Chapter 357: An Unexpected Prophecy (1/2)

Eventually, the two of them had arrived at the plaza where the pedestal showing the various Origin Factions were located. Surprisingly, by the time they had arrived, a large flock of people were dashing to where the two of them were, prompting Cardis to lightly grin from the sight while Argentum, on the other hand, could not help but let out a sigh in response.

With a slightly dejected aura surrounding him, he looked at Cardis and asked, ”Is there really no way to escape this predicament?”

”Well, you are the Origin Sage, so you could always ask them to not do that,” Cardis responded with a light chuckle before actually giving a serious answer, ”But that would just tarnish your reputation among those who want to learn from the Origin Sage itself. If I were you, I'd respond to a few questions regarding the Origin and then stop. I think that's what Torvas did while he was the Origin Sage.”

Seeing as he could not escape this situation in any way, Argentum eventually accepted his fate, committing Cardis's advice to memory as he radiated an aura of solemnity while responding to the questions that were being thrown at him every second. After some time, he politely told the crowd that had surrounded him to leave the premises as he had something else to do.

Surprisingly, Cardis's advice had worked, with the people that came to ask him regarding the Origin not feeling any ill intent from his words. Of course, there were some that had frowns on their faces after hearing that, but that was because their questions hadn't been answered. Nevertheless, the crowd had left the two of them alone, allowing Argentum to let out a sigh of relief.

Coincidentally, by the time the crowd surrounding Cardis and Argentum had left, the plaza started to tremble with great force, catching some off guard as they screamed out in fear. As for the majority, their eyes glistened with expectation and excitement as they focused their visions towards the pedestals at the plaza center.

Even Cardis had an expression of excitement on his face as he looked at the plaza center, telling Argentum, ”Hey, Argentum. You better keep your eyes peeled for what's going to happen to the pedestals.”

”Hmm?” Although Argentum did not have any eyes as a Pseudo-Animate, he still did have an enhanced sense of vision compared to other Pseudo-Animates, allowing him to clearly see what was happening at the center of the plaza.

By the time he had found his footing, the trembling of the ground had weakened by at least half, allowing everyone in the premises to focus their sights on what was happening at the plaza center. Fortunately, it did not take long for their curiosities to be satisfied as the outermost pedestals started to move outwards, with the inner pedestals doing the same thing as well.

Not long after, a gap large enough for another pedestal to be there had appeared in the centermost region of the pedestals, to which Argentum instantly realized what was going to happen.

Rumble...

Slowly but surely, a white cylinder started to protrude out of the gap in the center. With every passing second, the speed at which the white cylinder became taller would increase, eventually reaching a height equivalent to the pedestal that housed the Cycle within half a minute.

Unsurprisingly, this new white pedestal didn't stop growing, surpassing the height of the pedestal that housed the Cycle a few seconds later. It had only stopped growing after it had reached the height of the pedestal of the Cycle, Unity, and Life...combined.

Naturally, such a sight left the masses at a loss for words as they did not expect that the Origin Sage some were talking to a while ago would be able to comprehend the Origin to an extremely deep level. Cardis could not help but look at Argentum after the white pedestal had reached its peak, asking, ”Argentum...are you sure you're not trained by some sort of large organization beforehand or something?”

”No?” Argentum tilted his head in confusion after hearing that question. ”Even if I was part of some organization before entering the Origin Pantheon, why would they pay attention to a Normal-grade Pseudo-Animate like me?”

”Ah...fair point,” Cardis said soon after, with Argentum's words instantly making sense. Although his words sounded harsh, Argentum was saying nothing but the truth. All of the prominent organizations in the world he was in was led by Animates, given how Erudinia was akin to the world of ISE. Of course, there were strong Pseudo-Animate and Inanimate organizations throughout Erudinia as well, but they were incredibly rare.

He soon added, ”It's just unbelievable that you would comprehend the Origin to such an extent. No one would really expect that a Pseudo-Animate like you would do such a thing. Even I, your friend, am in disbelief.”

”If you're still in disbelief, then just attribute it to luck,” Argentum responded half-jokingly as he couldn't be bothered to explain himself. After that, he redirected his sense of vision back to the central white pedestal, noticing that a white sphere was starting to form a couple of meters above it.

Soon after, this white sphere had taken on the appearance of Earth before radiating an intense aura of pure Origin towards the surroundings. This aura of pure Origin left some in a state of deep comprehension while some were left in a state of intense shock. If anything, Argentum was the only one that was unaffected by it.

Noticing that Cardis had frozen in place like a statue, Argentum tapped on his shoulders to snap him back to reality as he told him, ”Hey, Cardis. Let's explore the whole Origin Pantheon.”

”Ah.” With Argentum's taps, Cardis was instantly brought back to reality as he slowly nodded while saying, ”Y-yeah.”

But just as the two were about to turn around and head towards another portion of the Origin Pantheon, a man that exuded an aura of the Origin that was half as intense as the aura from before had appeared in front of them as he said, ”How about I take your friend here for a tour instead?”

In an instant, Cardis and Argentum recognized who that person was. It was none other than the previous Origin Sage of the Origin Pantheon, Torvas.

”Torvas!” With a grin on his face, Cardis greeted Torvas before snapping his fingers as a rift appeared near where Torvas was. Not long after, a huge amount of Transcendent Stones dropped from the rift before closing up as he said, ”Many thanks for the Transcendent Stones you've given me. If not for you, I might have not been able to pay for their bets.”

”Don't mind it, don't mind it,” Torvas waved his hands as he replied with a light chuckle, using a bit of his energy to transport the Transcendent Stones given to him to another place. After that, he looked at Argentum and asked with a slightly cautious tone, ”Your name is...Argentum, right?”

”That would be me,” Argentum said in response, lightly nodding. Letting out a sigh of relief, Torvas then looked at Cardis and said, ”Cardis, if you don't mind, can I be the one that would take Argentum on a tour of the Origin Pantheon?”

Without hesitation, Cardis lightly smiled in response as he said, ”But of course! Of course! Since you helped me out on the betting session, then it's only natural for me to reciprocate the favor.”

With that, Cardis left the two to themselves. Of course, that was after he left Argentum a few more words.

”May we meet again, Argentum. If you need me, just call out my name!”

Whoosh!