Chapter 237 - A Small Detour (2/2)
The reason why he did not unhesitatingly decide to do it was because of the place he was going to, the Azure Shores. The Azure Shores, from the name alone, could make one instantly infer that the place was superbly inclined to the Water element, which meant that anything that was inclined towards the Fire element would be heavily disadvantaged there.
The train of thought in his mind was that if he did create a Flame Companion and nurtured it to a decent level, then it would become more or less a burden to him once he did enter the Azure Shores. Of course, he thought about it from a different perspective, thinking that a Flame Companion would allow him to focus on his specialties while it would focus on the parts where he was lacking, like reconnaissance or debuffing or whatever. Then again, in front of the elemental disadvantage in the Azure Shores, the cons outweighed the pros…until a question he asked the system in the past surfaced in his mind.
”Ah, right. The system did tell me that I could keep the Flame Companions I made inside the system,” Argentum muttered to himself, only for his thoughts to head towards an optimistic direction soon after. Thinking about these optimistic thoughts, an aura of happiness started to radiate from him, then an aura of elation, then an aura of intense elation. It did not take long for these thoughts to affect Argentum's opinion regarding the Flame Companions, with his current conclusion being…the pros of a Flame Companion outweighed the cons!
”Why am I so focused on the Azure Shores, I should think about it from a long term perspective,” he muttered to himself with a mocking chuckle. ”Although a Flame Companion would be useless in Water-based areas, that doesn't mean they would be useless in the other elemental areas as well.”
”That's it, I'm going to head back!” Argentum shouted inwardly as he turned his body around without hesitation, setting a new marker on the map he had as he dashed towards it at maximum speed. Where was he heading? The only place where a low-leveled companion would be able to obtain experience without worrying about death. The place where he would subconsciously shudder if he remembered it.
The area of the Fire Slimes.
…
Taking around ten minutes or so to get back to the boundary of the Fire Slime area, Argentum could not help but slightly shudder once his field of vision was filled to the brim with the sight of the Fire Slimes yet again. Fortunately, he tricked his subconscious to calm down, repeating the thought that he was here to raise the power of his Flame Companion and not grind the [Flame Resistance] skill.
After repeating this thought in his mind for a few times, he took in a deep breath before letting out a long sigh, looking at the Fire Slimes that were jumping as their bodies jiggled with an indifferent aura. Surprisingly, if one sensed Argentum's aura closely, one would even feel that behind the indifference was a hint of excitement. As for the reason as to what caused Argentum to be slightly excited, it was unknown.
”We meet once again, Fire Slimes,” Argentum muttered to himself, letting out a snicker filled with slight malevolent intent in it afterward. He then added, ”Fortunately for you, I'm not here to kill all of you to obtain a skill again.��
”[Flame Companion]!” Argentum soon said with slight fervor, eliciting a response from the system as a notification screen resounded in his mind, telling him that his MP had been consumed. A few seconds later, a mass of Fire energy particles started to manifest along a certain radius around him, prompting Argentum to think that this was the creation process of a Flame Companion.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Soon after, these Fire energy particles soon coalesced at an area a few meters away from Argentum, transforming into a ball made out of Fire energy particles. No, wait. To be more exact, it looked like a ball made of Fire energy particles at first, but after a while, it exuded a few of the properties of a liquid, making Argentum think that this ball of fire was more like a blob of fire.
'A blob of fire…are you telling me that I got a Fire Slime as a companion?' Argentum thought to himself, but after using his senses to examine the blob of fire, he found that that was not the case. Just as he pondered on what he had to do next, a holographic screen appeared on top of the blob of fire, prompting Argentum to focus his field of vision on it as he skimmed through its contents.
”What would you like to name your Flame Companion?” Argentum said as he read the question on the screen. He looked at the blob of fire for a bit and soon pondered over possible names soon after that. At first, the names he had in mind were along the lines of Aurus's allies. Marielle, Terence, Eu, Phoria, Charisa, Fenrir, he could not help but think that his Flame Companion should have a good name as well.
But then, he thought about these kinds of thoughts for a while, only for him to decide otherwise after some time. He could not help but think that if he gave his Flame Companion such a name, he would want his Flame Companion to become as strong as he was. Sure, he was aiming to become as strong as possible before becoming a Super Animate since that was what he and Aurus wanted, but unlike Aurus, he felt that his companions should have a choice on what they want to become. Of course, he would guide them at the start, but after that, he felt that letting them decide whether they wanted to grow stronger or not was better.
”Hmm…I should give it a name that's not that attention-grabbing then,” Argentum muttered to himself before adding, ”Then again, this name shouldn't be so mundane that it would make others feel like my companion's weak…”
”No, wait. That would be better!” Thinking along that train of thought, Argentum let out a light cackle as he eventually thought up of a suitable name for his first Flame Companion.
”System!” Argentum said with a tone of elation and glee.
”I would like to name this Flame Companion…”
”Blob!”