Chapter 235 - The Next Destination (2/2)
”Let the Spirit Contract be formed!”
Whoosh! Whoosh!
In an instant, the white magic runes, which made up most of what was inside the magic circle, started to hover off the ground under the intervention of an external force. These runes then went ahead towards the bodies of both the Undying Flame Spirit and Argentum, branding every nook and cranny of their body with these runes.
Although Argentum had a feeling that these runes would hurt as he noticed that it branded their bodies, surprisingly, he did not feel any pain at all, prompting him to wonder what was next.
After every rune inside the magic circle was branded on their bodies, the lines that made up the boundaries that separated each layer of the magic circle started to hover off the ground as well, radiating an aura of divinity not long after. Since these lines were actually circles, they transformed into halos which hovered over the heads of both the Undying Flame Spirit and Argentum, imbuing them with a sense that a divine entity was manipulating a few things inside their bodies.
Crash!
A few seconds later, these halos then shattered into pieces like broken glass, instantly making the runes that were branded on their bodies disappear, making it seem like nothing had happened on the bodies of the two. Of course, even though there was no change externally, there was a great change internally.
As Argentum focused his sense of vision towards the Undying Flame Spirit, he could feel a strong connection that bound them together, with the Undying Flame Spirit feeling the same thing as well when she looked at Argentum. They then decided to increase the gap between the two of them, still feeling a decently strong connection between the two of them. After a few more minutes of experimentation, the Undying Flame Spirit let out a sigh of relief as she said, ”And with that, the Spirit Contract is now complete.”
Ding!
'A Spirit Contract has been formed with the Undying Flame Spirit.' Just as the Undying Flame Spirit said those words, a notification resounded in his mind, informing Argentum that a Spirit Contract has been formed between the two of them. Closing the notification screen in his mind, he then looked at the Undying Flame Spirit and asked her, ”So…what now?”
”To be honest, I don't know,” the Undying Flame Spirit said in response to his question before adding, ”This is the first time I've actually made a Spirit Contract.”
”I see…” Argentum said in response to her words, feeling that an awkward tension was forming between the two of them. Surprisingly, just as Argentum was about to initiate a conversation, the Undying Flame Spirit took it upon herself to initiate the conversation, asking Argentum, ”Hey, Argentum. Do you want to know what my name is?”
”What's with the question all of a sudden?” Argentum could not help but become a bit confused. ”A while ago, you told me that your name was a secret.”
”Well, er…” The Undying Flame Spirit pondered over her words for a bit before replying, ”Well…after thinking about it for a while, I kind of realized that it was rude of me to know your name, but not let you know of mine. To be honest, I feel embarrassed whenever I tell others my name.”
”Surely, it wouldn't be that bad, right?” Argentum said to her in response before radiating an aura that he wouldn't tell others about it. ”Go ahead and tell me.”
”…” The Undying Flame Spirit was at a loss for words, feeling somewhat nervous that she was about to tell a Pseudo-Animate, which she only knew quite some time ago, her name. Fortunately, she mustered up her courage to say her name, only for it to partially fail.
”E…anor…”
”Hm?” Argentum heard something come out of her mouth, but did not know whether she was talking about her name or not. With that, Argentum went ahead and asked her, ”Could you repeat that one more time?”
In response, the Undying Flame Spirit took in a deep breath before mustering up her courage once more to say her name, only for her to end up saying it in a soft voice.
”My name is…Eleanor…”
”Eleanor, huh,” Argentum could not help but say after hearing it. After a while, he radiated a cheerful aura as he focused his sense of vision towards her and said, ”Eleanor's a beautiful name.”
Ba-dump.
At that instant, Eleanor felt something thump inside her body, as if her body was that of an Animate's. She could not help but take in a deep breath before responding to Argentum with a cheerful aura of her own, saying, ”Thank you for the compliment.”
”You're quite welcome,” Argentum said in a slightly happy tone. Not long after, he added, ”Anyways, now that the Spirit Contract has been formed, what are you going to do next?”
Fortunately, Eleanor only took a while to regain her composure, promptly replying to his question with, ”Well, what else can I do. I'll head back to the inheritance and wait for other Pseudo-Animates to come. What about you?”
”I'm going to head to the Azure Shores,” Argentum replied to her question, deciding to not hide anything from her since they were bound by a contract. ”I need to obtain some abilities there in order for my evolution to become better.”
”The Azure Shores, huh,” Eleanor could not help but say with a slight longing tone. ”I went to that place quite some time ago to obtain something in it as well, but it's been a long time since then that I don't remember what the thing I obtained was anymore.”
Just as she was going to end their conversation here, a thought that seemed to be plausible popped up in his mind, prompting her to ask him, ”I don't know if this is just my gut feeling or not, but are you planning on entering an inheritance inside the Azure Shores? Just like how you entered mine?”
”Hm?” Although Argentum was slightly surprised that she got to that conclusion, he nodded his head in response as he said, ”Yeah. Inheritances are the places where you could obtain abilities the fastest anyway.”
”Might I ask which inheritance you are planning to go to once you get there?” Eleanor asked, having a feeling that the inheritance Argentum had in mind was something she personally knew about
In response to her question, Argentum scratched his head before saying, ”Uh…I'm heading to the Grand Blue Inheritance. Is there a reason why you asked?”
”Grand Blue Inheritance…” Hearing this name, Eleanor could not help but radiate an aura of slight surprise as she looked at Argentum head-on. With a tone of slight disbelief, she then asked Argentum, ”You're actually heading to the Grand Blue Inheritance? The inheritance that's famed for its 99.9% death rate even for beings inclined to the Water element?!”
”…” Listening to Eleanor's reply, Argentum was left at a loss for words. It was only after a few seconds or so did a sound come out of him.
”…huh?”