I Reincarnated As A Stick

Chapter 343: Preparing for the Final Stretch

“One…two…heave!” With the match between the two of them now over, Argentum went ahead and helped Argento out of the hole he had created from the attack. Fortunately, it only took Argentum about five pulls at full power for Argento to be free from the Pseudo-Animate shaped hole he was in.

Removing all of the rubble and dust that had stuck onto his body, Argento then looked at Argentum with both awe and shock as he was not expecting the Pseudo-Animate he had just become friends with to be so powerful. At most, he expected that Argentum was only around 10-20% stronger than him. Never in his mind did he think that a single move from Argentum would send him flying.

Pondering over the reasons why Argentum won against him, Argento then recalled their earlier talk about the fusion of elements and such, prompting him to ask the former, “So, is your power because of you trying to achieve Lesser Origin?”

“Well…I guess you could say that,” Argentum replied with a light yet awkward chuckle, knowing very well that most of his power had come from the inheritances he was partly owning. Nevertheless, he was quite surprised that another Normal-grade Pseudo-Animate like him had also undergone their first Power Baptism, prompting him to add, “But you know, you never told me that you underwent your first Power Baptism.”

“And neither did you,” Argento said with a giggle.

“True,” Argentum responded not long after, laughing as well.

After laughing at each other for a while, Argento went ahead and asked Argentum a question that had lingered in his mind ever since the latter had unleashed his final move.

“Say…could you show me how to do that move you just did?” Argento asked with a hint of nervousness, knowing very well that there was a high chance of Argentum rejecting. Fortunately, Argentum did not find anything wrong with sharing his skills, given how he could change it on the fly if he wanted to. And so, with that in mind, he responded, “Sure.”

Seeing that the two were going to take a while in the room Rosalia had haphazardly built, Rosalia asked Eleanor, “Could you come with me to the storage room for a bit? I just need to grab some stuff to reward Argento with.”

“Alright, then.” Eleanor lightly nodded, feeling that Rosalia was doing this in order for both Argentum and Argento to deepen their connection.

And so, with the two now alone, Argentum went ahead and started teaching Argento the technique he had used as his final move. Surprisingly, it did not take long for Argento to understand the mechanics behind the technique, prompting Argentum to say to him, “You’re quite a fast learner.”

“That’s what other beings say about me most of the time,” Argento said with a light chuckle before cocking his right arm back. He then channeled a great portion of energy towards his right palm as it was soon covered in a layer of Earth energy particles. Not long after, he pushed out with all his might, allowing a decently sized palm imprint to move for a few meters before dissipating from the lack of energy.

“[Terra Palm Wave]!”

Whoosh!

“Well, I guess I could consider you to be at the basic mastery of the skill,” Argentum said after Argento was done showing off his progress with the move, even though he had just used that skill for the first time in that fight. Of course, hearing that what he had done so far was just at the basic mastery level of the skill, he was now curious as to what the skill looked like at the highest possible mastery achievable.

“Could you show me the full power of the [Terra Palm Wave]?” Argento asked with a hint of excitement and curiosity in his tone, making Argentum instantly regret the fact that he said that. He then went silent for a bit, wondering what he could do to make it seem like he had reached the highest level possible for the skill. Fortunately, it did not take long for an idea to surface in his mind as he felt that it would work.

Imitating the sound of one clearing their throat, Argentum went ahead and said, “Alright, then. I’ll show you the full power of the [Terra Palm Wave], but just this once.”

“I’ll definitely keep my sense of vision peeled,” Argento said as he profusely nodded.

Taking in a deep breath, Argentum went ahead with the idea he had in mind, silently activating the enhancement skills he had in his arsenal as he looked at Argento and said, “At full power, the [Terra Palm Wave] isn’t really called that anymore, but rather, it relies on the fusion of the elements you’ve mastered along the way. For me, the peak of this skill would be called the [Lesser Origin Palm Wave]. While for you, it could be called the [Terra Tempest Palm Wave] or the [Gale Mountain Palm Wave] or whatever.”

As he cocked his right arm back while allowing more and more Earth energy particles to coalesce around it, he continued to activate more and more of his buffs, allowing him to give off an aura that grew more terrifying by the second.

While that was happening, he continued to explain, “Also, I don’t really have full control over this stage, but essentially, you’ll have to condense a large amount of strength in a short amount of time, which is a sign that you’ve achieved the peak of this skill. Combine the two things I’ve said and you’ll definitely wipe out your foes in one move.”

“I see,” Argento said as the aura around him radiated more and more excitement, wanting to see the full power of the skill he had learned in action.

By the time Argentum was finished powering up his move, Eleanor and Rosalia had finally come back from the storage room, only to see that Argentum and Argento were standing in place. Of course, they noticed the move that Argentum was doing, wondering what was going on with his palm as the two of them noticed that the four elements converged around it.

Fortunately, the answer to their questions did not take long to arrive as Argentum looked at Argento and said, “Step back.”

Lightly nodding, Argento distanced himself from Argentum, allowing Argentum to do his thing as he pushed his legs to the limit, making it seem like he had teleported in front of one of the room’s walls in an instant. Soon after that, he pushed with his right palm with all his might as he shouted, “[Lesser Origin Palm Wave]!”

Silence.

For a second, a deafening silence could be heard throughout the room as all three looked at Argentum with curiosity and anticipation. And then…

Bang!

Like the birth of a universe, a giant imprint with a diameter around five times Argentum’s height had appeared on one of the walls like it was there in the first place. Naturally, multiple cracks started to spread from the palm imprint, though for some reason, most of it stayed intact as the palm imprint continued to dig in deep for a meter before stopping.

Seeing that, even Argentum was left at a loss for words as he did not expect that he could unleash so much power at once. Argento, on the other hand, looked at the large palm imprint with an aura of extreme amazement as he shouted, “Amazing!”

As for Rosalia, she looked at the palm imprint that was made before looking at Argentum with an expression of shock. As for Eleanor, although there was a hint of surprise on the aura surrounding her, the light laughter that came out of her soon after made one think that she was more or less expecting this level of combat power from him.

“If I fought against Argentum at his level…I would’ve definitely thought he was the scarier one compared to you, Eleanor,” Rosalia could not help but say, prompting Eleanor to respond with, “You’ve definitely got that right.”

After making sure that they’ve regained their composure, Eleanor and Rosalia went up to the two of them, with Rosalia looking at Argento and saying, “As I’ve said earlier, whether you win or lose, you’d still have a chance of obtaining anything from my inheritance. Since it took some time for the two to learn from each other, I decided to bring some of my most precious treasures to you. So, which one would you pick?”

Argento looked at the items Rosalia had brought with her and went silent for a bit as he knew that the choice he would make here would affect his progress in the long run. Fortunately, one of the items that Rosalia brought had made him feel like it was a worthy investment, so with the item in mind, he said to Rosalia, “I would like to choose the book, Master.”

“Good eye,” Rosalia said with a light chuckle before giving the book she had to Argento, who received it with both arms. She then said to him, “At your current level, you can only master the first layer of the [World Ultimatum Art]. But even with that limitation, you could still fight against a Grand-grade Pseudo-Animate on even grounds…perhaps even best them.”

“As for you, Argentum…” With Argento’s reward being given out, she then shifted her focus onto Argentum, who had just understood something that would get him closer to Lesser Origin from the attack he had done. Fortunately, Rosalia’s interruption was after he had been enlightened by what he had done, allowing him to allot his full attention onto her.

“What reward would you like?” she asked. At first, Argentum was about to respond that he want to become a partial owner of her inheritance, but then, he felt that he had already become the partial owner of quite a decent amount of inheritances. Of course, there was no problem with him becoming the partial owner of another strong inheritance, but he felt like this chance of his was better spent on something else…like towards the progress of him achieving Lesser Origin.

And so, that’s what he exactly did.

“Could you give me uh…” Argentum organized and compiled all of the materials he needed to create the Heaven’s Wind Potion before sending it to her in a strand of energy. Upon receiving it, Rosalia was surprised to hear some of the items, knowing very well that they were hard to procure. Just as she was about to decline his request, Argentum then sent another strand of energy with a message that said, “If you help me out, I’ll give you a recipe that would allow your perception over the Earth element to increase.”

In response, Rosalia narrowed her eyes as she pondered over the matter for a bit. Eventually, she let out a sigh as she said, “Fine, fine, fine. I’ll help you procure the materials you need. Of course, you should give me the recipe first.”

“Gladly,” Argentum said with a light chuckle before sending the recipe for the Heaven’s Earth Potion to Rosalia through another strand of energy. She then made sure to check the ingredients and the instructions of the recipe, as well as its effects. Within seconds, she knew how valuable this type of potion was, prompting her to say through a strand of energy, “Once I start selling this Heaven’s Earth Potion in the market, I’m sure it’ll be a highly profitable item. Would you like to get a cut of the profits once I do start selling it?”

Argentum pondered over the matter for a bit, thinking of rejecting the proposal, only to remember that he was the leader of an Animate town. With that in mind, he knew that having money in reserve was a good thing, so he lightly nodded and said, “That would be great. As for the share, that shall be up to your conscience.”

“Trust me on this one. I won’t give you a share that you’ll be disappointed with,” Rosalia said with a light smile through the strand of energy connecting them before dispelling their connection. With Eleanor now being able to listen in on their conversation, Rosalia then asked Argentum, “So…where should I send the materials once I procure them?”

Argentum went silent for a bit before replying, “Just send them to Eleanor’s inheritance. I’ll be staying there for a while to increase my understanding over the Fire element.”

“Aww…you’re leaving?” Argento, who was listening to their conversation, could not help but say. In response, Argentum let out a light chuckle as he replied, “Relax, man. I’ll make sure to visit you from time to time.”

“How about I accompany you on your trip, Argentum?” Eleanor offered to Argentum, only to be shot down by Rosalia as she said, “No can do, Eleanor. Didn’t you promise me that you’d spend time with me for a week?”

“Hehe.” Eleanor let out a light chuckle before letting out a short sigh. Soon after, she pondered over something for a bit before sending an orb of red energy towards Argentum, which his body easily absorbed. Not long after, he felt that each step he took would allow him to traverse hundreds of meters in an instant, prompting him to look at Eleanor with shock, gratitude, and confusion at the same time.

With a light giggle, she said, “I have a hunch that you need to go somewhere as fast as possible, so here I am, helping you with that. Make sure to stay safe, okay?”

“Why would I actively face danger for no reason?” Argentum said with a chuckle before looking at Rosalia and saying, “Please send me out of the inheritance.”

With a nod, Rosalia said to him, “At the very least, it’ll take a day for me to procure all of the items. Before then, stay in Eleanor’s inheritance, okay?”

“Will definitely do,” Argentum responded just as Rosalia snapped her fingers, teleporting him to the outside of the inheritance.

And just like that, Argentum was well on his way back to the Flame Spirit Inheritance.