Chapter 370: An Unusual Condition

"I can't believe that actually worked," Argentum could not help but mutter to himself, thinking that it was actually easier than he initially thought to make Helios agree in becoming one of the benefactors of Verdant Breeze Town. Even Rosalia, who knew how Helios acted, could not help but look at Argentum and give him a thumbs up due to the flowery words he used to flatter Helios.

Nevertheless, Argentum was quite unsure how to proceed from there onwards, so he hastily sent a strand of energy to Rosalia, connecting the two as he asked her, "If I compliment him, should I stay at the same level, or do I just gradually increase the level of compliments?"

Rosalia, who looked at Helios and noticed that there was still an indifferent expression on his face, soon replied to Argentum's query, advising him, "I'd go with the first one. Although Helios may be narcissistic, he'll eventually find out that your compliments towards him are fake if you gradually increase the flattery in your words. Of course, I'm not saying that you have to be sincere in your words while complimenting him, just saying to compliment him in moderation."

"Alright, then." Argentum inwardly nodded before cutting off the connection between them as he looked at Helios once more. At this moment, the hint of interest Helios had towards Argentum was close to disappearing, prompting the former to say to the latter, "Did you just attract my attention to compliment this divine being? Well, I shall give my thanks. But if you have nothing else to say, then leave me be. I still need to have my proper beauty sleep."

"Please wait, Sir Helios," Argentum soon said, prompting a look of slight interest to appear on Helios's face once more as he waited for Argentum to talk. "I do have something to talk with you. I want you, the most handsome and most talented person I've met so far, to become a benefactor of my lowly Verdant Breeze Town."

"Become the benefactor of a town? Are you asking this divine being right here to spare your lowly self a small amount of monetary resources?" Helios raised his eyebrow as the offer was brought up once more, though this time he did not refuse it outright. "Well, if it is an amount that is still within this divine being's level of tolerance, then I would not mind being magnanimous and bring a bit of prosperity to a lowly town."

Knowing very well that the offer he was giving Helios was that of a long-term partnership, Argentum hastily clarified as he shook his head, "I dare not to ask for your own financial assets, oh Great Tempest King. All I would like to request from your esteemed self is for you to concoct a potion that I shall give the recipe to. The profit from the selling of these potions would then go towards the town to help bolster its economy. I truly dare not to ask for your financial assets, Sir Helios."

He then continued, adding a bit more flattery to his words, "I have heard from my good friend Rosalia here that you excel in the arts of alchemy, even surpassing the proficiency of my other friend Felix. I believe that with your mastery over the arts of alchemy, as well as the arts of business, you would create a great profit with the potions, greatly boosting the economy of the lowly town this lowly self governs."

"Felix?" Hearing that name, Helios could not help but look at Argentum once more before turning his head to look at Rosalia. "Rosalia, he also knows Felix?"

"And Eleanor," Rosalia said as she shrugged her shoulders. "Oh, and Melzarin as well."

"Even that thick-headed Melzarin?" Seeing as to how Argentum knew some of his closest friends, Helios could not help but think that Argentum was his stalker of some sort. Though, instead of feeling immense disgust, he instead felt immense delight as he thought to himself, 'To think I would actually have a fan.'

With that, his opinion of Argentum had improved as he soon responded to Argentum's request, saying after a bit of contemplation, "You do speak the truth right there. This divine being is indeed a master of alchemy, as well as business. Alright, then. You are worthy of being able to enlist my, the great Helios Gustav's help."

Hearing that Helios had accepted his offer, the expression on Argentum's face turned into that of a smile as an aura of delight surrounded him. Though, this happiness of his was dampened shortly after as Helios said, "Though, if the potion you request of this divine being to concoct is not up to my standards, then I would have to decline the offer and give you a part of my monetary assets instead. I would not let you go empty-handed for I am a magnanimous being."

Although he was unsure as to whether or not such a potion would be up to Helios's standards, he did know that the effect of the Heaven's Wind Potion would be enough to entice even an Animate like Rosalia. In his mind, if Helios was uninterested in the Heaven's Wind Potion, then that meant that the two of them working together was just not fated to happen.

Taking in a deep breath, Argentum then sent Helios a strand of energy that contained the ingredients and instructions regarding the concoction of the Heaven's Wind Potion, lightly bowing with respect as he said, "I may not be certain if this inferior potion of mine piques the interest of an incredibly talented being like you, but if it does catch your eye, I would be incredibly grateful."

And so, the recipe to concoct the Heaven's Wind Potion was soon sent to Helios as an indifferent expression was seen on his face. Though, not long after, this expression turned into that of slight interest as his breathing turned slightly raucous. "Hmm?"

"This is…" As he continued to read through the recipe given by Argentum, the arrogance and pride that came from his narcissistic nature gradually disappeared, being replaced with surprise and satisfaction from his love for alchemy. Eventually, he muttered, "Although the effect of the potion is multiple levels subpar compared to other potions that do the same thing, the materials needed to concoct this potion are quite easy to procure…"

"Argentum…was it?" After Helios was finished looking through the recipe, he looked at Argentum and asked, "This Heaven's Wind Potion of yours…are you sure you would want this divine being to be the one responsible for the concoction and distribution of the potion? I am highly certain that if you were to offer others this recipe, they would immediately become subservient to you."

"Subservience is not what I need, Sir Helios. All I need is a large enough profit that would speed up the development of my humble Verdant Breeze Town," Argentum replied before letting out a chuckle. "Although it would be great to have the protection of a strong being as the town is developing, I would not like my citizens to become so complacent as to forget polishing their own individual power."

Listening to Argentum's words, Helios's impression of him had improved, thinking that he was quite sincere in his offer. Not only that, but it felt like he even wanted to form a long-term partnership with Helios, which Helios did not have much of a problem with.

Of course, due to the sheer scarcity of such potions like this in the market, Helios thought that Argentum was allowing him to take advantage of his weaker strength. With that, he decided that it was no problem for him to accept Argentum's offer, and even help him out a little bit.

Letting out a sigh, which slightly surprised the two, Helios then looked at Argentum as his prideful aura soon enveloped him once more. "Alright, this magnanimous being right here shall accept your offer of becoming the benefactor of your lowly Verdant Breeze Town…"

"…but on one condition."

"What would that condition be, Sir Helios? If it is something that this lowly self can achieve, then I would not hesitate to give it my all to fulfill your conditions," Argentum hastily said, delightful at the fact that Verdant Breeze Town now had one more benefactor that would help out.

Hearing Argentum's eagerness to fulfill his conditions, Helios could not help but have a light smirk on his face as he turned around and gestured towards the two to follow him. Noticing this actions, both Rosalia and Argentum looked at each other for a bit with a hint of shock as they did not expect that the cranky Helios from before would actually invite them inside his inheritance.

Nevertheless, they knew very well to not delay him thanks to his personality, hastily following behind him as the three of them disappeared from the entrance of Heaven's Gust Inheritance soon after.

…

Whoosh!

A few seconds later, the three of them had appeared in the middle of what seemed to be an incredibly long corridor. With the inheritance being related to Wind, motifs that were of green color could be seen on the walls from time to time, though most of these motifs were covered by the various mediums that showed Helios's figure to those that passed through this corridor.

Just like what Felix told him, by the time Rosalia and he entered the inheritance proper, he was instantly greeted by the sight of multiple statues, busts, as well as paintings that allowed people to view Helios from various perspectives. Not only that, but Helios's face could even be seen on the floor they were standing on, taking on the form of carpets that extended to both ends of the long corridor they were in.

Seeing as to how Argentum was looking at his surroundings with surprise, a slightly proud expression could not help but appear on Helios's face as he said, "Beautiful, right? Unfortunately, this magnanimous being will not let you look at this divine figure for long as we have to head somewhere else in the inheritance."

After that, a large amount of Wind energy particles started to condense around Helios before heading towards Rosalia and Argentum, wrapping them in what looked like a cocoon made out of Wind energy particles.

Making sure that the two of them were comfortable, Helios then gathered a small mass of Wind energy particles before stepping on it like a magic carpet as he then warned them, "This quick trip of ours might be…slightly nauseating."

Whoosh!

With his great mastery over the element of Wind, the three of them soon zoomed through the corridor at breakneck speeds, turning the various statues and whatnot scattered across the sides of the corridor to turn into a blur as both Rosalia and Argentum focused their sights at the very end of the corridor.

At first, they were only barely able to make out the silhouette of an entrance. Though, a few seconds later, this entrance soon expanded greatly in size, even turning out to be far larger than the corridor as the insides of the room connected to the corridor could be seen.

Eventually, the three of them had stopped just by the entrance of this large room, with Helios removing the cocoon of Wind energy particles that enveloped both Rosalia and Argentum. By the time they dropped down, the two of them could not help but feel a bit dizzy, though it did not take long for them to return to their normal selves by circulating the energy inside their body.

After that, they redirected their gazes towards the large room, wondering what the three of them would do inside a room that was empty. Fortunately, it did not take long for the two of them to find out what they were about to do here as Helios looked at Argentum and said, "Argentum, heed this divine being's words and head towards the center of this room in front of us."

"Can I ask the great Tempest King to tell me the reason behind such an order?" Argentum soon asked, though he did have a few ideas as to why Helios would have him do such a thing.

With a faint chuckle, Helios then told him, "This is the one condition I need you to fulfill before I shall become the benefactor of your Verdant Breeze Town. The condition that I have given for you to fulfill is to…"

"…go through my trials."