I Reincarnated As A Stick

Chapter 245: Utter Disbelief

“With the first trial now over, let’s move onto the second trial!” the Grand Blue Master said after he was finished announcing Argentum’s rewards for the trial. At first, Argentum found it odd that the Grand Blue Master was not going to give the points he had earned to him. But then, he pondered over it for a bit and thought that it made sense. 

Unlike in the Flame Spirit Inheritance, in this inheritance, he would be able to choose the skills he wanted to learn from it. So what if the Grand Blue Master wanted to keep the points he had for now? With a great disparity in strength between the two of them, that meant that the Grand Blue Master also had a strict foundation of morals.

Nevertheless, another question came to Argentum’s mind whenever his thoughts revolved around the points he had obtained. With that in mind, he unhesitatingly asked the master of the inheritance, “Grand Blue Master, am I able to use these points to obtain skills from the shop screen right now?”

���Hmm…” Not expecting such a question to be thrown at him, the Grand Blue Master pondered over it and thought that the question had valid reasons to it. Recalling the last time he used such a system, he would only allow the inheritors to use their points at the end of the numerous trials.

‘But since this is the Undying Flame Spirit’s student…hmm…should I make some leeway?’ the Grand Blue Master thought to himself. After some time, a firm answer was formed in his mind. He then answered Argentum’s question with this answer in mind, saying, “For now, you are not permitted to use the points you have gained. I’ll allow you to use them after you finish the second trial.”

“I understand,” Argentum replied in response.

Rumble…rumble…

After answering Argentum’s query, the Grand Blue Master went ahead and infused a bit of his energy into the room where Argentum was in. This caused the ground to rumble while Argentum became more curious because of it. He then looked around the room and soon noticed that a hovering target of ice appeared opposite the shop screen. A few seconds later, the target was then split into multiple sections, with each section gradually taking on a deeper hue of blue as it neared the center.

Looking at this, Argentum could not help but scratch his head as to what kind of trial this was. He then recalled some of Aurus’s memories from his previous life, thinking that the target in front of him was a crucial part of a game Aurus used to play back then.

“Darts?” he muttered to himself in a slightly uncertain tone. He then added, “If it is, then where are the darts I need to throw?”

Surprisingly, the Grand Blue Master was eavesdropping on Argentum muttering to himself, responding with, “This second trial is not darts. That target you’re looking at is a strength tester.”

Hearing that the Grand Blue Master’s response was related to his usual lapses of muttering, Argentum was inwardly shocked. He then took in a few deep breaths as he recalled the statement the master of the inheritance told him. With that in mind, he pointed towards the target and asked him, “That’s a strength tester? How so?”

“Go ahead and land an attack on it,” the Grand Blue Master said to Argentum in response. “After you land an attack on it, it’ll calculate the amount of strength behind the attack and give you an accurate representation of your strength in numbers. Of course, the higher it is, the better.”

“So…should I go ahead and punch it?” Argentum asked the Grand Blue Master before adding, “Would it affect the second trial in any way?”

“Not at all,” the Grand Blue Master replied. “Go ahead and try it out. Perhaps, the result you’ll obtain from the target would shock you.”

In response, Argentum nodded before making his way towards the target. At the instant he had arrived in front of the target, he clenched his right fist before cocking it backward in order to build up strength. He then channeled all of the strength in his body towards his right fist before sending it towards the target.

Bang!

A muffled explosion sound occurred from the collision of Argentum’s right fist and the target. Not only that, but a few fragments of ice had also spread thanks to the collision. As he retracted his right fist, he shook it for a few seconds as some of the force behind his right fist was sent back to him.

He then looked at the target for a few seconds after that. After around ten seconds or so, the target’s multiple sections started to light up as a few signs appeared on the target’s center, manifesting into two large numbers Argentum could understand.

“23…?” Looking at this number, Argentum was slightly confused. Since he did not use his magic here, which relied on his Intelligence stat, that meant that he was only relying on his Strength stat. Recalling how high his Strength stat was, he remembered that it was around 7. Fortunately, it did not take long for Argentum to realize that he had the [Boundless Potential] skill, which passively increased his stats, as well as the partial ownership title from the inheritance, which also increased his stats.

“If that’s the case, then the number that would appear on the center of the target is equivalent to the stats in the system?” Argentum muttered to himself in a slightly curious tone, with the last portion of the statement being softer than usual. Of course, he could not reveal such a private thing to the Grand Blue Master, even though he and Eleanor were good friends. Heck, Eleanor did not even know that Argentum had such a system.

“System, show me my Strength stat,” Argentum inwardly commanded the system, to which the system replied with a screen appearing in his mind. It was then that Argentum found out that his assumption was correct. On the screen was the number 23 beside the word ‘Strength’, which was the same in the center of the target.

Now knowing that the number on the target reflected the stats of the system, he could not help but wonder how high of a number he would be able to show if he used magic instead of his body. Not only that, but what if he also used all of his offense boosting buffs on top of that?

“23?” On the other hand, the Grand Blue Master was left at a loss for words as it looked at the number on the target. He remembered very well that such a stat was only achievable by a Pseudo-Animate at the Magic-grade, but a Normal-grade Pseudo-Animate like Argentum was able to unleash such power? Then again, this shock only lasted for a while as he remembered that Pseudo-Animates would have a few passive abilities that enhanced their stats. In his mind, he thought that Argentum had a passive ability that enhanced his strength.

‘Surely, he wouldn’t be able to show that much power as a Normal-grade Pseudo-Animate, right?’ the Grand Blue Master thought to himself. ‘If that’s the case, then why would such a being be the Undying Flame Spirit’s student?’

With the testing of the target now done, Argentum went ahead and said to the Grand Blue Master, “My apologies for doubting the Grand Blue Master’s words. The target is indeed a strength tester.”

“As long as you believe in it,” the Grand Blue Master said with a light chuckle. He then told him, “Anyways, with you now done with testing the strength tester, let’s officially start the second trial.”

“Your goal in this second trial is to make the tester show the number ‘200’ in the center,” the Grand Blue Master continued. He then explained, “With the strength you’ve exerted before, it would be easy for you to achieve such a number through the usage of a skill. Skills increase the power behind a being to unimaginable heights. If one were to compare which one’s stronger: A Normal-grade Pseudo-Animate with skills or an Epic-grade Pseudo-Animate with no skills, there’s a high chance that the Normal-grade Pseudo-Animate would prevail.”

“And with that, I won’t delay you any further,” the Grand Blue Master took in a deep breath before saying. “Make the number ‘200’ appear in the center of the strength tester and you will have passed the second trial. Not only that, but you will also obtain 10 points if you do.”

“Got it,” Argentum said in response. Just as he was about to send an attack towards the target, a question surfaced in his mind, to which he asked the Grand Blue Master, “Am I restricted to only Water-based skills?”

“Not at all,” the master of the inheritance said in response. “You can use any skill you want to. Even status boosting buffs are allowed. I want to see the limit of your current strength.”

“I see,” Argentum said, only to let out a light giggle soon after. At this moment, he was incredibly confident that he could reach 200 without a problem. What he wanted to know was how high he could go as of now. With that in mind, he said to the Grand Blue Master with a confident tone, “I’d suggest that the Grand Blue Master’s expectations should be set higher. I would probably reach around 500, perhaps?”

‘500?’ the Grand Blue Master thought to himself in slight confusion. ‘A power at that level would be around Legendary-grade already. Surely, Argentum could not unleash such a level of power, right? Even with all of the skills he has, he wouldn’t be able to do that, right?’

‘But why do I have the feeling that he’d be able to do it, then?’ the Grand Blue Master inwardly asked himself soon after, to which he let out a sigh and muttered, “Let’s just see how strong he truly is.”

Taking a deep breath, Argentum took a few steps back from the target, knowing very well that he was going to use a magic spell. He then went ahead and started activating his status boosting buffs.

“[Enhanced Offense]!”

Whoosh!

In an instant, a faint red aura started to emanate from Argentum, giving him the feeling that he had the power to crush anything in his path. Soon after, he shouted “[Zephyr Ascendance+],” enhancing the faint red aura surrounding him to a greater degree, giving the Grand Blue Master a faint feeling that Argentum now had the stats of a Magic-grade Pseudo-Animate.

“[Intermediate Blaze Magic: Ignis Burst Omega]!” Argentum said after the previous skill, making Argentum give off the feeling that he was the incarnation of flames. Of course, [Ignis Burst Omega] was the enhanced version of [Ignis Burst] after he had evolved [Lesser Blaze Magic+] to its current form.

After that, he went ahead and raised his right palm as a ball of Wind energy particles manifested over it. A few seconds later, this ball of wind condensed into a smaller ball as a larger ball surrounded it. This process continued for a few times, eventually forming into a ball that was light green on the surface, but dark green in the center.

While looking at it, the Grand Blue Master could not help but feel that the power behind this particular ball was at a level impossible for a Normal-grade Pseudo-Animate to achieve. With that in mind, he could not help but mutter to himself in slight curiosity, “Does Argentum…truly have such power?”

“[Intermediate Tempest Magic].”

“[Viridescent Zephyr Blast]!”

Whoosh!

Without hesitation, Argentum threw this condensed ball of Wind energy particles towards the target, heading towards it at great speeds. At the very instant the condensed ball of wind and the target collided, an incredibly deafening explosion was created from it, prompting Argentum to take a few steps back while the Grand Blue Master was left at a loss for words, in great disbelief that such a being would be able to achieve that much power.

Eventually, everything had settled down, allowing Argentum to see a target filled with great cracks all over it. Nevertheless, it was still able to do its job as it gradually lit up around half a minute later, forming a few signs in the center of it.

With both Argentum and the Grand Blue Master’s eyes peeled towards the number that was going to appear in the center of the target, the target eventually formed a number, starting from the double digits.

After a few seconds, the number had reached the triple digits, making Argentum inwardly chuckle as he muttered to himself, “I’m pretty sure that the number will have four digits at least.”

On the other hand, the Grand Blue Master looked at the number and asked himself, “Eh? The number isn’t stopping yet. You’re telling me that Argentum truly had the evidence to back up his words.”

After a few more seconds, the number on the center of the target had reached four digits, making Argentum incredibly elated while the Grand Blue Master was stupefied. He was truly in utter disbelief.

Eventually, the number on the target stopped, revealing a four-digit number to both Argentum and Grand Blue Master.

“2775…” Looking at this number, Argentum was incredibly satisfied. In his mind, he converted this number into the Animate levels, allowing him to mutter to himself that he was now invincible amongst all Rank 0 Animates, and even a few newly ascended Rank 1 Animates at that.

“2775…?!” As for the Grand Blue Master, he could not help but blink a few times after looking at it. He then focused his sense of vision towards Argentum, who already had all of his status boosting buffs disabled. To him, it felt like the Argentum he was looking at right now and the Argentum that attacked a while ago were two different people.

In the end, he could not help but let out a sigh as he muttered to himself, “A level of power that could even rival those higher than the Transcendent-grade…not to mention an incredibly high comprehension rate.”

“Under the tutelage of the Undying Flame Spirit, how far would he be able to go?”