Chapter 229 - Through the Fire and Flames

"Is the inheritance telling me to basically cross this narrow strip of ground until I reach the end of this seemingly unending corridor?" Argentum could not help but ask himself this question, slightly disbelieving that this was what he was supposed to do in this trial.

"I don't feel like there's a challenge to this," he said not long after. "Is there some sort of hidden reward wherein I need to cross this corridor as fast as I could muster?"

"If so, then I guess there's a bit more incentive to this trial," he muttered as he went ahead and activated [Tempest Awakening] and [Zephyr Burst], the skills he had that boosted his movement speed to a greater degree. Not long after that, he then used his [Keen Vision] as he focused his sense of vision towards the different colored flames, proceeding to go ahead and walk through the narrow strip of ground at his maximum speed.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

At the very instant he started to move through the narrow strip of ground, the disembodied voice of the inheritance resounded throughout the corridor, slightly startling Argentum as he wasn't expecting for the inheritance to talk at this moment. He could not help but mutter under his breath, "I almost jumped into the flames."

Nevertheless, Argentum intently listened to the disembodied voice's words as it talked.

"The first flame you shall be crossing through on this Seven Flame Road is the red-colored flames surrounding you at the moment. You might think that these flames are normal flames, which they are but aren't at the same time. In short, the flames surrounding you is the purest and strongest form of flames achievable for normal flames, its name being the Crimson Ruin Flames," the disembodied voice said.

"Since they're the purest and strongest form of flames achievable for normal flames, that means that multiple Animate mages that are inclined towards the Fire element have these type of flames, commonly those from Rank 4 to Rank 6, with Rank 3 mages and below having weaker versions of the Crimson Ruin Flames," it added not long after.

"The defining characteristic of these Crimson Ruin Flames is its ability to transform anything it touches into ashes. As for those with evil intent inside them, these Crimson Ruin Flames can purify that evil intent, making it the go-to fire of novice priests and healers as well." This was the last thing the disembodied voice said after it went silent. After processing the information given to him by the disembodied voice, Argentum could not help but say, "I see…so the flames surrounding me are actually pretty strong flames."

"Wait a second, why did the inheritance explain this to me?" Argentum soon asked himself this question, finding it slightly peculiar. "It's not like I'm going to use this information in the future or anythi—"

"Ah." It did not take long for Argentum to realize why the inheritance had done such a thing, although the reason he had in mind was quite different from what was originally intended. "They know that this trial is going to be boring, so they're helping me pass the time by giving me facts regarding the flames that surround the path I'm currently on."

"I guess that's something to look forward to," Argentum said to himself not long after as he let out a short sigh. He then muttered, "Sometimes, I don't know if the inheritance is messing around with me, with this trial being great evidence of such antics."

Not long after, he realized that what he said was a mistake, correcting himself soon after as he said, "Oh, right. This inheritance has been messing with me from the start. Is it because I'm a Wind-based Pseudo-Animate or something?"

"Or perhaps…someone alive is manipulating this inheritance just like the Inheritance Ruler in Area 52?" Argentum muttered after pondering over it, thinking that these types of trials would only be possible if the master of the inheritance is alive. Then again, he had no idea whether or not the master of this inheritance was alive, with Aurus's memories not confirming this idea as well.

In the end, he placed this thought at the back of his head as he decided how he was going to pass the time while traveling through this narrow strip of ground. Surprisingly, it did not take long for Argentum to think up of an idea, with him lightly chuckling not long after as he muttered, "I guess I'll sing some songs to pass the time."

"It'll be hilarious if the songs I sing are related to the trial in a way," Argentum added, letting out another chuckle as he rummaged through Aurus's memories, trying to find some songs that fit the trial. Fortunately, it seemed that Aurus's memories did contain a few songs that fit Argentum's requirements, eliciting an aura of elation from him as he let out a slight snigger.

But after he rummaged through those specific memories even further, he could not help but be slightly sad as he found out that Aurus only remembered the choruses of these songs, with only a few songs in his memories being completely memorized.

"I guess the choruses were stuck inside his head. I don't blame him though," Argentum muttered not long after finding a few songs that fit the bill, taking a deep breath before going ahead and singing.

"I'm on the highway to hell~"

"On the highway to hell~"

If a person was listening to Argentum singing at this moment, they would probably cup their ears and scream to mask the sound. Unsurprisingly, Argentum's singing ability was pretty bad. If one was sugarcoating it, then they would say that Argentum's singing ability was subpar at best. Then again, Argentum was relying on the tune Aurus memorized while singing this song, trying to mimic it as close as possible.

Perhaps, Aurus was the one with subpar singing ability?

Nevertheless, this did not stop Argentum from singing this song as he zoomed through the Seven Flame Road, humming every once in a while as well.

…

After about twenty minutes or so of incessant singing and humming to pass the time, Argentum had finally reached the end of the path that was surrounded by Crimson Ruin Flames, continuing on the path that was surrounded by flames of a yellow hue. At the very instant Argentum entered this path, he could not help but feel that the flames surrounding the narrow strip of ground he was moving through had intensified in power and heat. Coincidentally, with the increased feeling of power and heat, he felt a bond to the yellow flames surrounding him, as if it was an extension of his limb in a way.

Just as he was about to wonder whether the inheritance would explain the new type of flames surrounding him, the disembodied voice of the inheritance resounded throughout the corridor, prompting Argentum to tell himself, "Ah. So the explanation comes at the start of a new flame. Got it."

"The second flame in this Seven Flame Road is called the Grand Erudinian Flames, due to its origin being in the depths of Erudinian caves. Wielders of Grand Erudinian Flames start at Rank 5, with Rank 6 and Rank 7 commonly having these flames. Some Rank 4 mages also wield these flames, but they only use them as trump cards," the disembodied voice started explaining.

"Unlike the Crimson Ruin Flames, which need refining to reach its peak, these Grand Erudinian Flames are already brimming with power, only needing the user to make its purpose specialized. Some users use these flames for mass destruction, while some use it for purification. Of course, that did not stop others from using it for healing, because human ingenuity."

"The defining characteristic of these flames is that they could be artificially made as well, with the Crimson Ruin Flames as its core. Though the cost is high, it would allow those types of mages to have a path of advancement in their minds. Then again, artificially made Grand Erudinian Flames are weaker than natural Grand Erudinian Flames, but that does not mean artificial Grand Erudinian Flames cannot outperform natural ones after a lot of enhancement and refining."

"This flame is quite interesting," Argentum could not help but say as he committed the information to memory. Although he said that the reason why the inheritance was telling him about this information, it was still of some use to Argentum one way or another, having the feeling that he would use it once he became a Super Animate.

After committing the information to memory, he then pondered on what song he was going to sing this time while going through this path, eventually finding one that resonated with him quite well. Even though the message of the song was quite sad, Argentum sang it cheerfully.

"I walk a lonely road, the only place that I have ever known~"

"Don't know where it goes, but it's home to me and I walk alone~"

…

After another 20 minutes or so, Argentum had finally passed through the path surrounded by Grand Erudinian Flames, entering a path filled with orange flames this time. Of course, Argentum felt an increase in power and heat from these flames, but it was still something he could handle. Not only that, but the bond he felt from the flames had also grown even closer yet again.

Naturally, since he had entered a part of the path surrounded by a new type of flames, the disembodied voice of the inheritance resounded throughout the corridor, giving Argentum some more useless information…for now.

"The third flame in this Seven Flame Road is the yellow flames surrounding you as of this moment. These flames are the rarest type of flames in this continent, with the Undying Flame Spirit, the master of this inheritance, being one of the only beings in the continent that could handle such flames."

"This flame is called the Unworldly Sol Flame, due to it exhibiting properties of the sun that light the world of Erudinia, namely its heat and power. Normally, the Unworldly Sol Flame would kill millions of beings just from its indirect heat, with the inheritor dying just by coming in close contact with it for a picosecond. Fortunately, the master of the inheritance has reduced its power to a great extent, allowing it to exude a stronger feeling than the Grand Erudinian Flames while not letting the inheritor die from it. Note that the subsequent flames after this are far stronger than this one."

"The most defining characteristic of this flame is that it is near immortal. Even if tons of beings try to put it out with skills and spells of the Water element at the Rank 9 level, it would still continue to burn."

Committing the memory to mind, he then moved on and continued singing one of the two songs that he was singing a while ago.

…

Surprisingly, due to him being distracted by his singing, it did not occur to Argentum that he had already reached the fourth flame of the Seven Flame Road. Thankfully, the disembodied voice of the inheritance snapped him back to reality as it explained the white flames surrounding him at the moment.

"The fourth flame in this Seven Flame Road is called the Lux Purity Flame, an incredibly strong flame from the Vasterion continent, its power akin to a hundred Unworldly Sol Flames combined. The master of the inheritance obtained this flame through sheer luck after traveling through the Vasterion continent in the past, being gifted to her by a great pyromancer."

"It is said that the master of this inheritance is the only one that can fully exhibit the flame's properties in this continent, but beings in the other continents would be able to show its worth with just a small amount of power."

"Its defining characteristic is its ability to manifest into a spiritual form, allowing the caster to not need to manually manipulate them. It's a 'just command them and you're done' sort of deal."

"I can't help but feel like the explanation is getting more and more sloppy with every flame I pass," Argentum could not help but mutter, concluding that the inheritance did not have information on these latter flames, leading to a somewhat sloppy explanation.

After getting to that answer, he then moved on through the path, reaching the fifth flame after another twenty minutes or so.

…

Eventually, Argentum had reached the end of the corridor, with the disembodied voice of the inheritance explaining the last three flames to him in the best manner possible. Although the information the inheritance had on these flames were quite lacking, he still committed these thoughts into his memory, with him wondering for a bit if the flame Charisa had was one of the latter flames in this Seven Flames.

"Samsara Phoenix Flames…flames that flicker between black and white…" Argentum muttered to himself. "Once I'm done with this trip, I'll probably go ask Charisa about this since Aurus is still in the process of evolving."

"Nevertheless, I'm finally done with this trial." Argentum let out a sigh of relief after seeing the great space after the seventh flame, filled to the brim with the ground he was moving through a while ago. A few seconds later, the flames behind him had disappeared as the corridor eventually shrunk back to the large stone room he was in before. This phenomenon made Argentum ponder over the power the inheritance had.

Not long after that, the disembodied voice of the inheritance, which used to tell him information regarding the flames on the Seven Flame Road, was now telling him the rewards he had obtained from the third trial, making Argentum radiate an aura of elation once more.

"The inheritor has successfully reached the end of the corridor, thus completing the Seven Flame Road," the disembodied voice said to Argentum. "Due to the inheritor crossing the Seven Flame Road in less than 12 hours, the inheritor has increased the quality of the reward given to them."

Ding!

Hearing the notification sound resound in his mind just as the disembodied voice told him about the reward being enhanced, the aura radiating from Argentum had intensified once more, seemingly reaching the epitome of elation. It did not take long for Argentum to open up the notification screen and read the latest notification after that. But at the very instant he was finished reading through it, he went silent, only uttering a sound a few seconds later.

"…eh?"

'You have obtained the active skill [Flame Incarnation: Undying Spirit].'