Chapter 254 - Second Attempt?

In a deeper part of the Grand Blue Inheritance.

Whoosh!

A large ball of fiery red energy passed through the solid ice walls that made up the inheritance, heading towards where the Grand Blue Master sat. Noticing that the ball of red energy had arrived, he hastily sent a strand of his energy towards the ball, allowing a connection to be formed in his mind as a familiar voice to him resonated a few seconds later.

"This is the third time you've called me as of recent," the voice said, which was quite feminine in tone. It then took on a hint of teasing as it continued with a giggle, "Does the Grand Blue Master miss the Undying Flame Spirit that much?"

"If your student wasn't too exemplary, I wouldn't have even called you once, Eleanor," Felix responded to the voice's words, which was Eleanor's. "Let me ask you something, Eleanor. Did you tell your student to aim for skills of the four foundational elements or was it really his own idea?"

Only a few minutes have passed since Argentum had left the Grand Blue Inheritance. Naturally, Felix would head back to the room where he usually resided since no other inheritor was inside his inheritance at the moment. Then again, it was rare for him to come out of his room and greet the inheritor personally.

With the thoughts related to the four foundational elements and Argentum circling in his mind, the urge to contact Eleanor regarding what he had in mind had reached a zenith, prompting him to send a ball of his energy towards her. That decision led to the conversation that was happening right now.

"Huh? Why do I feel like you're trying to accuse me of something?" Eleanor said in response to his question. With a feeling of being wronged, she added, "Did you really think I would give my student the idea of learning skills from all of the foundational elements? That would just hamper their growth rate, you know."

From the point when Argentum was indirectly mentioned, Eleanor made sure that she did not slip up, making sure to reveal to the Grand Blue Master that their relationship was that of teacher and student, not that of co-owners.

"Who knew the Undying Flame Spirit would actually use her brains for once?" the Grand Blue Master joked, only to realize the awkward atmosphere that resulted from his joke. Imitating the sound of a being clearing their throat, Felix continued with the topic he had in mind, which was to inform Eleanor about what Argentum was planning.

"Anyways, haven't you ever wondered that it was weird for a Wind-based Pseudo-Animate to aim for the skills related to every foundational element and not the Wind element only?" the Grand Blue Master asked, to which the Undying Flame Spirit replied, "Of course, I've wondered about it before. But you know his qualities, his high comprehension rate makes up for the number of skills he's learning."

Although it seemed that Eleanor was replying to Felix's questions with confident answers, in fact, she was wracking her brains to the limit, trying to piece an answer that seemed believable from a teacher's perspective. Fortunately, Felix bought her answer, letting out a light giggle in the process. Hearing the light giggle resound throughout her mind, Eleanor could not help but ask, "What are you giggling about, Grand Blue Master?"

"I told you to call me Felix, no?" Felix said in response to her question, only for him to imitate the sound of one clearing their throat once more as he changed the topic in an instant, taking on a mysterious tone as he told her, "I'm surprised you haven't seen the limit of Argentum's ambitions."

"Ambitions? What ambitions?" Eleanor asked as a response to his question before adding, "Mastering every skill from every foundational element?"

"Nope," the Grand Blue Master replied in an amused tone. "Something more ambitious than that."

"What ambition would be more ambitious than mastering every skill from every foundational element?" Eleanor muttered to herself, squeezing her brain dry to eventually end up with no answer in mind. Feeling that Felix was messing around with her with his vague responses, Eleanor took on a slightly infuriated tone as she said, "Just get straight to the point and tell me already, Felix."

Radiating an aura of amus.e.m.e.nt, which was felt by Eleanor through the ball of energy, the Grand Blue Master did not hesitate to ask the Undying Flame Spirit, "Have you heard of the Lesser Origin element?"

"Well, yeah," Eleanor unhesitatingly replied. "How could I not know about it? It's an element that considered the element that triumphs over the four foundational elements."

Not getting what Felix was trying to say, she could not connect Argentum to his question, prompting her to ask him, "What does the Lesser Origin element have to do with Argentum?"

"Let me ask you another question in response to yours," the Grand Blue Master replied to her question before asking, "According to legends, how does one come to know the Lesser Origin element?"

"According to legends?" Hearing that phrase, Eleanor could not help but recall what she knew about the legend of the Lesser Origin element, eventually saying, "When the four elements of foundation unite into one entity, one shall ascend through the stairway of heaven, becoming one…with…Lesser Origin…"

"Huh…" As she recited the quote that referenced the Lesser Origin element in the legends, she noticed that the first part of the quote was similar to what Argentum was trying to do. With a surprised yet insanely curious tone, Eleanor asked Felix, "Are you telling me that Argentum's trying to transition from the Wind element to the Lesser Origin element?"

"To be honest, I thought you already had such a thought in mind," the Grand Blue Master said in response to her words. Eleanor then replied, "Who would expect a Normal-grade Pseudo-Animate to aim for such a heavenly element? I thought he was just going to transition to the Fiery Tempest element when he entered my inheritance. When he mentioned that he was going to enter your inheritance, that thought changed to Tri-elemental Tempest."

"Who would automatically think of the Lesser Origin element in that scenario other than you," she added. Going silent for a bit as she pondered over it for a bit more, she eventually said, "Then again, he might not be aiming for the Lesser Origin element at all. He could just be aiming for Tetraelemental Tempest for all we care."

Listening to Eleanor's explanation, Felix thought that her words did make some sense. He then said, "Sure, let's say that he's aiming for the Tetraelemental Tempest element right now. But theoretically, what if he was actually aiming for the Lesser Origin element? Do you think he could pass through the Origin Trials?"

The Origin Trials. Hearing the phrase come out of Felix's mouth could not help but make Eleanor shudder a bit as she remembered how monstrous those who traversed the Origin Trials were. The Origin Trials, from its name, was a set of trials made for those who had unified the four foundational elements inside the body and wanted to fuse them together into the Lesser Origin element. Unfortunately, it was said that the trials had a 99.9% failure rate, wherein failure meant death.

Knowing a few being that traversed the Origin Trials throughout her life and never seeing them again after they entered the last part of the trials, Eleanor could not help but think that the Origin Trials were insanely difficult. With that in mind, she hastily said, "At his current state, definitely not. He'd probably need to go through at least three Power Baptisms to have a fighting chance."

"Don't you think his grade is quite low for someone who's attempting the Origin Trials?" the Grand Blue Master said in response to the Undying Flame Spirit's question before adding, "I think he needs to be at least Epic-grade to make sure that he could at least pass through the first few trials."

"Yeah, I think so as well," the Undying Flame Spirit replied, agreeing with what Felix had in mind. A few seconds later, she chuckled as she said, "Of course, he's not aiming for the Lesser Origin element, right?"

Surprisingly, a moment of silence arose from the question, prompting Eleanor to repeat the last word of her question.

"…right?"

After a few more seconds, the Grand Blue Master decided to break the silence as he said, "You know, we could always ask Argentum about it. I have a method to communicate with him at any time and any place. Want me to use it?"

"Hoh?" Eleanor's sense of hearing perked up after hearing what Felix said, asking him, "You have a method to communicate with him? I wonder how that came about?"

To Eleanor, who knew a bit of Argentum's mindset, it seemed that Argentum became a partial owner of the Grand Blue Inheritance, forcing Felix to form a contract with him. Of course, how could she not be familiar with it since she made one with Argentum as well?

In response, the Grand Blue Master let out an awkward chuckle as he said, "It's a long story. Anyways, want me to use it?"

"No need," Eleanor hastily declined as she added, "I have a method to communicate with him as well. Just before you ask how I have such a method, how could a teacher not worry about her student?"

And just like that, before the Grand Blue Master could dissuade Eleanor from contacting Argentum, Eleanor hastily used her methods to contact Argentum. Of course, that method was none other than the Spirit Contract.

…

In an area close to the boundary of the Azure Shores.

Two Pseudo-Animates, one Fire-based and one Wind-based, were currently fighting against some of the natives. Well, to be more exact, the Fire-based Pseudo-Animate was the one fighting against the natives, using its body to withstand their attacks before retaliating with its own. On the other hand, the Wind-based Pseudo-Animate was looking at the Fire-based Pseudo-Animate, sensing the aura its companion released to get a feel as to how much its companion had improved.

Of course, these two Pseudo-Animates were none other than Blob and Argentum. After exiting the Grand Blue Inheritance, the first thought that entered Argentum's mind was to enhance Blob's resistance to the Water element to a satisfactory level. So far, after ten minutes or so of withstanding attacks, Blob's resistance was approaching a level where Argentum would be satisfied.

While he was continuing to look at Blob, a familiar voice resounded throughout his mind, telling him, "Hey, Argentum. I want to ask you something."

Feeling the immensely strong connection to the person that contacted him, Argentum instantly thought that Eleanor was contacting him, which her voice resounding throughout his mind served as further evidence. Without delay, he responded in his mind, "What's up?"

"Are you trying to learn the Lesser Origin element?" Eleanor asked, her tone filled with both confidence and uncertainty. As for Argentum, he was briefly left at a loss for words as he did not expect Eleanor to find out what he was doing. Fortunately, he hastily calmed himself down as he responded, "Yeah. Who did you hear it from?"

"Eh? You're actually aiming for the Lesser Origin?" Eleanor could not help but say, only to add, "And uh…from the Grand Blue Master. I heard it from him."

"I see," Argentum said in response to her reply. After looking at Blob for a bit, he then asked her, "Do you have any other questions you wanted to ask me?"

"Hmm…I think I'm good," Eleanor replied in an instant. "Thanks, Argentum. Make sure to contact me from time to time, okay?"

"Yeah, I will," Argentum said before bidding farewell to Eleanor as the conversation between them had finished. At this point in time, the aura radiating from Blob had reached a level wherein Argentum could consider it as barely satisfactory to his tastes. Without hesitation, he shouted to Blob, who was slightly far away from him, "Hey, Blob! You can stop now!"

"Alright!" Blob shouted in response to Argentum's yell, hastily taking out the natives that were still attacking him even though he was elementally disadvantaged. Fortunately, the disparity in their strength was large enough for Blob to kill them in one hit. After making sure that the natives that were eyeing him a while ago had fled, Blob then headed to where Argentum was before asking, "So…what are we going to do next?"

"We're going to head somewhere," Argentum replied with a slightly excited tone, commanding the system to open up a map of the surrounding areas before plotting out a route that would take the shortest time for him…well, Blob, to arrive at the destination he had in mind. After making sure that Blob was not going to pass through any treacherous terrain, he then condensed this route into a strand of energy, which he then sent to Blob without hesitation.

"That's the route you're going to take," Argentum said as he sent the strand of energy. "You're free to increase your strength along the path while I increase mine. We're actually going far faster than I expected."

Whoosh!

Not long after, Argentum morphed into a speck of red sand, which made itself comfortable on Blob's shoulder a few seconds later. After that, he told Blob that they were now ready to depart, to which Blob replied only after a couple of minutes as it took him quite a while to digest the route they were heading to.

Swoosh!

And with that, the two were now heading towards the boundary of the Azure Shores, finally on a journey that was headed to the last place Argentum had in mind, Verdant Breeze Town.

'Hmm…should I attempt a Power Baptism along the way?' While he was pondering on what skills he was going to grind throughout this journey, this question popped up in Argentum's mind.

Surprisingly, the answer to that question came only a split-second later as he remembered what he told himself back in the Grand Blue Inheritance.

'Nah.'