Chapter 230 - The Great Flame Hunt

Ding!

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

Reading through the latest notification he had received, instead of having the elated aura surrounding him a while ago, it was instead replaced with an aura of immense confusion, prompting him to close and open his sense of vision a few times as he uttered out a single sound.

"…eh?" Argentum truly had nothing to say about the skill he had just obtained as a reward from the inheritance. The two previous skills he had obtained from the inheritance made him incredibly elated since he knew what their functions were. As for this skill he had just received, he truly had no choice what it did, so he was on the fence in terms of his excitement.

"Flame Incarnation…" he muttered not long after as he pondered on what the effect of the skill would be. It did not take long for a plausible answer to appear in his mind as he muttered to himself, his aura changing to that of elation, "Does this skill increases my stats and damage once I become the incarnation of flames?"

Thinking that that might be the case, he went ahead and commanded the system to open up the description of the skill, radiating an aura of expectation in the process. A few seconds later, a holographic screen appeared in front of his field of vision, which Argentum hastily skimmed through not long after. Unfortunately for him, although the skill's name sounded like it would do the thing he had imagined, in reality, it was quite different from what he had expected.

"…eh?" he uttered yet again, slightly confused and disappointed at the effects of the active skill.

________

[Flame Incarnation: Undying Spirit] (Level 1/10)

Grade: Mortal (C)

MP Cost: 10 MP per second

A skill that allows the user to transform their body into a burst of flames in exchange for MP. This skill allows the user to attune themselves to the Fire energy particles surrounding them in a better manner, allowing Fire-based skills and spells to have increased effectiveness. Due to the improvement the master of the Flame Spirit Inheritance has done on this skill, the amount of MP needed to maintain the skill for every second has been reduced while its efficacy has been increased. Not only that, but it allows the user to heal a set amount of HP per second as well.

> Transforms the user into a burst of flames

> When in transformed mode: Increases the effectiveness of Fire-based abilities by 10%

> When in transformed mode: Increases the damage of Fire-based abilities by 10%

> When in transformed mode: Heals 5% of the user's HP every 5 seconds

________

Closing the holographic screen in front of his field of vision, he could not help but let out a sigh, somewhat disappointed at the skill given to him. [Lower Blaze Magic+] allowed him to cast magic of the Fire element, while [Fire Affinity] increased his affinity towards the Fire element. As for this skill, it only allowed him to transform into a burst of flames, giving him a few buffs that increased the power of Fire-based skills as well, but that's it. With that in mind, he could not help but ponder whether the inheritance was trying to make rely on the Fire element even more to deal damage.

"Wait a second…that actually makes a bit of sense." Not long after this thought surfaced in his mind, Argentum could not help but think that his thought process was wrong. Ultimately, the purpose of this inheritance was to increase the combat power of those that were biased towards the Fire element, not to increase the number of elements one could use unlike what Argentum was trying to do. Changing his mindset to that of a Fire-based Pseudo-Animate, he could now appreciate the buffs it gave for Fire-based abilities.

Then again, he still thought about the skill's usefulness from a general perspective, thinking that it was a great way for him to disguise himself, fooling that there were following him due to him being a Wind-based Pseudo-Animate. After being satisfied with the answer he made in his mind, he could not help but ponder as to what the next trial would be. Thinking about for it a bit, Argentum let out a light chuckle before saying, "Before the next trial starts, the inheritance would go ahead and tell me to grind the latest skill I obtained from the inheritance, saying that it has something to do with the mechanics of the next trial."

Coincidentally, just as he was finished saying that, the disembodied voice of the inheritance resounded once more, informing Argentum regarding the next trial he was going to undergo. After listening to the disembodied voice's words, the only thing that Argentum was, "I can't believe it. I was actually right."

"The inheritance shall give the inheritor a ten-minute break to increase their proficiency with the skill they had obtained. The inheritance encourages the inheritor to enhance it as much as possible in preparation for the fourth trial since the skill is a crucial part of the trial itself." This was what the disembodied voice said.

"To think that my guess was head-on." Argentum still could not believe the fact that he was right about the inheritance informing him that he would have to go through the same process again in preparation for the fourth trial. Fortunately, it did not take long for him to come to his senses, letting out a sigh as he muttered to himself, "Alright then. I guess I'll grind this skill as much as possible."

"[Flame Incarnation: Undying Spirit]!"

Fwoosh!

…

In a deeper part of the Flame Spirit Inheritance.

The woman made out of flames let out a surprised gasp as she looked at the Wind-based Pseudo-Animate get to the end of the corridor without much trouble through the screen in front of her. The surprise she felt from such a feat was enough for her to sit upright, her idea from before blossoming into something more corporeal as she muttered, "It crossed the Seven Flame Road without a problem, it even went ahead and decided to some songs along the way."

"If that's not a reincarnation of a Pseudo-Animate, then I don't know what is," she muttered not long after, sending in a strand of energy through the screen to give the Pseudo-Animate its reward as she announced the Pseudo-Animate clearing the third trial with flying colors. At the very instant the Pseudo-Animate had received the skill, she could not help but have great expectations, thinking that the Pseudo-Animate was going to become incredibly happy since it was going to be able to transform into something related to flames again.

But what she got instead was the opposite, with the Pseudo-Animate radiating an aura of confusion at the instant it had received the skill. Not only that, but the confusion she felt radiating from the Pseudo-Animate was almost corporeal, prompting her to doubt her thoughts as she asked herself, "The Pseudo-Animate isn't happy getting a skill like this? Is this really a reincarnation of a Pseudo-Animate?"

A few seconds later, these thoughts were soon replaced with optimistic thoughts as she muttered, thinking out loud, "I'm pretty sure the Pseudo-Animate is just used to its new element, that's all. Once it gets a feeling of being immersed in the Fire element once more, I'm definitely sure that it won't hesitate to stay in that form for a long time."

Fwoosh!

After a minute or so, the Pseudo-Animate she was looking at through the screen had activated the skill it had just received, instantly captivating her as she was in complete awe over how natural the feeling the transformation felt. Due to the sheer awe she felt, she subconsciously muttered, "A reincarnation indeed…how would a Wind-based Pseudo-Animate be able to achieve such a natural feeling transformation…?"

Looking at the Pseudo-Animate's current form for a few minutes, she eventually came back to her senses, standing up before going ahead and stretching her body once more to clear her mind. After doing so, she then manipulated the screen to move to her eye level before pondering on what kind of trial she would have the Pseudo-Animate do next. Unsurprisingly, thinking that the Pseudo-Animate was just getting used to the new form, she decided to have the trial be related to the skill it had just received once more, not taking long to come up with a trial in her mind that fit her requirements.

After deciding on the fourth trial, she then pondered over the reward she was going to give to the Pseudo-Animate, thinking up of a skill that would be beneficial to the Pseudo-Animate even if it was not in its current form. It did not take long for her to remember a skill that fit the bill, muttering to herself with a slightly cheerful tone, "This Pseudo-Animate might be incredibly lonely at times. I should give it a skill that allows it to have a companion."

"Anyways, I'm glad I could participate in this fourth trial as well," she said not long after as she let out a chuckle. "I just got to make sure that the Pseudo-Animate doesn't find out that it's me, and give it feeling that it would be found out at any time."

"Of course, since it's a Pseudo-Animate, I'll let it win the trial without a problem~"

…

Just like before, exactly ten minutes have passed since Argentum started grinding the latest skill he had received from the inheritance. Surprisingly, an aura of cheerfulness exuded from him as his form was currently the Fire element version of his normal look. Instead of a humanoid body made out of green energy, he was instead a humanoid body made out of red energy. Then again, there was something that distinguished his usual form from his current form, and that was the flames on top of his head that looked like hair.

"Who knew this skill would actually increase Flame Affinity's experience?" he muttered to himself in slight awe, feeling that the connection he felt towards the Fire element had become even stronger than before, probably because [Flame Affinity] had finally reached the Transcendent level, taking on the name of [Grand Flame Affinity].

As for the incarnation skill he had obtained from the last trial, it had naturally reached its maximum level, increasing the power of the skill even further as its mastery level was almost close to the Basic level. Nevertheless, the feeling he felt from the skill had improved from before, making him feel that if he used a Fire-based spell, it would be more effective than if he used it on this skill's first level.

Of course, since ten minutes were now up, the disembodied voice of the inheritance resounded throughout the large stone room, prompting Argentum to focus his sense of hearing towards the voice as he maintained his current form.

"The inheritor's ten-minute break is now done, prompting the inheritance to move on with its fourth trial," the disembodied voice said. "The name of the fourth trial is…"

"The Great Flame Hunt."

"Ooh, what an interesting name," Argentum could not help but say as he listened to the disembodied voice talk about the name of the trial.

Fwoosh!

A few seconds later, the large stone room Argentum was in had instantly transformed into a room filled to the brim with flames of the same color as his body. Not long after that, Argentum felt a whirlpool of energy forming on another portion of the room, prompting him to use his [Keen Vision] to get a better look at it. What he saw was the whirlpool of energy condensing into a large mass of flames, which soon transformed into a small humanoid body soon after.

After the small humanoid body was formed, the disembodied voice resounded throughout the room once more, this time explaining the mechanics of the trial.

"There is one Flame Reconnaissance Spirit in the room the inheritor is currently in, while the room is covered entirely in flames of the same color the inheritor's current form is. The Reconnaissance Spirit shall try to detect the inheritor's presence as fast as possible," the disembodied voice started to explain. "The goal of this trial is for the inheritor is to avoid the Reconnaissance Spirit's detection for 5 minutes, using the flames to the inheritor's advantage. If the Reconnaissance Spirit finds the inheritor in less than 5 minutes, the inheritor loses. The inheritor could also opt to touch the back of the Reconnaissance Spirit to win the trial in less than 5 minutes, but it is quite tricky."

"…" Listening to the explanation of the disembodied voice and processing it in his mind, Argentum was at a loss for words as he knew what this trial truly was. Ignoring the fact that Argentum was speechless, the disembodied voice said, "Let the trial begin!"

"I'll count up to 30 to let you escape from my detection, Inheritor...for now," the Reconnaissance Spirit, which was the one Argentum saw on the other side of the room, started to talk in a childlike voice. "Once I've counted up to 30, I'll start using all of my abilities to find you."

"1…2…3…"

Listening to the Reconnaissance Spirit start to count, Argentum could not help but let out a sigh as he unhesitatingly activated his polymorph, transforming into a speck of red sand that blended in with the surroundings very well. Suppressing his presence to its utmost limit, he gradually made his way towards the Reconnaissance Spirit, slightly surprised that he was able to get close to it without it noticing he was near it.

As the Reconnaissance Spirit continued to count, Argentum could not help but inwardly let out a sigh as he thought to himself, 'A Reconnaissance Spirit counting up to 30…trying to find me with its detection…'

'Needing me to escape its detection for at least 5 minutes…'

'What else could this be…'

'If not a game of hide and seek?'