Chapter 228 - Seven Flame Road (1/2)
After finding out that the rewards he had obtained from eating the slab of meat allowed him to increase his mastery of [Lesser Fire Magic] and increase his affinity towards Fire, he looked at the remaining four of slabs of meat with a gaze that exuded intense greed and gluttony as he said with elation, ”Truly a reward befitting the S++ grade!”
Whoosh!
Without hesitation, he went ahead and moved onto the second slab of meat, widening his mouth to its limit as he hacked off larger chunks from the second slab of meat when compared to the first slab. Surprisingly, this move allowed him to experience a greater burst of flavor from the meat. Not only did he taste the salty and savory flavor with a hint of a spicy kick from before, but he also tasted a far deeper flavor from the meat, bringing out the uniqueness of each flavor and enhancing it even further.
This, in turn, made him wolf down the second slab of meat in record time, only taking around ten seconds or so for the slab of meat to disappear from the face of Erudinia and be absorbed by Argentum's body instead. Hearing a notification sound from the system not long after, informing Argentum that the mastery of [Lesser Fire Magic] and his affinity with the Fire element had increased once more, Argentum went ahead and moved towards the third slab of meat, letting out a sigh filled with slight melancholy as his view was filled with the slab of meat.
”If this were another time, I would have definitely savored every second eating these five slabs of meat,” Argentum muttered to himself in a slightly melancholic tone. ”Too bad I need to eat these slabs as fast as possible.”
Just as he was about to open his mouth agape yet again, a thought related to the meat he was eating popped up in his mind, which fused with his goal of becoming a Super Animate, forming a new thought that made him more motivated to eat these slabs of meat as possible.
'The inheritance said that this meat I'm eating came from a Rank 4 Ignis Kaiser Lion…which is an Animate,' Argentum thought to himself, lightly chuckling as he started biting down on his third slab of meat. 'In other words, I need to become a Super Animate as fast and as powerful as possible so I can eat this kind of meat again!'
Whoosh! Whoosh!
And so, just with that thought in his mind, Argentum wolfed down the next two slabs of meat in less than ten seconds, setting a faster time than before as his mastery of [Lesser Fire Magic] had reached the Master level, which he had been informed of through the system. This prompted him to evolve the skill to its next grade, its name now being [Lower Blaze Magic+]. As for his affinity with the Fire element, it had now reached a point that his feeling towards flames and other things that were related to the Fire element was somewhat akin to what he felt with the Wind element.
In short, a close connection.
Naturally, the last slab of meat was wolfed down within a few seconds, increasing the mastery of his newly evolved [Lesser Blaze Magic+] to Basic level, eliciting a light chuckle from Argentum as he said, ”I guess I'll have to grind less to reach the highest level of mastery for this skill.”
After being notified of his skill mastery going up by a level, he then turned his focus towards that of his affinity towards the Fire element, reading the first few words of the notification with a cheerful aura radiating from him, only for it to change to that of elation by the time he was finished reading.
”You're kidding, right?” This was the first question that popped up into his head as he read the notification. This time though, he did not need to inflict any pain onto himself or need the inheritance to repeat itself since he now had a grasp of how unbelievable the rewards at S++ grade were. Taking in a deep breath to calm his emotions, which soon intensified not long after, Argentum let out a loud cackle as he said, ”The skill that I wanted the most from the inheritance…is finally in my hands!”
Ding!
'Your affinity with the Fire element has increased once more, bringing out a qualitative change of your affinity towards it. Due to this qualitative change, the passive skill [Fire Affinity] has been obtained.'
Closing the notification screen after that, Argentum went ahead and commanded the system to open up its description since he wanted to know whether or not the inheritance added something onto it.
Ding!
As soon as the holographic screen appeared in front of his field of vision, Argentum hastily skimmed through it, letting out a light chuckle as he could not help but say, ”I guess eating Animate meat has its perks.”
________
[Fire Affinity] (Level 1/10)
Grade: Mortal (C)
A skill those who have a great affinity with the Fire element have. Normally, this skill is only available to those born with an innate affinity towards them, but even other beings can obtain it once they are exposed to the Fire element for a long time. Due to the Ignis Kaiser Lion's great affinity with the Fire element, plus its high existence level when compared to the user, the user's affinity with the Fire element had reached this level, giving the user a few special effects.
> Efficacy of abilities based on the Fire element shall be increased by 20%
> Damage of skills based on the Fire element shall be increased by 10%
________
Closing the holographic screen in front of him, Argentum could not help but let out a sigh of satisfaction. Although the trials he had undergone were incredibly weird for an inheritance, the rewards it had given were no joke. To be honest, he was expecting to obtain these rewards at a later trial since in Aurus's memories, he had only obtained them after finishing the seventh trial or so. He did not know why he had obtained these rewards at an early trial, but he was kind of grateful for it in a way.
”I've basically obtained all of the skills I wanted from the inheritance,” Argentum muttered to himself in a satisfied tone. ”Any other Fire-based reward I get from this inheritance will help me solidify my evolution choice in the future.”
Coincidentally, just as he was finished saying these words, the disembodied voice of the inheritance resounded, telling Argentum, ”Since the inheritor has finished ingesting the five slabs of meat, obtaining the trial's reward, the inheritance shall give the inheritor a ten-minute break to increase their affinity with the Fire element even further, which has something to do with the mechanics of the next trial.”
”Hm? That's a bit odd.” After processing the words said by the inheritance, Argentum could not help but find it odd that the inheritance wanted him to enhance the skill he had obtained from this trial. Sure, he did not find it odd when the inheritance told him to enhance his prowess with the [Lesser Fire Magic] skill since that was the first one he had heard of such a mechanic. But now that the inheritance was telling him to grind another skill this time, he could not help but feel that there was something a bit off with this inheritance.
Either way, the rewards from the inheritance was still great, so he put this suspicion of his at the back of his mind before going ahead and following the inheritance's words, increasing his affinity with the Fire element with [Lower Blaze Magic+] since that's how his affinity with the Wind element increased.
”Two birds with one stone,” Argentum said with a slightly cheerful tone. ”I max out and increase the mastery level of [Lower Blaze Magic] while I increase the grade of [Fire Affinity] at the same time.”
”I wonder how high I can go before the third trial starts?”
…