I Reincarnated As A Stick

Chapter 316: Passing the Baton

Rustle…rustle…

Hearing the sounds of leaves being shaken vigorously, Herellia and Horell, who had been waiting for Argentum to come back all this time, could not help but become vigilant. At this moment, Herellia was already standing after drinking a bit more water from the ball of water Argentum had conjured for her. Because of that, the size of the ball of water was now around 30% smaller than it originally was. Nevertheless, the pain she felt from her stomach was now more tolerable than ever before, possibly due to her getting used to it.

Taking on a battle stance, the two of them focused their vision in the direction where they heard the rustling originate from, only to radiate auras of joy as they soon found that the one making the rustling noise was just Argentum moving through the various shrubs and trees.

Noticing that Argentum was carrying a wolf, Horell and Herellia could not help but look at Argentum with shock, recalling the bout they had with Chonk quite some time ago. As for Argentum, he placed the wolf carcass he had just obtained on the ground with a thud, taking in a breath of fresh air soon after as the carcass was still heavy even after all of the strength buffs he had cast on himself.

“Hm?” It was only at this moment that he noticed the shocked expressions on the faces of the two, making him wonder why they were looking at him that way. Fortunately, it did not take long for him to put two and two together as he looked at the wolf carcass he had brought, and then back at Herellia and Horell as he recalled some of Aurus’s memories from the past.

With an aura that seemed to exude that he now understood what was going on, he let out a light chuckle as he said, “Just so you know, this is just a normal wolf. Even you and Horell would be able to kill something like this alone.”

Hearing those words, the shocked expressions on the two subsided. However, a curious expression soon replaced it as they now wondered why Argentum had brought the corpse of a wolf to them. It was then they recalled the second thing that Argentum had to do to help Herellia with her current plight. At this moment, Herellia and Horell looked at Argentum, then at each other as they simultaneously thought, ‘Killing a wolf will help Herellia’s problem?’

“Horell, could you pluck a decent amount of branches from the fallen trees?” Ignorant of what they were thinking, Argentum looked at Horell and asked as he soon hung the wolf off of a sturdy tree using a ton of vines he had scavenged while making his way to this place. With a nod, Horell then went off and cast buffs on himself in order to make the process of grabbing branches faster.

With that, Argentum and Herellia were soon left alone, a silent atmosphere shrouding the two of them. After a while, one of the two finally felt that the silence was too unbearable, prompting them to take the initiative as that being asked the other one, “So, what problem do I have?”

Surprisingly, the first one to feel the silence getting to them was Herellia, deciding to start a conversation with Argentum with the topic of her current plight in mind. While Argentum was wondering as to how he was going to remove the fur from the carcass of the wolf, he heard the question that was directed at him, prompting him to answer, “You’re experiencing something called hunger.”

“Hunger? What’s that?” Herellia could not help but ask as her interest was piqued. Fortunately, Argentum was there to entertain her as they waited for Horell to come back, only to recall that since Horell had left, the water ball had no one controlling it anymore. With a slightly panicking aura surrounding him, he looked at the place where he had conjured the water ball, only to notice that a hand made out of condensed mana was keeping the water ball secure.

Seeing this, Argentum could not help but think that Horell had thought of it in advance, inwardly giving him a thumbs up from afar. Soon after, he answered Herellia’s query as he replied, “You can consider one of the features an Animate would have. In easier to understand terms, it’s a time when your body needs energy for it to operate at full power.”

“Is hunger a bad thing?” Herellia asked, slightly regretting the fact that she had evolved into the Animate level. In response, Argentum subconsciously shook his head as he responded, “At times, it’s a bad thing, but for the most part, it’s pretty great. Think about it this way. If your hunger is removed, you can expect yourself to be exerting 120%, 200%, or even 300% of your maximum power.”

“Of course, that’s only if you push yourself to the limit,” he added, but he kept this part to himself. Nevertheless, that was enough to make Herellia think that hunger was a good thing. Coincidentally, Argentum had found a decent way to remove the fur from the wolf carcass, utilizing the Wind element to conjure a sharp blade. After making sure that the blade was stable and sharp, he then grabbed ahold of it before using it to hack off the fur from the wolf carcass, making sure to remove the least meat while doing so.

The gray fur covering the wolf was gradually removed, revealing a body made out of reddish meat in front of Herellia. Unbeknownst to Herellia, her stomach started to grumble as she continued to look at the fur on the wolf carcass being removed, making her wonder as to why her body was acting like that even though she thought nothing of it. On the other hand, Argentum could not help but chuckle after hearing Herellia’s stomach grumble, prompting him to turn around to look at Herellia and say, “Wait for Horell to come back with branches. Once he’s back, your problem will definitely be gone.”

After that, he continued to use the wind blade he had conjured on the red meat of the wolf, cutting it into sizable portions before finding a long stick to skewer them on. Of course, he made sure that the stick he had picked up was not an Inanimate, or at the very least, an Inanimate that did not have a strong soul yet. He then hung the skewer filled with wolf meat on the tree he hung the wolf from as the two of them continued to wait for Horell to come back.

Fortunately, it did not take long, with Horell coming back around a couple of minutes later after Argentum was finished skewering the meat. Tossing the pile of branches on the ground slightly far away from the water ball, he then looked at Argentum and asked, “What should I do next?”

“That’ll be all for now, thanks,” Argentum said in response to Horell’s question as he thanked him. He then walked to where the branches were before utilizing [Higher Ignis Magic] to start a fire with the branches. He then waited for the fire to get hot as he found two branches that were long enough before shoving them into the ground on opposite sides of the fire, planning to use them as a place where he could place the skewer over the fire.

All the while Argentum was doing those things, Herellia and Horell looked at Argentum with an expression of curiosity and interest. Feeling that Argentum was doing something ritual-like in nature, Horell looked at Herellia and asked, “Do you know what kind of ritual Argentum is doing?”

But just before Herellia could respond to his question, Argentum interrupted her from replying, deciding to reply instead as he said, “This isn’t a ritual, Horell. In fact, it’s something Animates usually do to remove the hunger they’re feeling. It’s called cooking.”

“Cooking…” Herellia and Horell muttered as they committed the word to memory. From the looks of it, cooking was something that needed tons of effort to do, but by how Argentum was moving about through all of this with an air of nonchalance, they decided to wait until later to make their opinions.

At this moment, Argentum felt that the fire was hot enough, prompting him to grab the skewer he had hung from the tree and place it over the open fire through the branches he had affixed to the ground. He then allowed the part of the meat on the skewer over the fire to start browning as a fragrant aroma gradually suffused throughout the area after a few minutes or so.

Since Herellia was an Animate, after smelling this fragrant aroma, the grumbling of her stomach had intensified, as if her body was screaming out to her that she had to obtain that skewer of meat right now. But since Argentum was still handling it, she knew that it was better for her to wait as she endured the slightly intensified pangs of hunger. As for Horell, although the fragrant aroma was foreign to him, due to him being a Pseudo-Animate, he could not help but take pleasure in it as he asked Argentum, “Is cooking a process where you create nice smelling aromas? Because if it is, I might try and do it myself?”

“The fragrant aroma that arises from cooking is only a small part of it,” Argentum giggled as he turned the skewer over to allow the uncooked side of the skewered meat to be cooked over the fire. He then looked at Herellia and said, “Let me apologize in advance for not having any spices on me. I tried to forage some along the way, but none of them would fit wolf meat.”

“That’s fine, although I don’t know what spices are,” Herellia said with a tone of understanding. Eventually, the skewered meat on the stick was brown all over, with some parts even slightly charred. Nevertheless, Argentum knew that those parts would be the parts that would taste the best, removing the skewer from the open flame as he used a bit of his energy to separate a bit of water from the water ball he had conjured. He then used the water he had separated to put out the fire, knowing that it would be a hazard for Herellia if she openly got into contact with it.

He then gave the skewer to Herellia and said, “Here you go. What you have to do is more or less similar to drinking. The only difference is that you have to use your mouth to grip the meat on the skewer before placing it into your mouth and using your teeth to grind it down. Once you feel that you have ground it for long enough, you then swallow it.”

“Do I have to explain it one more time?” Argentum asked just in case, but Herellia shook her head in response as she replied, “Nope. I understand what I have to do.”

After that, she did what she was told to do, using the teeth to grip on a piece of the skewered meat before dragging it away to place it in her mouth. At the very instant the piece of meat she gripped on had entered her mouth, her senses of taste had allowed her body to enter a state of ephemeral euphoria, making her think that the piece of meat inside her mouth was the most delicious thing she had ever eaten, though she did not know what delicious meant.

In any case, she felt that her body was yearning for the piece of meat, so she continued to recall what Argentum had told her, grinding the piece of meat down with her teeth through chewing. Surprisingly, the depth of flavor from the piece of meat she was eating had intensified to a great degree as juices oozed out of the piece of meat. At this point, not only was her body yearning for the piece of meat, even her mind was screaming that she had to swallow it.

Eventually, she felt that she had ground the piece of meat for long enough and swallowed it, instantly removing the pain she felt radiating from her stomach. Noticing this, she looked at Argentum with shock and asked, “Is this the true method for removing hunger?”

“Indeed, it is.” Argentum nodded as he continued, “What you’re doing is called eating. With drinking, you would be able to unleash a great amount of power once you feel that your body has reached its limit.”

“I see,” Herellia said as she subconsciously nodded before grabbing a piece of meat from the skewer yet again to indulge herself in the pleasure of food. Gradually, her appetite turned more ravenous as she wolfed down the pieces of meat on her skewer to the point that she even choked on it at some point. Fortunately, Argentum was there to monitor her, sending her a blob of water to drink at the very instant he noticed her choking. After a few more minutes or so, the pieces of meat on the skewer had disappeared, with all of it ending up inside Herellia’s stomach as a satisfied expression could be seen on her face.

“That was…delicious,” Herellia could not help but say, to which Argentum replied with a light chuckle, “I’m glad you enjoyed it, then.”

“Speaking of which, I asked one of the friends I made during the journey I had to help you out in adjusting in your new existence level,” he said not long after, prompting Herellia to put on a curious expression as she asked, “When are we heading there?”

“Well, whenever’s fine,” Argentum said as he shrugged his shoulders, making Herellia ponder for a bit in silence. After some time, she wiped off the mess on her face after eating for the first time, using the ball of water as a mirror. Going silent for a bit more, she then looked at Argentum and said, “Let’s head there now.”

“Alright, then,” Argentum nodded as he asked, “How about the alliance, though?”

“That’s what I was thinking about while I was pondering,” Herellia said in response to Argentum’s words before looking at Horell. “And I’ve made my decision.”

“Horell, I now proclaim you to be the new leader of the Verdant Blossom Breeze Alliance,” she said in a solemn tone, eliciting an aura of confusion to radiate from Horell at first…which instantly turned into surprise not long after.

“…eh?”

“…”

“…EH?!”