I Reincarnated As A Stick

Chapter 252: A Sudden Request

“Huh?” the Grand Blue Master uttered as he heard Argentum’s response. Thinking that he had heard wrongly, he went ahead and vigorously shook his head to and fro. To Argentum, who saw the Grand Blue Master doing this all of a sudden, he could not help but mutter to himself, “Why is he doing that?”

Fortunately, the Grand Blue Master stopped shaking his head after a few seconds, his sense of vision locking onto Argentum’s soon after. He then imitated the sound of a being clearing the throat after that to reduce the awkward atmosphere between them as he asked Argentum, “Could you repeat what you said earlier? Regarding the reward you want from the inheritance? I think I might have misheard you.”

Without hesitation, Argentum said the same words he uttered a while ago, telling the Grand Blue Master in a slightly questioning tone, “I would like to become a partial owner of the Grand Blue Inheritance?”

Cough! Cough! Cough!

Realizing that he had not heard wrongly, the Grand Blue Master imitated the sound of a being having a coughing fit, startling Argentum yet again. At this moment, Argentum could not help but think that the Grand Blue Master could either be sick or on the verge of losing his mind. Either way, he was still the one who would give him his reward, so he decided to not tell the Grand Blue Master what he was thinking about.

Eventually, the Grand Blue Master stopped imitating the sound of someone having a coughing fit, letting out a sigh afterward as he pondered over the reasons why Argentum would request such a reward from him. Not getting to a conclusion even after mulling over it for quite some time, the Grand Blue Master focused his sense of vision back at Argentum once more as he asked him in a calm tone, “Could you tell me the reason why you chose that as your reward, Argentum?”

“Grand Blue Master, you did tell me that as long as it’s within your inheritance, I could ask for it as a reward, right?” Argentum uttered in response to his question. He then added, “Is the great Grand Blue Master reneging on his words from a while ago?”

“No, no, no,” the Grand Blue Master hastily said in response to Argentum’s question, letting out a wry chuckle soon after. “I’m just curious, that’s all. Just curious.”

“But seriously though, what made you choose becoming a partial owner of my inheritance as a reward?” he added not long after that, which made Argentum ponder over the answer he was going to tell him.

Naturally, Argentum wouldn’t tell the Grand Blue Master that he had already become a partial owner of the Flame Spirit Inheritance. Telling him about Aurus’s memories of owning inheritances would be a no as well for him. Thankfully, it did not take long for a believable answer to surface in his mind, using Eleanor as his scapegoat on how he knew about partial ownership and stuff.

‘I’ll surely make it up to you in the future, Eleanor,’ Argentum thought inwardly as he took in a deep breath. He then faced the Grand Blue Master as he replied, “Teacher told me back then that the reason why she was incredibly powerful had something to do with owning an inheritance.”

“Of course, I was curious back then as to how owning an inheritance would give someone immense amounts of power, to which Teacher unhesitatingly explained the ins and outs of an inheritance, as well as the benefits of becoming an owner, and even a partial owner, of an inheritance,” he continued.

“Teacher’s words just occurred to me while you were asking me as to what reward I should choose,” he added after that. “I wonder if my answer satisfies the Grand Blue Master’s curiosity?”

“I see…” the Grand Blue Master slowly said, wondering why Eleanor would tell her student something like that. As he thought about it, he could not help but think, ‘Is she trying to reduce my power so she could finally win when we meet again?’

While thinking about it, he could not help but imagine the arrogant chortles of Eleanor winning against him in a fight. Just as he was about to become more furious at Eleanor, deciding to direct some of his anger once more onto Argentum, he took in a deep breath and calmed himself down, realizing what a big mistake killing her student would be.

Letting out a long sigh filled with slight melancholy, the Grand Blue Master said to Argentum in a slightly disinterested tone, “Alright, then. You want to become a partial owner of my inheritance, right? I’ll grant you your wishes…”

Hearing those words come out of his mouth, Argentum could not help but become elated as he jumped for joy. Unfortunately, his glee did not last long as the Grand Blue Master said, “…but only on two conditions.”

“What would those two conditions be, Grand Blue Master?” Argentum hastily replied to his question. To him, as long as the conditions did not go along the lines of being stuck to the Grand Blue Inheritance for eternity, he would accept it. Even forming a Spirit Contract with the Grand Blue Master would be alright with him since that meant that he would have another life-saving trump card at his disposal.

A few seconds after Argentum asked the Grand Blue Master, the Grand Blue Master went ahead and raised one of his fingers made out of water before saying, “The first condition is that a contract between you and me shall be formed, allowing me to be notified of your location wherever you may be in Erudinia.”

In response, Argentum let out an inward sigh of relief as the Grand Blue Master was not hampering his freedom to travel across Erudinia. Soon after, he nodded to his words before asking, “What about the second condition?”

The Grand Blue Master then went ahead and raised another finger in response as he replied, “The second condition is that the amount of control you have over my inheritance can only be at 15% at most. Just so you know, 15% of my inheritance’s power is already equivalent to a large portion of a small inheritance’s power. I’m pretty sure your teacher has already told you about this.”

Surprisingly, Argentum shook his head at the Grand Blue Master’s last statement. He then told him, “Unfortunately, Teacher did not tell me anything about it at all. I honestly have no clue what determines the amount of power an inheritance has.”

Argentum truly was curious as to how the Grand Blue Master would be able to say that. Although he knew that different inheritances offered a different boost in stats thanks to Aurus’s memories regarding the Tempest Cliff Inheritance and the Area 52 Inheritance, he did not know what determined the amount of power an inheritance had.

“Seriously?” the Grand Blue Master could not help but ask Argentum, to which Argentum unhesitatingly nodded his head. This made the Grand Blue Master scratch his head soon after as he tried to recall what he knew about these inheritances, letting out a sigh as he recalled them. Eventually, he had organized every memory he had regarding the subject, taking in a deep breath before explaining to Argentum, “The amount of power an inheritance has is mostly reliant on two things. The first element would be the being that had created the inheritance, influencing the amount of defensive and offensive power an inheritance was against those who have malicious intent towards the inheritance.”

“The second element, on the other hand, has something more to do with the partial ownership of an inheritance. That element would be the length of time an inheritance has existed. All inheritances absorb energy from their surroundings and then redirect it towards their owners, allowing their owners to experience great improvements in their power, thus enhancing the defensive and offensive power of the inheritance even further,” he continued.

“The length of time an inheritance has existed can be categorized into 5 grades…well, to be honest, I only know of 4 grades. Some say that there are 7 inheritance grades, but the oldest I’ve seen was that of the 4th grade,” the Grand Blue Master said, admitting that he lacked quite a sizable amount of information regarding inheritances. He then elaborated, “From weakest to strongest, those grades are: Unnamed, Small, Medium, and Large.”

The Grand Blue Master took in a deep breath before going in-depth regarding the various grades he knew. “Unnamed-grade inheritances have existed for at least a year, and a thousand years at most. The boost they offer is more or less insignificant to incredibly strong beings since, at most, they could only boost the owner’s power by 100%, with a 50% boost not being uncommon to Unnamed-grade inheritances.”

‘So the inheritance in Tempest Cliff is actually an Unnamed-grade inheritance?’ Argentum could not help but think to himself, recalling the being who made the inheritance, which was Kevin. Although Kevin did lie to his original body that he was his clone, Argentum could not help but slightly admire Kevin for the number of items in the inheritance. If it were not for him, then the Argentum and Aurus of now wouldn’t have been possible.

“Small-grade inheritances are one step above Unnamed-grade inheritances, with the shortest time of existence being 2000 years. One could categorize an inheritance as a Small-grade inheritance as long as they have existed for no longer than 15,000 years. At this grade, an inheritance would normally boost their owner’s power at 100%, with the highest possible boost being 200%” the Grand Blue Master continued to explain.

To the Grand Blue Master’s explanation regarding Small-grade inheritances, Argentum nodded his head…only for him to realize that an inheritance he just became a partial owner of not long ago fell under this category. Calculating the stat boost he obtained for every percent of control he had over the inheritance, he made sure that it truly fell into this category.

“A Small-grade inheritance has only existed for 15,000 years at most,” Argentum muttered to himself before asking himself soon after, “If that’s the case…how old is Eleanor then?”

Fortunately, he did not dwell too long on the topic, prompting his focus onto the Grand Blue Master once more.

“Medium-grade inheritances are pretty rare inheritances on this continent,” the Grand Blue Master said. “At the very least, they’ve existed for 20,000 years. At most, they’ve existed for 50,000 years, bringing incredible improvements to the inheritance’s owner while the inheritance obtained a few peculiar properties in the process. My Grand Blue Inheritance falls under this category, just so you know.”

“The lowest boost a Medium-grade inheritance can give would be 300% while the highest would be around 1000%” the Grand Blue Master added. Just as he was about to explain what Large-grade inheritances were, he let out an awkward chuckle as he said, “To be honest, I don’t really know that much about Large-grade inheritances. All I know is that as long as they’ve existed for over 100,000 years, one could consider them as a Large-grade inheritance. Surprisingly, only around five inheritances of that grade exist in this continent.”

Taking in yet another deep breath, the Grand Blue Master looked at Argentum and asked him, “Anyways, does that clear up your confusion? Also, are you willing to accept the two conditions I’ve given you?”

Argentum nodded in response to the Grand Blue Master’s question, replying, “Yes, it has indeed cleared up my confusion, Grand Blue Master. Also, I accept your two conditions.”

Recalling what the Grand Blue Master told him about Medium-grade inheritances, he calculated that he would at least get a 45% boost from becoming a partial owner of the inheritance. Although he was not sure if the Grand Blue Inheritance had existed for 50,000 years, thinking that he had a small chance to obtain a 150% boost made him expectant of this ownership.

In response to Argentum’s words, the Grand Blue Master radiated an aura of happiness as he said, “Alright. Give me a second to prepare.”

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Not long after that, the Grand Blue Master went ahead and released the entirety of his aura, which was a few notches more tyrannical than Eleanor’s. Just as Argentum felt that he would not be able to withstand such an aura any longer, the Grand Blue Master soon suppressed his aura after a few milliseconds, condensing some of it towards a ball of blue energy that hovered around his finger.

“Under the sights of heaven, I, the Grand Blue Master, shall now bestow Argentum here a portion of the Grand Blue Inheritance’s control. May this agreement last for eternity!” the Grand Blue Master shouted as he flung the ball of blue energy towards Argentum. He then followed up with, “Argentum, don’t dodge it, okay?”

In response, Argentum nodded, knowing that the ball of blue energy the Grand Blue Master sent flying towards him contained a part of the Grand Blue Inheritance’s power. Since he had already gone through something like this before, it was not hard for him to stay in place, allowing his body to absorb the ball of blue energy, imbuing his body with a great sense of power.

Surprisingly, he felt that the ball of blue energy held as much power as the one thrown at him by Eleanor from back then. After a few more seconds, he now felt like he could peer through the walls of the room he was currently in, allowing him to see what were in the other rooms.

Ding!

‘You have obtained the title [Grand Blue Inheritance: Partial Ownership].’

Although he had the urge to check the boost the new title he had obtained gave him, just like before, he knew that it would be rude for him to do so. Taking a deep breath, he then said to the Grand Blue Master, “Thank you, Grand Blue Master, for giving me the rewards I want.”

“You’re welcome,” the Grand Blue Master said, accompanied with a light chuckle. He then told him, “Of course, our deal is not over yet. We still have to make a contract between the two of us.”

“Ah, yes,” Argentum said in response, only for a thought to surface in his mind soon after. With that in mind, he commanded the system in his mind to summon Blob out as he said to the Grand Blue Master, “Uh…before we sign a contract between the two of us, could you fulfill one of my small requests, Grand Blue Master?”

“Hmm? What would that request be?” the Grand Blue Master asked in response, only for him to radiate an aura of slight surprise as he noticed that a strong Pseudo-Animate of the Fire element now stood beside Argentum.

Of course, this Pseudo-Animate was none other than Blob, who immediately felt weak at the very instant he was summoned out of the system. Forcing himself to not faint through his willpower, his sense of vision gradually shifted towards Argentum beside him as he asked him in an annoyed voice, “You should’ve told me that you were going to summon me, Argentum! Guh…I feel weak…”

“As you can see, Grand Blue Master, my companion here is of the Fire element, thus he is greatly disadvantaged in this environment,” Argentum started to explain to the Grand Blue Master, ignoring the words said by Blob to him in the process. “Would you please bestow my companion a skill to resist the Water element so that he could move the area without any problems?”

“…” Looking at the stark contrast between Argentum, who was calmly explaining his companion’s situation beside him, and his companion, who seemed to be silently cursing Argentum to die, the Grand Blue Master was left at a loss for words.

Eventually, a sound came out of the Grand Blue Master’s mouth after a few seconds of looking at Argentum and his companion back and forth. This sound was none other than…

“…huh.”