I Reincarnated As A Stick

Chapter 333: Confrontation

“Eleanor?” Argentum looked at the fiery silhouette in front of him and asked, his tone that of surprise. He then continued, “What are you doing here?”

Unfortunately for him, the fiery silhouette did not respond to him, only focusing its sense of vision at him in silence. Noticing this, Argentum decided to become silent as well, knowing why Eleanor was acting like that in front of him. Nevertheless, he could not help but mutter to himself inwardly, “Just because I went to an inheritance that she did not want me to go, doesn’t mean that she’d hate me to the bones, right?”

Fortunately, his mutters were correct as the fiery silhouette in front of him let out a light sigh as the palpable aura of anger surrounding her had gradually disappeared. She then looked at Argentum and said, “Although you did not heed my words and went to the inheritance I told you to not go to, I’m actually not mad at you.”

“In fact, the one I should be mad at is someone else,” she continued, trying to hide the fact that she asked Felix to follow Argentum in order to find out which inheritance he was going to. In response to her words, Argentum let out a light yet awkward chuckle, knowing who she was talking about.

As for the being that was mentioned by Eleanor, he was currently concocting another batch of Heaven’s Water Potions as he needed a lot to reach the same level of understanding as Argentum. Nevertheless, he felt his body become colder all of a sudden, prompting him to ask himself, “I wonder who’s talking about me?”

Pondering as to whether he should apologize or not, Argentum stood up and looked at Eleanor in silence for a bit. After a while, he decided to ask her about the reason why she was here instead, thinking that she was also thinking that he was not at fault in this case. In the first place, he did not have any ties to the Desecrated Inheritance, unlike Eleanor, who had known the owner of the place for an incredibly long time.

“So, what brings you here, Eleanor?” Argentum changed the topic without hesitation, removing the awkward yet tense atmosphere surrounding them. Hearing his question, Eleanor lightly thanked him inwardly as she replied with a light chuckle, “Well, there’s no other reason for me to come here other than you, silly.”

Soon after, a hint of mischievous air surrounded her as she continued, “Then again, how many times have I told you to not go to this place before you left my inheritance? At that point, I should’ve swayed your decisions by quite a considerable amount, no?”

Just as Argentum was about to answer that he had decided to go this inheritance for a certain reason, another being appeared in the room the two were in, prompting Argentum to look at the newcomer with surprise. On the other hand, the newcomer looked at Argentum for a bit, a surprised expression on her face before looking at Eleanor and saying, “I had my doubts when you were talking about this guy back in my inheritance…but to think that you weren’t lying…”

“You think I’d lie to you about something like this?” Eleanor could not help but let out a proud cackle as she placed her arm over Argentum’s shoulder. She was then about to say something else to boost her ego, but then remembered all of the times she spent with the newcomer, prompting her to let out a shy chuckle as she continued, “Well, sure. I lie to you quite often, but this is one of those times that I’m not.”

“Uh…Eleanor, may I ask who this being is?” Argentum, clueless to what was happening, could not help but look at Eleanor beside him and ask. In response, Eleanor released him from her grasp as she extended one of her arms to point at the newcomer before introducing her.

“Argentum, meet Rosalia. She’s the owner of the Supreme Terra Firma Inheritance I was recommending you to go to.”

After saying that, she then looked at the newcomer before extending her arm towards Argentum as she continued, “Rosalia, meet Argentum. She’s the being I was talking about that’s stronger than your Argento. From the aura he’s emanating, you can already tell how strong he is, right?”

“Definitely,” Rosalia said as she lightly nodded. With an examining gaze, she looked at Argentum from head to toe before introducing herself to Argentum with a light smile as she said, “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Argentum. Although I don’t know why you chose the Desecrated Inheritance instead of my inheritance according to the conversation between you and Eleanor, if you ever do come to the Supreme Terra Firma Inheritance, I’ll make sure to treat you well.”

Since Rosalia was being kind to him, Argentum responded to her in a respectful tone, “Nice to meet you as well, er…”

“Rosalia is fine with me,” Rosalia hastily responded, seeing how Argentum was pondering as to what to call her.

Radiating an aura of gratitude and slight glee, Argentum continued with his words as he said, “Ah. Nice to meet you as well, Rosalia. I have my reasons for coming to the Desecrated Inheritance, though I must admit that the Supreme Terra Firma Inheritance was one of the choices I had in my head when deciding on an Earth-based inheritance to head towards. Once I’m done with what I have to do here and somewhere else, I’ll definitely make sure to pay a visit to your inheritance.”

Of course, he said this to please Rosalia and Eleanor as he did not even consider heading to the Supreme Terra Firma Inheritance in the first place. With Aurus’ time of awakening coming closer and closer, he decided that it would be better for him to not go that far. If he heeded Eleanor’s recommendation and went to the Supreme Terra Firma Inheritance instead of this one, by the time he got back to the Verdant Blossom Branch Alliance, Aurus would have been already awake for a few days by then.

Well, if he asked for either Eleanor or Felix’s help in getting to and heading back from the Supreme Terra Firma Inheritance, then it would take around the same amount of time he took to get to this inheritance…but he had his own pride.

“So…is there any other reason why you came to this inheritance other than to look for me, Eleanor?” Argentum decided to ask since he had a hunch that Eleanor surely did not come for him alone. In response, Eleanor let out a giggle as she replied, “Was it that obvious?”

Whoosh!

In an instant, the previously palpable aura of anger surrounding her a while ago had now come back, this time with greater intensity. At this point, it could even be said that the whole room the three were in was now colored in the shade of crimson red from the sheer intensity of the aura surrounding Eleanor. Fortunately, Eleanor had total control over this aura, manipulating it to dodge Rosalia and Argentum from its effects, though the two could not help but let out expressions of shock after feeling it.

“Melzarin, you better come here in three seconds, or else I won’t hesitate to kill to see you,” she said not long after, prompting Argentum to ponder on who this Melzarin guy is. Fortunately, it did not take long for Argentum to obtain his answer as another entity appeared behind the three in the form of a mass of Earth energy particles.

Swoosh…swoosh…

This mass of Earth energy particles gradually coalesced into the figure of a skeleton, with the particles being replaced with what seemed to be a dark type of energy. Utilizing his enhanced senses, Argentum knew that this energy came from a life of slaughter, referencing the various types of energy Aurus had come across back in ISE.

Not long after, two dark brown flames appeared in this dark skeleton’s eye sockets as it stood up. It then looked at the three before saying in the most imposing tone it could muster, “You’ve called me…”

“Eleanor.”

“Wait a second…” Listening to the voice that the skeleton used, Argentum could not help but feel that it was a bit familiar. In less than an instant, he finally pieced it together, prompting him to point at the skeleton with surprise and shout, “Ah! You’re the disembodied voice I was talking to while I was undergoing through the trials!”

“Indeed, I am,” the skeleton deviated his attention from Eleanor to Argentum before responding with a light nod. He then continued, “You should be grateful that this great being has decided to be your guide in this inheritance. If not for your talent, I would’ve delegated this job to someone else.”

“Eh?” Argentum scratched his head as he listened to the skeleton’s words, wondering why its personality had undergone a full 180. He remembered quite well that the disembodied voice he was talking to was not arrogant at all, unlike the skeleton in front of him that exuded arrogance. In fact, he even felt a bit of favoritism from the disembodied voice while he was undergoing the trials. In his mind, he could not help but think to himself, ‘Is this really the same guy I was talking to a while ago?’

Just as the skeleton was about to redirect its attention back to Eleanor, Rosalia decided to greet him as she said, “It’s been a while since we met, Melzarin. How have you been?”

In response, Melzarin looked at Rosalia for a bit before looking back at Eleanor as he perfunctorily responded, “Fine.”

“I see.” Rosalia lightly nodded with a smile as she allowed Melzarin to do whatever he wanted. As for Argentum, who looked at this by the side, noticed that the skeleton’s arrogance slightly disappeared when it responded to Rosalia, though it came back when he focused back at Eleanor. At this point, he knew that something weird was going on, recalling that he had this feeling ever since Eleanor told him to not go to the Desecrated Inheritance.

“Why did you call me out here, Eleanor?” Melzarin looked at Eleanor and asked in an arrogant tone. “I’m a busy guy, so you better get straight to the point.”

“Oh, I’ll definitely get straight to the point,” Eleanor responded in a slightly aggressive tone.

“You.” She pointed at Melzarin.

“Me.” She then pointed at herself.

“Let’s settle this once and for all with a fight,” she continued. Hearing this, Argentum could not help but wonder how Eleanor and the skeleton had gotten to this point, though he had a feeling that he knew this already. Nevertheless, he felt that this knowledge was hidden behind a thin curtain. On the other hand, Melzarin looked at Eleanor and solemnly said after a few seconds of silence, “Very well. If you want to get beaten up by me yet again, then I shall entertain you.”

Whoosh! Whoosh!

At the very instant Melzarin was finished talking, he instantly transformed into a mass of Earth energy particles, disappearing from the room the three were at. Soon after, Eleanor did the same thing, transforming into a mass of Fire energy particles before disappearing from the room as well, leaving Rosalia and Argentum alone.

“Aren’t you curious to know who the winner will be?” Rosalia looked at Argentum slightly far away from her and asked. In response, Argentum shook his head as he replied, “From the aura they’re exuding, I’m certain that the skeleton would just toy around with Eleanor.”

“What I don’t get is the attitude of the skeleton,” he continued, prompting Rosalia to let out a light chuckle. Hearing her chuckle, Argentum looked at her and asked, “What’s so funny?”

“You thinking into it,” Rosalia replied to his question before saying, “In any case, I have a feeling you already know what’s probably going on between the two, though you’re just not that certain yet. Do you feel like the answer is at the tip of your tongue but you don’t know what it is?”

“Yeah?” Argentum nodded, wondering what Rosalia was getting to. Seeing how eager he was to know more about the current situation, Rosalia pondered for a bit before telling him, “What if I told you that the skeleton we just met was the owner of the Desecrated Inheritance? Would that allow you to be certain of your answer?”

Bang.

As if an explosive had gone off in his mind, the various thoughts he had regarding the situation just now had connected all at once, leading him to a very solid conclusion. Nevertheless, he wanted to make sure that Rosalia’s words were true, prompting him to ask, “Is that skeleton really the owner of the Desecrated Inheritance? Is that skeleton…Lord Calcifas?”

“Sure, let’s go with Lord Calcifas,” Rosalia said as she nodded. “Of course, Lord Calcifas is his alias. His real name is Melzarin Vadicarde, also known as the Lord of Earth and Ruin. Just like you and Eleanor, he’s also a Pseudo-Animate, but at an incredibly high level.”

“Is that enough for you to not doubt my words?” she continued her words with a question, knowing what was going on with Argentum’s mind. Argentum nodded in response to her question as he said, “Although I’ll still have to ask another being to come here to validate my theories, I’m about 90 to 95% sure of what’s going on.”

With that, he could not help but let out a sigh as he looked at Rosalia and asked, “Is Melzarin in love with Eleanor?”

“Yep.” Rosalia nodded with a giggle.

In response, Argentum scratched his head as he muttered, “What a stupid way to make sure that the one you’re in love with would remember you.”

Rosalia heard his words and replied, “Well, if it’s stupid but it works, then it ain’t stupid.”

“Well…true.”