unused experience points?" Argentum soon asked after processing the system's answer for a while, to which the system responded, "That is indeed the case, user. Absorbing the energy from a Power Baptism can be done by some beings, but ultimately, absorbing its energy is a case of breaking the natural laws of the world."

Although he did not know what the system meant by the natural laws, he had an innate feeling that he should not force the absorption of energy unless he was willing to accept the consequences. After asking that question, Argentum commanded the system to bring up a small map that did not obstruct his vision as he focused his attention yet again back on moving through the terrain and grinding up all of his skills.

And with that done, quite some time has passed since then.

…

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Over a day has passed since Argentum had attempted his first Power Baptism. At this moment, Argentum was moving at a speed far greater than ever before, as if Argentum was the embodiment of the great winds that circled the world.

"Who knew [Zephyr Burst] would be able to boost my movement speed by this much?!" Argentum said with great glee as he zoomed through the vast plains as a speck of black sand, making some of the animals that he came across have confused expressions, wondering where the great gust of wind came from.

[Zephyr Burst] is the first spell Argentum had obtained after evolving [Lesser Wind Magic] to its next grade, [Lower Tempest Magic+]. At first, he did not know why the name of the skill had changed quite a lot since skills like these in his memory would only change the first word in the skill's name once it evolved. But then, he realized that it might have something to do with how he had reached the Master level of mastery for [Lesser Wind Magic], allowing the magic he could learn in this current grade to transcend its previous limits.

Of course, it took a great amount of grinding for Argentum to achieve such a feat, taking almost a day for [Lesser Wind Magic] to jump from the Expert level of mastery to the Master level of mastery. Then again, if Argentum solely focused on [Lesser Wind Magic], it would take him way less time to do so. But if one thought about it, that meant that Argentum's other skills had progressed at the same rate as well, increasing by two levels of mastery.

Fortunately, that was indeed the case.

Almost all of the active skills Argentum had in his arsenal were already at the Artisan level of mastery. Even [Wind Weapon], a skill he first used in the Power Baptism, had reached the Artisan level of mastery just recently as well. But what surprised Argentum the most was the fact that [Tempest Awakening] had reached the Master level of mastery as well, prompting him to evolve this skill to the next grade, taking on the name of [Zephyr Ascendance+].

Whoosh! Whoosh!

As he continued to traverse the terrain at his greatly improved speeds, Argentum could not help but focus some of his attention towards the system as he commanded, "System, please show me the skill list."

Ding!

And just like that, a small holographic screen appeared in front of Argentum's field of vision as he looked at the small map that marked the path he was taking from time to time, allowing him to see how much his skills had improved. Even though Argentum knew very well by how much they had improved, he still wanted to see them listed one by one, making him chuckle as he said, "As long as I keep up with this, I'll definitely surpass the original body's strength!"

________

Active Skills:

[Lower Tempest Magic+ Lv. MAX], [Millennium Changes Polymorph Lv. MAX (Artisan)], [Grand Breeze Rejuvenation Lv. MAX (Artisan)], [Wind Mana Barrier Lv. MAX (Artisan)], [Tempest Mana Domain Lv. MAX (Artisan)], [Zephyr Ascendance+ Lv. MAX], [Wind Weapon Lv. MAX (Artisan)]

Passive Skills:

[Blessing of the Supreme Zephyr Lv. 32], [Supreme Mana Affinity Lv. 15], [Condensed Mana Core Lv. 28], [Boundless Potential Lv. 38], [Spirit Resonance Lv. MAX]

Active Animate Skills:

[Basic Swordsmanship (Sealed) Lv. 1], [Basic Dagger Technique (Sealed) Lv. 1], [Basic Archery Technique (Sealed) Lv. 1], [Silent Step (Sealed) Lv. MAX (Adept)], [Enhanced Defense (Sealed) Lv. MAX (Basic)], [Enhanced Offense (Sealed) Lv. MAX (Basic)]

Passive Animate Skills:

[Keen Vision (Sealed) Lv. MAX (Expert)], [Enhanced Hearing (Sealed) Lv. MAX (Adept)], [Heightened Senses (Sealed) Lv. MAX (Basic)], [Enhanced Reflexes (Sealed) Lv. MAX (Basic)]

________

While continuing to look at the skill list, Argentum could not help but look at the low levels of the skills he had obtained from the Animates, pondering for a bit before muttering to himself, "I should spare some time on enhancing the skills I've gotten from those humans. Although I don't know when I'd use swordsmanship, dagger fighting, or archery, it's still a good thing to have a back-up fighting skill if I don't have enough MP."

"Then again, their passive skills are far better than their active skills," Argentum said not long after as he chuckled.

Around a few hours or so after attempting the Power Baptism, Argentum went ahead and looked through the skills he had obtained from the humans, with him not finding great success on the active skills he had obtained, except for those that boosted his stats. He also found out that their effects were significantly less when used by the humans, to which Argentum just chalked off to him being of a lower existence level. But when his attention went towards the passive Animate skills, it was akin to love at first sight when he realized how great the passive skills he had obtained were.

Even though they just enhanced the sensitivity of his senses to a greater degree, for Argentum, who had no method of reconnaissance, these skills seemed to fit the job for now. And even after he had a way to investigate his surroundings, these passive skills would still give him an edge when fighting.

Surprisingly, unlike the passive skills he got from the start, the passive skills he had obtained from the humans had masteries, just like the active skills. Although Argentum had no clue as to why that was the case, he just concluded that it was because that's how skills progressed at the Animate existence level, to which he could remember somewhat clearly thanks to his memories of the past.

Just as he closed the skill list to focus on the terrain in front of him and continue to grind all of his skills to greater levels, a familiar voice resounded in his mind, to which Argentum easily remembered as the original body's voice.

"Hey, Argentum. I'm about to evolve," Aurus's voice resounded throughout Argentum's mind with the help of [Mental Communication]. Not long after, he added, "While I'm evolving, I'll be unconscious so you'll be on your own."

"Got it," Argentum soon responded to Aurus's words before pondering over something for a bit. After a few seconds, he then asked Aurus, "How long will the evolution process take? I've checked through our shared memories and know that it's pretty long. But you know, will it be longer than the time I'm outside the Tempest Cliff?"

"This time around, that's definitely likely," Aurus responded with a tone of slight uncertainty. He then continued, "Anyways, if you come back from your trip earlier than expected, you'll find me at the Tower of Seclusion. Hmm…I guess you could just Herellia to let you inside the alliance."

"Understood," Argentum said in response to Aurus's words before letting out a light chuckle. "I guess the gap in our strength will grow bigger after your evolution."

"I guess so." Aurus chuckled in response to Argentum's words. "That wouldn't discourage you, right?"

"Not in the slightest,��� Argentum said with a gleeful tone. After coming to terms with how strong his skills currently were, Argentum had a feeling that his strength after this trip would not lose out in any way to Aurus's. He soon added, "Go and evolve. I'm still making my way to Verdant Breeze Town."

"Alright then," Aurus said before taking in a deep breath. "Stay safe."

"Best wishes to your evolution, original body," Argentum said in response to Aurus's words of concern.

Not long after, the connection between the two had been cut, leaving Argentum alone to himself once more.

Taking in a deep breath as he sorted out his emotions, Argentum soon let out a sigh as he shouted in a cheerful tone, "Time to head to the Inferno Plains as soon as possible!"

Whoosh!

Surprisingly, after he said that, even though the skills he used to increase his movement speed were the same, the speed at which he was moving had increased by a few notches, allowing him to eventually reach the Inferno Plains by the time the sun was about to set.

…

With the sky now colored a beautiful orange thanks to the sun setting, Argentum had finally arrived at the boundary that parted the wilderness from the Inferno Plains, making him let out a satisfied sigh as he said, "I'm finally here. The first place in my plan to get stronger. Inferno Plains."

Argentum vividly remembered that his original body, Aurus, had gone to around the same location as well to obtain OS and Genesis Points back then. Surprisingly, it was only now did Argentum realize that the Inferno Grounds was just a partition of the Inferno Plains he was entering, made just for Inanimates to be in.

Just like the Inferno Grounds, the Inferno Plains was covered in ash, with its atmosphere akin to what seemed to be a smoldering pot. Argentum could not help but think that at the very instant he entered this place, he would surely be roasted to death from the indirect heat.

He then chuckled at this thought not long after as he said, "If I don't even dare to enter the Inferno Plains just from its atmosphere, then how would I become a Super Animate?"

Taking in a deep breath, he reverted to his original form before shouting, "Time to enter the Inferno Plains!"

Whoosh!

"Ah, shit!"

"Agh…that's hot! That's hot!"

"I don't even have any pain receptors but why do I feel so much pain?!"