I Reincarnated As A Stick

As Argentum… well, Aurus turned around to look at Herellia and Horell, he could not help but notice their speechless expressions and ask, “Is there something on my face?”

“Is there something on your face… is that really the first thing you say after everything that happened here?” Horell said in response, finally snapping back to reality as he let out a light sigh. “For quite a while, we heard loud banging sounds coming from this room, as well as some screams. Then, it turned into one large crash and one loud scream. After that, you started bawling your eyes out, only to make a promise not long after wherein you’ll now be called Aurus. If you were in our shoes, how would you react?”

“Ah.” It was only then that Aurus realized that they did not know of the reason why everything had turned out like this. With that in mind, he gave them a summary of what happened to the actual Aurus from half a day ago, prompting the two to go silent for a bit before Herellia said, “After being kept by that kingdom, a powerful being actually stole Aurus from the kingdom and kept him captive. Then, sometime ago, you obtained a message wherein you have a chance to get him back, but you have to reach a certain level of power… is that right?”

“Pretty much.” Aurus nodded in response.

“Did that powerful being ever tell you what level of power you have to reach?” Horell asked soon after.

“Divinity level,” Aurus succinctly replied, prompting Herellia and Horell to look at each for a bit before looking back at Aurus. Seeing the confusion on their faces, Aurus told them, “It’s a very high level of power that beings like us couldn’t reach that easily.”

“But it’s still possible to reach, right?” Herellia asked, prompting Aurus to go silent for a bit. Surprisingly, it was only at that moment did everything truly sink in, allowing him to approach everything from a rational perspective, taking in a quick breath as he looked at Herellia and said with a light smile, “Yeah, it’s possible. Thanks, I kind of needed that.”

“Thanks?” Although Herellia was confused as to why Aurus thanked him all of a sudden, she still replied nevertheless.

“So, care to explain the promise you made to yourself?” Horell asked after a while. “I get the fact that you want to call yourself Aurus since he’s your original body and all that… but where did you get Verdante?”

“Well…” Not expecting such a question to be thrown at him, Aurus went silent for a bit. Fortunately, it only took him a few seconds to come up with an answer as he told Horell, “For Animates, not only do they have a first name, they also have another name, which they call their family name. As to where Verdante came from, I just grabbed it from the name of the town. Doesn’t it sound good?”

“I guess so,” Horell shrugged his shoulders as he replied, allowing Aurus to let out an inward sigh of relief. Although both Horell and Herellia had joined him on that trip to the Seraph Kingdom, they did not hear what the actual Aurus told his opponent back then due to them not having skills that allow them to do so. In short, using Verdante as his family name is a sort of homage to his original body’s identity as a Spiriveritas.

“So, does that mean we have to call you Aurus from now on?” Herellia asked soon after, to which Aurus nodded in response. Seeing that, Herellia said in response, “It’s going to take a while for us to adjust, but alright. We’ll respect your wishes.”

“Thank you,” Aurus said as he lightly smiled in response to her words. “Moving onto another topic, I’ll be holding a meeting with the benefactors of this town sometime later. I hope you two can join in on this as well.”

“Sure, it’s not like we’re busy anyway,” Horell said in response. “Though, why don’t you hold the meeting right now?”

Hearing that, Aurus pointed at the multiple piles of rubble and dust scattered throughout the room, prompting Horell to slap himself on the forehead, feeling like a fool for a bit. With that, both Herellia and Horell decided to help Aurus out in the cleaning of the room, surprisingly finishing the task in half an hour.

As they asked some of the people outside the manor to carry the rubble to a nearby construction site, the three of them returned to the now empty room as Aurus utilized his connection with Felix and the others, simultaneously sending them a message in one go that said, “Meet me at the Verdant Breeze Town manor as soon as possible.”

Whoosh!

Unexpectedly, about a few seconds after Aurus had just sent his message, a rift quickly opened up, revealing a dashing gentleman wearing a navy blue tuxedo. Not only that, but a beautiful woman in an elegant red dress soon appeared behind the man, smiling as she looked at Aurus and said, “Nice to see you again, Argentum.”

“It’s also nice to see you again, Eleanor,” Aurus said in response, sporting a smile that gave off the feeling that everything was under his control. “However, it would be fine if you came a few minutes later since Rosalia and Helios are still far away.”

“Who says we’re far away?” a prideful voice said in response to Aurus’s words as a man and woman that had the same level of aesthetics as the gentleman and woman from before appeared in the room. The man wore casual clothes that had varying hues of green, while the woman wore a long-sleeved dress that glistened under the rays of the moon, taking on a color of light gray.

“So, Argentum. What did you call us four here for?” Felix said soon after, effectively starting the impromptu meeting Aurus had arranged.

“Well, first off, I’d like it if you guys referred to me as Aurus from now on,” Aurus replied, sending a few strands of energy that contained information, allowing them to get the gist of why Aurus, previously Argentum, wanted it that way.

“Alright then. So, Aurus, why did you call us? Are you planning to do something to this town?” Rosalia asked after she had digested the information she was given.

“As the leader of this town, it’s a given that I have to develop it for the betterment of its citizens and its benefactors,” Aurus said in response, prompting the four to nod in response in agreement. However, his next words made them raise their eyebrows.

“However, that’s not the reason why I called you four here. Instead, I want to tell you that I’m planning to transition into an Animate. Surely you four have techniques that would allow a Pseudo-Animate to become an Animate, right?”

“Although we do have those kinds of techniques, would you mind telling us the reason why?” Rosalia nodded as she asked in response.

“Originally, my original body was planning to ascend to the Animate level once he had reached the peak of X-grade Inanimate,” Aurus started to explain. “However, after being caught by that powerful being, he decided to delegate that task to me, giving me all of the information I need to progress smoothly as an Animate.”

Naturally, that was a lie. As Aurus and the actual Aurus shared memories, that meant that Aurus knew multiple ways to become stronger as an Animate. Of course, he could also take the route of a Pseudo-Animate as he also had memories in that regard as well. However, to reduce the time he spent getting stronger while at the same time getting stronger in a smaller time frame, taking on the path of an Animate was his ideal choice.

“Didn’t you tell me back then that you had a technique, Felix?” Aurus continued. “Though, I would need to reach Grand-grade first, right?”

“Yeah.” Felix nodded.

“With that, do any of you guys have similar techniques that would allow me to transition into an Animate while being at a lower grade?” Aurus asked, prompting the four to become silent while Herellia and Horell listened on the side.

Eventually, a response was received from the four as Helios looked at Aurus with pride written all over his face, telling him, “Fortunately, this divine being right here has a technique that would allow you to transition as an Animate while still being at Magic-grade. However, the only drawback is that you would need to undergo a Power Baptism first to use it. As I am a magnanimous person, I shall help you clear that Power Baptism!”

“Er… about that… you should check his aura first,” Felix said in response to Helios’s words, letting out an awkward chuckle as he looked at Aurus. In response, Aurus looked back at him and nodded, allowing his entire aura to spread throughout the room. In less than an instant, Helios finally understood what Felix was getting at, saying with a surprised tone, “Ah, he’s already gone through his Power Baptism.”

Hearing such a surprised tone come from Helios, Aurus and the other three could not help but look at him, not expecting him to speak like that before. Fortunately for Helios, he quickly caught on and said in his usual prideful tone, “But that’s to be expected of my greatest fan! For my fan to be this strong brings this divine being great joy!”

Ignoring what Helios said after that, Aurus looked at Eleanor and Rosalia before asking, “How about you two? Do you have techniques that have better requirements than Helios’s technique?”

“Mine needs you to reach the Epic-grade.” Eleanor shook her head.

“Same here.” Rosalia shook her head as well.

“Hmm… what should I choose…” Aurus said sometime later, pondering over whether he should choose Helios’s technique or Felix’s technique. Fortunately, it did not take long for him to come to a conclusion as he said, “Alright, I’m choosing Felix’s technique!”

“Huh?” Unsurprisingly, Helios was the first one to react. “Are you assuming that this divine being’s technique is inferior to the technique of that blue gentleman there?”

“Not at all.” Aurus shook his head, lightly grinning as he replied, “It’s just that…”

“I can evolve to Grand-grade at any time!”