Chapter 372: The Tempest Helios Statue (1/2)

”Did I clear the first trial?” Although Argentum asked Helios that question in his usual polite manner, to Helios, it seemed like Argentum was mocking him, telling him that the trial he had given to him was incredibly easy to clear. To him, it was as if his words were grating on his ears.

Naturally, with that kind of thought process, Helios could not help but slightly frown, though he hastily hid it as he knew that Argentum wasn't mocking him at all. How could his fan mock someone like him, the great Tempest King? And so, suppressing all urges to come down to the arena and show Argentum who's boss, Helios silently took in a deep breath as he slowly nodded, responding with indifference, ”Indeed. You have cleared the first trial.”

Of course, thinking of himself as the greatest existence in the world, he made sure to add a few words that would make Argentum's feat seem like nothing. ”Nevertheless, the manner in which you have eradicated those 10,000 copies were quite all over the place. At most, the performance you were able to give me only made me briefly chuckle in excitement at most. But since I am the almighty and magnanimous Tempest King, I shall let this pass and allow you to go through the next trial.”

Hearing that, Argentum could not help but scratch his head as he shifted his vision to Rosalia. Surprisingly, Rosalia was also scratching her head as she gave Argentum a shrug, non-verbally telling him that he was always like this. Knowing that he had to change his impression of Helios, Argentum gave a light nod before going silent.

”As you have consumed quite a bit of energy during the first trial, this divine being shall allow you to rest for quite some time before the next trial begins,” Helios said not long after as he snapped his fingers, conjuring a magic circle under Argentum that allowed more energy to enter his surroundings. Seeing this, Argentum could not help but be surprised that Helios had access to such spells, wondering if he could create something like this through his Sage's Magic skills.

As Argentum closed his sense of vision and allowed his energy to replenish, Helios could not help but look at Rosalia and say, ”I wasn't expecting him to clear the trial that easily. Even though I lowered the defenses of those copies to a quarter of this divine being, it would still take someone a lot of time to break through even one.”

Hearing how Helios was trying to strike up a conversation with her, Rosalia could not help but awkwardly chuckle as she responded, ”Well, that's Argentum for you. He wouldn't have known Felix and the others if he didn't have something interesting to offer.”

”Since you brought up that topic, who was the first one Argentum met among them?” Helios soon asked, to which Rosalia hastily sent a few messages to Felix and the others through multiple strands of energy. Not long after, she made it seem like she pondered over the matter for a bit before saying, ”If I remember correctly, Eleanor was the first one to meet up with Argentum, while Felix is the second.”

”After that would be Melzarin, then me, then you,” Rosalia continued, prompting Helios to nod as he said, ”Well, it's no surprise that he hasn't met Lucius and Tyrphon yet. Judging by the skills he used to destroy those copies, he only has control over the four foundational elements.”

As Helios mentioned the names Lucius and Tyrphon, Rosalia could not help but slightly shudder, wondering why Helios would bring such names up out of nowhere. Unfortunately for her, Helios did not go in-depth into the topic, prompting her to place the thought at the back of her head.

Looking at Argentum from time to time as he recovered his energy, another question popped up in his head, deciding to ask Rosalia once more. ”Now that I think about it, this divine being doesn't know of his existence level. I know he's a Pseudo-Animate from his appearance alone, but what level is he at exactly?”

Sending a few more strands of energy towards Eleanor and the others, Rosalia eventually got her answer as she also looked at Argentum, referencing what she had heard from the others with what she was looking at right now. Lightly coughing, she responded, ”If I remember what Eleanor and the others told me, he used to have a different appearance while he was still at the Normal-grade Pseudo-Animate level. With that, there's a high chance that he's now at the Magic-grade Pseudo-Animate level.”

”Huh?” This time, Helios could not hide his shock anymore, with his aloof facade nowhere to be seen at this point. From what he had just seen, the level of power Argentum had shown was way beyond what his current existence level dictated. With that, he could not help but see things for himself as he sneakily sent a few strands of energy towards Argentum, making sure that he did not notice them.

As for Rosalia, she could not help but lightly frown at what Helios was trying to do, but after recalling those strands back as he muttered that Argentum was indeed a Magic-grade Pseudo-Animate, that frown hastily disappeared.

Nevertheless, with this new piece, Helios could not help but wonder what he could do to make the trials harder. Although he was happy that his fan was quite powerful, he was more displeased with the fact that his trials were easily cleared. If his trials were cleared without a problem like some pushovers, then what did he, the great Tempest King, the supreme owner of the Heaven's Gust Inheritance, would be?

Wouldn't he be a lousy inheritance owner?

Of course, this train of thought was only possible due to Helios's personality, even if this kind of situation rarely happened. To him, if he was the greatest existence in the world, then he thought that he should have the greatest inheritance in the world, with his trials being the greatest as well.

With that, he pondered over the next trial Argentum was going to take. Eventually, he had come up with a good one as he decided to restrict Argentum's freedom over the elements quite a bit. As a light yet scheming smile briefly appeared on his face, Helios removed the magic circle that helped Argentum gather energy, prompting Argentum to stand up and look at Helios with a hint of curiosity towards the next trial.

Not long after, the landscape at the center of the arena was quickly replaced as a layer of leaves soon appeared on the ground Argentum was going on. While he was still wondering as to why there were leaves on the ground, another layer of leaves soon appeared on top of it, then another layer, and another until five layers of leaves could be seen on the ground surrounding Argentum.

At this point, the crowd of beings made out of wind let out a raucous cheer as Helios announced the next trial Argentum was going to take. With a tone of pride and confidence in his voice, he then said, ”The second trial you shall go through is called…the Tempest Helios Statue!”

As a proud smile could be seen on his face, he explained the mechanics, saying, ”In this trial, you must use the leaves on the ground to create a statue that bears likeness to the figure and face of this divine being right here, the great Tempest King, Helios Gustav.”