I Reincarnated As A Stick

Chapter 321: Welcome to the Evernorth Desert

While Argentum was being transported into another place as his final statement was left interrupted, a different thing was taking place inside the Inferno Plains. Namely, inside the Flame Spirit Inheritance.

Whoosh!

“Well that was a nice detour,” a blue silhouette could not help but mutter to himself with slight glee as he looked at the dilapidated building in front of him, prompting him to let out a sigh soon after. Although he knew what kind of person Eleanor was after spending a ton of time with her after all these millennia, he still could not help but shudder with fear whenever he remembered Eleanor’s aggressive side.

“I hope the relaxing detour I took gives me enough strength to not slip up while saying what I have to say,” Felix added not long after, taking in a deep breath before circulating all of the energy inside his body to enter the Flame Spirit Inheritance.

Swish!

It did not take long for Felix to appear in the room where Eleanor usually stayed, radiating an aura of calmness as he looked around his surroundings. His sense of vision stopped at the fiery silhouette of a woman, who radiated an aura of seriousness as she looked at Felix and asked, “So, where did Argentum go?”

“Fortunately, he listened to your recommendations,” Felix said with an aura of light glee, recalling the conversation he had with Argentum regarding this topic. If Argentum did not say anything about this while they were heading to the Desecrated Terran Ruins, then the chances of him slipping up might have increased. With a light chuckle, he continued, “Rest assured, Eleanor. He went to the Supreme Terra Firma Inheritance, just like you said.”

“Hoh? Is that really the case?” Eleanor, who listened to Felix’s response, could not help but become inwardly suspicious, though on the outside, she remained indifferent. After going silent for a bit, she then lets out a light sigh as she looked at him and said, “In any case, I apologize for asking you to do this. I know you’re a busy guy and all that, concocting tons of Heaven’s Water Potions everyday.”

“Well, I could say the same for you,” Felix replied, letting out a light chuckle as he asked her, “I presume you’re going to sell it through your connections?”

“Of course, but the potency of the potions will be reduced to about 10% of the original,” Eleanor responded to his question with a light sigh, her sense of vision focusing on one of the corridors as she added, “That way, I’d be able to at least have a decent flow of money in order to help out Argentum’s Animate friend.”

“Oh? His friend is here?” Felix’s interest was instantly piqued, looking around the various corridors that were connected to the room they were in, only to decide in the end that there was no point snooping around as he felt that Argentum would introduce his friend to him in the future anyway. Shrugging his shoulders, he then turned around as he asked, “Is there anything else you want me to do before I leave?”

“Nah, that’s pretty much it,” Eleanor waved her hands as she replied. “Thanks for the help as always, Felix.”

“No problem,” Felix responded in a nonchalant tone as he circulated all of the energy inside his body once more, allowing him to leave the inside of the Flame Spirit Inheritance in less than an instant. At the very instant his presence was not felt around the area anymore, Eleanor’s aura, which took on a bit of indifference and nonchalance, hastily changed into that of extreme suspicion as she muttered, “Felix’s response is smooth…too smooth in fact.”

As she said that, she could not help but let out a light sigh as she released a bit of her energy, transforming it into a clone of her that would allow her to still communicate with Herellia while she was away. Making sure that the clone had enough energy inside that would allow it to last for days, Eleanor then muttered to herself, “In the end, I’ll only be satisfied once I obtain information from Argentum firsthand.”

Naturally, she knew that she could contact him through the connection they had, but since she had a feeling that he was already attempting the trials of the inheritance he chose, she opted to come to where the inheritance was instead. Circulating all of the energy inside her body, she went outside of the Flame Spirit Inheritance just like Felix, taking a quick look at the sun that was already near the peak of the sky.

Releasing a great amount of energy to propel herself at breakneck speeds, Eleanor went ahead and headed towards a certain direction as she said, “For now, I’ll head to the Supreme Terra Firma Inheritance and ask if Argentum’s there.”

“If not…”

“Then, be prepared to meet your maker, Argentum.”

…

Whoosh!

After a few seconds or so, the feeling of having space distort around his body had stopped, allowing Argentum to gaze at the wondrous sight in front of him…or at least, what was once a wondrous sight. Scratching his head as he tried to recall whether or not the place he ended up in was the right place, he went ahead and assessed his surroundings through his enhanced senses, giving him a better idea as to where he was.

Unsurprisingly, it did not take long for him to come to a conclusion, radiating an aura of slight glee as he muttered to himself, “Fortunately, the incantation I used was the right one. If Aurus’ memories are correct, then I’m currently in the qualification trial of the Desecrated Inheritance, the Evernorth Desert.”

Although it was unknown as to how a whole desert was placed inside an inheritance like the Desecrated Inheritance, according to Aurus’ memories, the Evernorth Desert used to house three large desert kingdoms, which all had around three hundred thousand people combined, working harmoniously with one another. Unfortunately, this era of peace was ended by someone named Calcifas, who was the person he mentioned while trying to get access into the inheritance.

Pondering as to what he was going to do now that he was in the Evernorth Desert, a disembodied voice resounded throughout the area all of a sudden, giving off an imposing vibe as it muttered, “Welcome, inheritor candidate, to the Desecrated Inheritance. I shall be your guide in this inheritance, and I hope you pass through all of the trials Lord Calcifas shall give you.”

“Currently, you’re inside the Evernorth Desert, the desert where the first feats of the great Lord Calcifas have ben witnessed,” the disembodied voice continued to talk, its tone that of awe and reverence. “To pay pilgrimage to the great Lord Calcifas, you must trek the Evernorth Desert in search of its exit. Once you find the exit, you shall become eligible to enter the true Desecrated Inheritance, and obtain boundless amounts of power.”

“As a hint to reach the exit, heed my words,” it added after it explained what Argentum had to do to start the Desecrated Inheritance. “The earth shall be your guide, let its embrace envelop you as it shall lead you to the end.”

“May you be successful in reaching the end, inheritor candidate,” the disembodied voice said its final words before disappearing, allowing Argentum to start trekking through the Evernorth Desert. Of course, before going ahead and starting his journey through the desert, the first thing he did was process and organize the information he had obtained from the disembodied voice, where most of it was related to the great Lord Calcifas, who Argentum thought was the owner of the Desecrated Inheritance.

“I wonder how long this Calcifas guy has been alive?” Argentum could not help but think to himself, recalling how old Felix and Eleanor were. Nevertheless, this thought was placed at the back of his head as he recalled that he was here to obtain Earth-based skills from the inheritance, and not to find out the relationship between the three…though it was not a lie to say that he was interested.

After processing all of the information he had obtained from the disembodied voice, he then recalled Aurus’ memories regarding the Evernorth Desert, wondering if the words spoken by the voice inside his memory were more or less the same with what the disembodied voice said to him. Fortunately, that was indeed the case, with the voice inside Aurus’ memory saying something along the lines of letting the earth guide him towards the end.

With that being confirmed, Argentum already knew what he had to do in order to find the exit in the Evernorth Desert and officially arrive at the Desecrated Inheritance. Closing his sense of vision without hesitation, he then allowed one of his passive skills to replace his sight as it offered him a new perspective on what the Evernorth Desert was like.

The passive skill that replaced his sight…was [Earth Affinity]. From the hint given by the disembodied voice itself, it told Argentum to let the earth guide him towards the exit. Naturally, the best way to let the earth guide someone like him towards the exit was to become one with the earth, and thus, [Earth Affinity] was activated.

At the very instant the skill replaced his sense of vision, he was able to find out that a great amount of Earth energy particles could be seen in the surroundings, though most of it congregated towards the sand he was stepping on, transforming into strands of pale brown light. These strands then connected with one another, transforming into thick brown lines that served as pathways amidst the mostly dark landscape offered by [Earth Affinity].

Surprisingly, these thick brown lines were arranged in a maze-like pattern that covered the entirety of the Evernorth Desert, though Argentum wasn’t sure about the last part since his [Earth Affinity] was only at the S-grade Mortal level. It did offer him greater range as to how many thick brown lines on the sand he could see, but he did not have the ability to view all of the lines making up the hidden maze of the Evernorth Desert, thinking that it was only possible if he had achieved [True Earth Affinity].

“Well, let’s get started,” Argentum said to psych himself up as he knew that this journey was going to last for quite some time. Since it was a maze, then he already had a strategy up his sleeve that would allow him to reach the end, though not at the fastest time. Making sure to focus his skill towards the right side of every thick brown line he was walking on, he went ahead and activated about half of his movement speed boosting spells, giving himself some leeway when it came to sensing where he was going to go.

Naturally, the strategy that he used when traversing the maze was a classic, which was to place one’s hand on the right side of the wall and use that as a way to find the exit. Of course, this strategy would not apply to all mazes as some mazes had the ability to change shape, depending on who made it. Thankfully, the owner of the Desecrated Inheritance did not bother to make it change shape, giving beings like Argentum, who knew what to do inside the Evernorth Desert, assurance in getting to the official portion of the Desecrated Inheritance.

And so, Argentum went on and traversed through the Evernorth Desert, allowing his [Earth Affinity] to act as his eyes as he followed the paths of the thick brown lines. From a bystander, it would seem that Argentum was walking around in circles for some time, then walk straight for others, then walk in a random direction after that. Even though it was a bit hilarious to think about, Argentum continued to make progress through the maze, feeling that he had reached the halfway point of the Evernorth Desert’s maze by around three hours or so.

By the time he had sensed the exit, it was already five hours since he started walking through the maze. At the very instant he was able to sense it, he activated one more movement speed boosting spell, significantly increasing the speed at which he traversed the thick brown lines making up the maze before finally arriving at the exit.

Whoosh!

At the very instant he touched the exit of the maze, which was a large circle made out of lighter brown lines, the disembodied voice that gave him advice at the start resounded throughout the area once more. It said with a tone of praise, “Congratulations, inheritor candidate, for arriving at the end of the Evernorth Desert in a time of 5 hours, and 12 minutes.”

“Since you have arrived at the end of the Evernorth Desert at a time four times faster than the general average, the Desecrated Inheritance has decided to give you a chance to select one skills from the inheritance’s skill list. To access it, just step beyond the exit you’re stepping on and everything else will naturally take place,” it continued.

Since Argentum was now done traversing through the hidden maze of the Evernorth Desert, he opened his sense of vision once more, revealing a doorway that shone quite intensely with brown light. Without hesitation, he took a few steps into the doorway, being transported to another place as the disembodied voice that guided him resounded throughout the area.

“The inheritor candidate has officially entered the Desecrated Inheritance.”

“Adjusting trial difficulty according to the inheritor candidate’s results…”

“Trial difficulty has been successfully adjusted.”

“Difficulty has been set to Prodigy grade.”