Chapter 225 - A Unique Trial

Whoosh!

After what seemed to be a slightly long time, Argentum eventually appeared in the corner of what seemed to be a room that was mostly crimson red in hue. Looking around his current surroundings, he was slightly confused as to what happened to him, but then, after seeing the splotches of lava and flames on the floor here and there throughout the room, he finally realized that he was inside the Flame Spirit Inheritance.

"I'm finally inside," Argentum said to himself in a slightly cheerful tone. "Who knew that the word 'Sun' would be the key to entering the inheritance?"

"Then again, more people would think of the word 'Sun' first before 'Fireball'," he soon muttered to himself, letting out an awkward chuckle which only he could hear.

After muttering to himself, he then went ahead and moved through the room, making sure to avoid the lava and flames although he now had [Greater Flame Resistance].

Ding!

"Hm?" Argentum stopped in his tracks as he heard a notification sound resound in his mind, prompting him to open up his notification screen. After reading through the latest notification he had received, he soon commanded the system, "Evolve [Greater Flame Resistance]."

Ding!

'[Greater Flame Resistance] has evolved into [Superior Flame Resistance].'

With his resistance towards the Fire element rising up a notch, Argentum went ahead and continued moving throughout the room, making sure to not miss a nook or cranny of the room. As to why he was doing this, the reason behind it was because he was finding the key that led to the start of the inheritance.

Referencing the memories Aurus had while he attempted the Flame Spirit Inheritance, the two companions that came along with Aurus searched for a certain item inside the room they appeared in, which Aurus also searched for alongside them. Although he did not know what that item was or what it looked like due to the memory being slightly muddled, Argentum knew that the item they found allowed them to head to the start of the inheritance since the three of them disappeared from the room at the very instant they found it.

Unfortunately for him, even after using up around twenty minutes or so to scour the whole room for an item that stood out, Argentum was not able to find it, making him ponder as to whether he could actually enter the inheritance in the first place.

"Welcome inheritor to the Flame Spirit Inheritance." Surprisingly, even though Argentum was not able to find the key that led to the start of the inheritance, a disembodied voice that came from a female resounded throughout the room Argentum was in, making Argentum wonder as to whether the mechanics of the inheritance had been changed since this was a real world.

While Argentum continued to ponder whether the mechanics have been changed or not, the disembodied voice continued to talk, saying, "Due to the inheritor's species being inclined towards an element that is inferior to Fire, this inheritance has decided to increase the difficulty of the inheritor's trials."

"…what?" Although Argentum was still pondering on the mechanics of the inheritance, a great portion of his attention was still focused on what the disembodied voice was saying, prompting him to snap back to reality as he heard that the difficulty of his trials would be increased. "What the heck does it mean by increasing the difficulty of the trials I have to clear?"

"Ain't this prejudice against those that are inclined towards the Wind element?" Argentum could not help but mutter not long after. Unfortunately for him, it seemed that the inheritance did not listen to his words, continuing to talk.

"The difficulty of the trials has been increased from B grade to A+ grade. The rewards of the trials have been increased to B grade to S++ grade." This was what the disembodied voice said not long after Argentum was finished talking, leaving him at a loss for words as he thought about the pros and cons of the difficulty of the trials increasing.

"S++…" Argentum could not help but mutter, only for him to disappear from where he was a few seconds later.

…

In a deeper part of the Flame Spirit Inheritance.

"Haah…" A ball of fire let out a yawning sound as its flames intensified in heat, its color transforming from red to blue in an instant. Not long after that, this blue ball of fire soon morphed into a humanoid body, taking on the body of a well-endowed woman as it went ahead and stretched a few seconds later.

"It seems I'm awake," this woman made out of flames muttered to herself in slight annoyance, wondering why she was awoken at a time wherein she was sleeping soundly. Circulating the energy inside her body, she then released it in the form of strands, conjuring a few screens that allowed her to obtain views of certain parts of the inheritance like a surveillance system.

This woman made out of flames was none other than the master of the Flame Spirit Inheritance. Unlike other inheritances wherein the maker of the inheritance would have already been dead at the time it was discovered, delegating the workings of the inheritance to an artificial spirit, the Flame Spirit Inheritance was made by this woman out of flames, seeing that her fellow Pseudo-Animates inclined towards the Fire element were growing weaker and weaker with every generation.

Not only that, but the number of Pseudo-Animates that roamed throughout the area also gradually turned less due to how useful they were for the Animates, making her abhor the existence of the Animates, wanting to kill them. She went ahead and killed a lot of Animates to avenge the Pseudo-Animates that were poached by the Animates, allowing her to earn the moniker of the 'Undying Flame Spirit' from the Animates…only for her to be gravely injured by an incredibly strong Animate.

With such a grave injury, she decided to go into hiding in the inheritance she had made as she guided the Pseudo-Animates that entered this inheritance to become stronger. As for the Animates that discovered this inheritance through sheer luck or word of mouth, they would only end up with one ending in this inheritance…death.

Gradually becoming more and more awake as she looked at the screens she had conjured, her sense of vision eventually locked onto one of the screens since she saw something that wasn't there in the first place.

"Eh? A Pseudo-Animate?" she muttered to herself in slight curiosity, infusing more energy into the screen that she was staring in order to get a better view. After a few seconds, the quality of the screen had become significantly better, allowing her to get a better view of the Pseudo-Animate she was looking at.

"A Wind-based Pseudo-Animate?" she said in a tone of slight confusion, wondering how a Pseudo-Animate of the opposing element had survived the harsh environment that surrounded the inheritance. A few seconds later, her sense of vision soon focused on what the Pseudo-Animate was wearing, namely, the two leaves that were attached around his waist.

"I wonder why they aren't burning," she muttered to herself while wondering as to why the Pseudo-Animate she was looking at would cover the lower portion of its body with leaves, even though a Pseudo-Animate could manipulate the shape of their body at will. It did not take long for the Wind-based Pseudo-Animate to pique her interest as she let out a chuckle.

"It's been a long time since a Pseudo-Animate has entered this inheritance," she said in a slightly cheery tone, which soon turned to that of disgust as she continued, "It has always been Animates that entered this inheritance. Disgusting beings. Incredibly disgusting beings."

"Then again, I really wonder how that Pseudo-Animate is not affected by the environment at all," she soon added, deciding to use a bit of her energy to make the item that led to the start of the inheritance, which was in the same room the Wind-based Pseudo-Animate was at, disappear. After that, she went ahead and used a bit more of her energy to manipulate the mechanics in some rooms of the inheritance as she grabbed a bit more rewards from the reward room of the inheritance.

"Although you're a Wind-based Pseudo-Animate, you're still a Pseudo-Animate," she muttered to himself before adding, "If you can survive the trials I've tailored for you, even as a Wind-based Pseudo-Animate, then you're deserving of the rewards."

"Now that I think about it…I'll just tell the Pseudo-Animate that the difficulty has been raised alongside the rewards," she soon muttered after pondering over a few things for a bit. "That way, it won't think that it's peculiar."

"Of course, they're not that hard at all. Hehe."

…

Some time has passed since Argentum disappeared from the first room he was in, eventually appearing in another room a couple of minutes later. At the very instant he appeared in this new room, the first thing he realized was that the room was incredibly boring. It was akin to the large stone room Aurus was in while he was taking the impromptu test from the Supreme Ruler of the Void.

In fact, Argentum felt that this room was exactly the same as the room Aurus was in since this was in essence, a large stone room as well.

Rumble…

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Just as he realized that he was in a stone room, the floor started to rumble as ten pillars of varying heights appeared in the center of the room. These ten pillars were arranged in a circular formation, with one tall pillar in the center of the formation while nine pillars with varying heights surrounded this tall pillar.

Wondering as to what the purpose of these pillars was, a few seconds later, red flames soon manifested on top of the nine outer pillars. As for the single inner pillar, a large orange flame manifested on it, giving Argentum the feeling that he was looking at a variant of Stonehenge in one way or another.

"This is the first trial you shall undertake," the disembodied voice he heard before resounded in this room after the flames on top of the pillars had manifested.

"The name of this trial is the Grand Flame Dispersal," the disembodied voice continued talking. While Argentum was pondering as to what kind of mechanics a trial with such a name would have, the disembodied voice soon continued with its explanation.

"The goal of this trial is quite simple. Using any method available, the inheritor must…"

"Remove the flames that are on top of the pillars."

"…eh?" Argentum could not help but think that he heard wrongly. Remove the flames that are on top of the pillars? Wasn't that just putting out the flames on top of the pillars? Surely, this trial isn't like that, right?

These kinds of thoughts flashed across Argentum's mind as he wondered whether he had heard wrongly. Fortunately, the disembodied voice repeated its explanation, allowing Argentum to know that he had actually heard correctly, making him utter, "…eh?"

"There is no time limit to this trial, but the inheritor will get more rewards if all of the flames on the pillars are removed as fast as possible," the disembodied voice added in its explanation.

"Let the first trial…"

"Begin!"

After the disembodied voice signaled the start of the first trial, Argentum pondered over how he was going to remove the flames on the pillars for a short bit, muttering, "If I had skills that were of the Water element, this would be incredibly easy. Unfortunately, the Azure Shores is the second stop in my location."

"Then again, wind could still remove fires through blowing," Argentum continued to mutter before asking himself, "Do I have a skill that's akin to blowing a gust of wind?"

He soon commanded the system to open up his skill list, prompting him to skim through it, only to find out that he had no such skill at all. Feeling slightly dejected, he pondered on what he could do to create a gust of wind. Thankfully, a spark of inspiration appeared in his mind, making Argentum feel like he had a shot if it actually did what he wanted to.

Alongside this thought, he could not help but ask himself, "If this method works, then…"

"What's the point of living?"

"[Tempest Awakening]!"

Whoosh!

"[Lower Tempest Magic: Zephyr Burst]!"

Whoosh!

In an instant, Argentum activated two skills, both of which enhanced…his movement speed.

In short, Argentum was going to increase his movement speed to its limit, thinking that the gust of wind made as he ran would be able to put out the flames on top of these pillars.

Although he felt like it was a stupid idea, it still made some sense. He then psyched himself up, shouting, "This will work! This will work!"

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Not long after that, Argentum then went ahead and ran around the pillars, gradually picking up speed as he could hear the sound of wind gradually getting louder and louder through his sense of hearing. Eventually, when he thought that the speed at which he was running was fast enough for a strong gust of wind, he then went ahead and jumped to the height of the flames, bringing the gust of wind to their level.

Swoosh!

In an instant, all of the flames on the nine outer pillars were put out by the gust of wind he had generated from his running. As for the large orange flame on top of the tall inner pillar, it swayed a bit thanks to the gust of the wind, but it was not enough for it to be put out.

Nonetheless, Argentum made a lot of progress with just one move, only needing him to put out one more flame before he would be finished with the trial. As he landed on the ground, he was left at a loss for words as an aura of intense disbelief radiated from him.

He could not help but look at the nine outer pillars surrounding the tall inner pillar with the only flame left after that. He then took a deep breath before muttering out in a tone of disbelief…

"That actually worked?"