Chapter 226 - Is This Really A Trial? (1/2)
”That actually worked?” Argentum could not help but mutter to himself in a tone of disbelief. Although he had just done it, he still could not believe the fact that running around the nine pillars at a fast speed and jumping would actually put out the flames on top of the nine outer pillars.
He then went ahead and took in a few deep breaths, calming his senses back to rationality and logicality as he looked at the large orange flame on top of the pillar in the center of the circular formation. With the help of [Keen Vision], Argentum was able to check whether the orange flame was affected by the gust of wind he had made through running, noticing that he was only able to make it sway a little bit with the strength of the wind he made.
With the thought that the large orange flame would be blown away by a strong gust of wind just like the nine red flames, Argentum made his way towards the inner layers of the circular formation, somewhat thankful that there was a decent gap between the center pillar and the outer pillars, allowing him to run without worrying about bumping into the outer pillars.
Since [Tempest Awakening] and [Zephyr Burst] were buffs that lasted for quite a long time, with [Tempest Awakening] reliant on the amount of MP he had, Argentum headed straight into running around the center pillar, gradually picking up speed, as well as wind in the process.
Little by little, the sound of the wind near his sense of hearing became louder, eventually reaching a point where it was near deafening, a level of loudness that he had not reached while he was running around the nine outer pillars. Having an intuitive feeling that a gust of wind at this strength would be able to topple down the large orange flame on top of the center pillar, Argentum abruptly stopped running before jumping with all of his might, allowing the gust of wind he had created to reach the large orange flame.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
In response to the strong gust of wind, the large orange flame was blown towards all directions, its brightness dimming in an instant as Argentum could see the embers where the large orange flame originated. Just as Argentum thought that the large orange flame would be fully blown away by the gust of wind he had made, the force behind the gust of wind had unfortunately run out at the instant a small flame was what remained from the large orange flame.
Fwoosh!
Since no gust of wind was blowing on the orange flame, it did not take long for the orange flame to become large again, giving Argentum the idea that the nine outer pillars were intentionally easy to clear so that he would have a lot of confidence when trying to remove the large orange flame, only for him to fail as his confidence crumbles.
”There's finally a challenge to this trial,” Argentum muttered with a light chuckle. ”And here I thought the difficulty of the trial stated by the disembodied voice was actually fake.”
”Then again…if there was more force in the gust of wind I made, I would be able to remove the large orange flame on top of the center pillar, thus clearing this trial,” Argentum continued as he pondered on what other methods he had that could remove the large orange flame.
Surprisingly, only one method came to mind after what seemed to be a moment of pondering, which was a method that he considered unfeasible since it had close to no effect in removing the flames when he first thought up of it. The reason why he thought that this method would work this time was that he thought that the method of removing the large orange flame was different from the red flames, which only needed a strong gust of wind to be removed.
Letting out a short sigh, Argentum went ahead and looked up at the large orange flame that was still going strong. As he looked at it, he muttered, ”If my thoughts are actually correct, I think I'm gonna lose it in this inheritance.”
”[Enhanced Offense].”
”[Lower Tempest Magic: Wind Ball].”
Whoosh!
As a faint red aura enveloped his whole body due to the effects of [Enhanced Offense], giving Argentum the feeling that he had the strength to fight against tens of Pseudo-Animates at once, a ball of wind was soon conjured on top of Argentum's right palm, which was also enveloped in the same red aura that covered his body.
Taking in a deep breath, he then went ahead and threw the ball of wind towards the large orange flame.
Whoosh!
While the ball of wind was heading towards the large orange flame, Argentum's thoughts could not help but be split into two. One thought was thinking that the ball of wind would not have any effect at all, with the large orange flame becoming the victor at the end of it. As for the other thought, it was thinking that the ball of wind would be able to disperse the large orange flame, thus allowing him to clear the trial at a fast rate.
”All I have to do is to wait and s—” Just as he said these words while looking at the aftermath of the collision, Argentum stopped talking as he felt his words become stuck somewhere along the way, leaving him at a loss for words as an aura of intense disbelief radiated from him once more.
Fwoosh!
Expecting that the ball would not affect the large orange flame in any way, which seemed to be the most logical and rational outcome of the collision, what happened instead was the exact opposite. At the very instant the ball and the large orange flame had collided with one another, the ball of wind went ahead and exploded, instantly dispersing the large orange flame into nothingness. In other words, the large orange flame was put out.
After the large orange flame was dispersed, a deafening silence spread throughout the room, with most of it originating from Argentum. It was only after a minute or so did Argentum come back to his senses, feeling that his mouth went agape as he muttered, ”That…actually worked?”
”What the f.u.c.k?” This question was what circulated in Argentum's mind after seeing the aftermath of the collision. Fortunately, Argentum's train of thought was pulled towards another track as the disembodied voice from before resounded in the room Argentum was in, saying, ”The inheritor has completed the Grand Flame Dispersal within a time of 3 minutes and 45 seconds. The inheritor has obtained the highest possible reward for the first trial.”
Ding!
After the disembodied voice was finished speaking, a notification sound resounded within Argentum's mind, prompting him to open up his notification screen with slightly high expectations on the reward he would get from the first trial. As he wondered as to what kind of reward he would get from the inheritance on its first trial, Argentum could not help but mutter to himself, ”Since the grade of rewards in this inheritance is S++, that means the reward I'll get from this first trial is—”
Just as he was about to finish his statement, he was instantly left at a loss for words as he read the latest notification he had received, opening and closing his sense of vision a few times to make sure if he was dreaming. Feeling that he was still dreaming, he went ahead and shot a bolt of wind towards himself, feeling great pain from it as he soon activated [Tempest Regeneration+], the evolved version of [Grand Breeze Rejuvenation].
Letting out a soft hiss sound from the pain, he then said to himself, still in disbelief, ”I'm not dreaming at all. I actually obtained one of the skills I wanted from this inheritance on its first trial.”
'You have obtained the active skill [Lesser Flame Magic] as a reward.'
”[Lesser Flame Magic],” Argentum muttered in disbelief as he closed the notification screen not long after. He then said, ”With this skill, this puts me one step closer to the evolution I'm aiming for.”
Just as he was about to test out his newly obtained [Lesser Flame Magic], the disembodied voice resounded throughout the room once more, making Argentum radiate an aura of confusion as he listened to it.
”The inheritor shall now have a ten-minute break before the next trial. The inheritance recommends the inheritor to increase their prowess with the [Lesser Flame Magic] skill in preparation for the second trial. The second trial will solely rely on the inheritor's prowess with the [Lesser Flame Magic] skill.”