I Reincarnated As A Stick

Chapter 302: How to Tank Lightning Bolts

“Then again, what do the notifications mean by the heavens sensing that there’s a similar power inside my body?” he could not help but mutter to himself not long after in a questioning tone, reading through the notifications he had obtained one more time. He then tried to read between the lines, pondering over each notification he had received before finally coming to a plausible conclusion a couple of minutes later.

“By similar power, do the heavens mean the system?” Coming to this conclusion, he felt that it was the most likely answer, given by the fact that his current combat power was something that an average Normal-grade Pseudo-Animate wouldn’t be able to reach. He then tried to estimate his current combat power according to what he knew about Pseudo-Animates, feeling that he would be able to fight against Pseudo-Animates of the fourth or fifth grade to a standstill.

After that, he could not help but focus his attention on the line that said that a greater consequence would arise if he directly interfered. With that in mind, he muttered to himself, “What are the chances of me interfering with Herellia’s trial?”

It did not take long for him to obtain an answer, which was more or less unlikely. Even without any buffs applied on her, Herellia was able to unleash a level of combat power similar to his. Considering the improvement brought about by the first transitional evolution, then the next transitional evolution after this next trial would surely give Herellia a huge boost in power once more, he thought.

Just as he was about to inform Herellia about what the heavens told him regarding the next trial, Horell went ahead and attracted his attention, noticing that he was now unoccupied. Although there was a hint of slight fury in the aura surrounding Argentum, Horell ignored it and asked him, “What are you thinking about, Argentum?”

“I’m thinking about the next round of lightning, of course,” Argentum said in a rather perfunctory manner as he swiftly glanced at the dark clouds. He barely noticed that the energy emanating from the royal blue lightning bolts darting throughout the clouds were gradually intensifying. With that observation, he then continued, “And it seems that the next round is coming very soon.”

In response, Horell asked Argentum, “Can I help out in anything?”

“So far, it has mostly been you that’s helping Herellia out, and I feel really guilty. I’m also her companion, so I should help her out as well,” he added. While he was listening to this, Argentum could not help but think that there was a stark contrast to the current Horell and the Horell everyone knew in the alliance. Then again, he felt that Horell’s current personality was more lifelike while the one he showed in the alliance was quite stiff.

Pondering over what Horell could do for a bit, he then remembered the notification he had obtained a while ago regarding consequences when it came to direct interference. As he pondered over it a bit more, he then looked at Horell and responded, “For now, the only thing we can do is wait. That alone is enough for her to understand that we’re helping her out.”

After saying those words, his voice then took on a grave tone as he continued, “But once the next round comes crashing down to smite Herellia, there’s a chance that Herellia might not be able to withstand it. By then, I hope you can respond to that as soon as possible.”

“Got it.” Now that he was given something to do, Horell’s aura slightly turned serious as he used all of his senses to their fullest extent. He wanted to make sure that he did not miss even the smallest detail when it came to the next round. On the other hand, Argentum focused his vision onto the dark clouds, waiting for a change to happen to the royal blue lightning bolts after he was alerted.

Eventually, after around 10 minutes or so, a change did happen. Accompanied by a loud explosion sound, the energy emanating from the royal blue lightning bolts intensified to a great degree as they started to fuse into a type of lightning far more destructive than before. At first, these new type of lightning bolts glowed an intense white, but after a while, the glow gradually disappeared, revealing the true appearance of the new lightning bolt.

From a single glance, one could easily notice that the color that the new lightning bolt took on was quite similar to the royal blue lightning bolt, albeit closer to black than the previous color. Other than that, everything else was different. The intent of destruction was different, the destructive power was different, and even the feeling it gave off was different.

Seeing that the next level of lightning bolts was now being made, Argentum could not help but mutter, “The Abyss-level bolts are finally being made. I wonder if Herellia would be able to withstand the bombardment of 100 bolts at this level?”

As he thought about Herellia, he could not help but glance at Herellia’s direction, only to notice that Herellia was currently standing with her sense of vision fully focused at the clouds. After a few seconds, an aura of terror faintly radiated from her, which was soon replaced with an aura of determination and tenacity as she knew she had already come this far in her tribulation. With that in mind, she then took a look at Horell and Argentum, only to notice that Argentum was looking at her.

Without hesitation, she sent a strand of energy towards Argentum to connect the two of them up before telling him, “This next round is incredibly dangerous.”

“I know,” Argentum said in response to her words before letting out a chuckle. Feeling that the chuckle had a hint of confidence added to it, Herellia could not help but briefly radiate an aura of confusion before asking, “What are you laughing about?”

“Well, let’s just say that the heavens gave me a few tips regarding the next round of lightning that’s about to hit you,” Argentum responded to her words, to which she replied with a tone of slight elation, “Really?”

“Why would I lie?” Argentum said in a slightly cheerful tone before starting to tell her what the notification told him to tell her. After that, he then added, “Just so you know, the next round of lightning consists of 100 dark blue lightning bolts. A single dark blue lightning bolt has the equivalent power of over a hundred royal blue lightning bolts, so you know what would happen if it touched you.”

“But you told me that if I get hit by it, I wouldn’t die, right?” Herellia replied with Argentum’s earlier words, to which Argentum responded, “That is indeed the case for this next round, but what about the round after that? The heavens won’t always give me a hint like this, you know.”

“Anyways, are you confident that you would be able to handle the next round of lightning bolts without a problem?” he asked soon after, prompting Herellia to remain silent for a bit. After a while, she then radiated an aura of confidence before responding, “Around 80% confident. Although I’ve familiarized myself with the defensive skill I’ve obtained from the evolution, theoretical experience doesn’t beat practical experience. In other words, more or less prepared.”

Listening to Herellia’s response, Argentum then suggested, “Do you want me to cast a buff on you that enhances your defense? In the off-chance you lose focus, a buff like this would definitely help you.”

“Hmm…” Herellia scratched her head quite a bit as she thought about Argentum’s suggestion. While that was happening, Horell could not help but look at Argentum, only to notice that he was preoccupied. He then looked at the direction Argentum was looking at, seeing that he was currently looking at Herellia. It did not take long for him to put two and two together, and decided to return to his vigilant state.

And just as Horell returned to his vigilant state, Herellia finally came to a conclusion as she nodded while saying, “Alright, then. Cast it on me. I’ll take it as assurance.”

“Okay,” Argentum responded as he nodded before muttering the incantation of a True Water spell he had prepared for this tribulation. With his palms extended, a cyan magic circle soon appeared in front of it as he aimed the magic circle towards Herellia. After double-checking that the magic circle would hit Herellia, he then shot it as he muttered, “[Azure Enhancement Verse: Praesidis Vis].”

Whoosh!

In less than an instant, the cyan magic circle soon arrived at where Herellia was before being absorbed by her body. In a matter of seconds, Herellia felt that the surface of her body was covered in an intangible layer of energy that seemed to be impenetrable. As for Argentum, after seeing that the defense enhancing spell he had cast was successfully applied on Herellia, he then used his enhanced senses to check if [Supreme Aqua Benefica: Selfless Variant] was still active. After making sure that it was still active, he let out a sigh of relief before redirecting his attention to the dark clouds.

Rumble…

At this moment, a loud rumble resounded throughout the surroundings as more and more royal blue lightning bolts were being fused to turn into dark blue lightning bolts. Unlike before, where the loud rumbling seemed to come from an increase of the lightning bolts’ power, the rumble that had resounded seemed to have an intent to it. Using his enhanced senses to sense the hidden intent behind the loud rumble, Argentum let out an awkward chuckle as he muttered to himself, “The dark blue lightning bolts wanted to obtain our attention? Can these things still be considered lightning bolts?”

Placing this thought at the back of his head, he then continued to look at the progress of the transformation of the lightning bolts. By the time around an hour has passed, all of the lightning bolts darting throughout the dark clouds were now dark blue in hue. Coincidentally, it was also at this time that a loud rumble resounded throughout the surroundings once more, but this time, the intent was different.

Sensing the intent from the rumble, Argentum hastily sent a strand of energy to Herellia to connect the two of them before shouting, “Prepare your defensive skill! The next round of lightning is coming!”

Whoosh!

Without delay, Herellia went ahead and circulated all of the energy coursing throughout her body as she went ahead and channeled this energy towards her robe. Soon after, hundreds of crimson red tendrils were soon conjured from the robe before making their way towards the 15 crimson petals that surrounded Herellia.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Accompanied by the faint sounds of wind, the crimson red tendrils covered the crimson petals, increasing the thickness of each petal within a matter of seconds. While this was happening, Herellia decided to spare a glance at the dark clouds, noticing that around 10 spots on the dark clouds were glowing a bit more intensely than the other spots. With that in mind, she proceeded to hasten the thickening process of the crimson petals. It was only after around 30 seconds did the thickening process finish, with Herellia now being surrounded with 15 petal-shaped objects that looked more like rocks instead of petals due to their thickness.

Bzzt…crash!

Just as she was about to activate her defensive skill, the next trial had finally begun, bringing down 100 dark blue lightning bolts that made their way towards Herellia. At first, she thought that she had the time to move towards one of the small lightning bolt groups in order to reduce the burden she would have to face at once. But just as she was about to do so, the ten small lightning bolt groups instantly fused as one, transforming into a dark blue pillar made out of lightning bolts that spiraled around one another. With such a sight covering her field of vision, Herellia let out a mocking chuckle as she muttered, “Well…this is quite a predicament.”

On the other hand, Argentum could not help but radiate an aura of understanding after seeing the lightning bolt groups bunch up. He then said, “So that’s why there’s the word blitzkrieg.”

After feeling satisfied that the current mechanic of the trial followed the name of the trial to a T, the aura surrounding him was then replaced with an aura of slight worry, which was overshadowed by the intense confidence he felt as he looked at what Herellia was currently doing.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Not waiting for the dark blue pillar to come crashing at her, she then manipulated 15 thick petals to rotate above her head as they separated into three layers made up of 5 petals each. The layer closest to the dark blue pillar was made out of petals that were less thick than the layer below it, while the layer closest to Herellia was made out of the thickest petals. With the three layers firmly placed above her head, she then sent a great portion of her energy towards the three layers, allowing them to radiate a golden sheen as she shouted, “[Sanguis Monarchia Variant]…”

“[Crimson Gold Pagoda: Trois Fleurs Bouclier]!”

Bang!

As the three layers of thick petals radiated an intense golden sheen, the dark blue pillar had finally collided with them, pushing the first layer of thick petals down to collide with the second layer. Not long after that, the two layers were then pushed down to collide with the third layer, making it look like the three layers of thick petals was a fancy cake of some sort. While this occurred, Herellia could not help but radiate a faint aura of shock as she shouted, “Strong!”

Fortunately, just as it seemed that the final layer was going to be pushed down to collide with Herellia’s head, the third layer maintained its position as it tenaciously withstood the strong force stemming from 100 Abyss-level lightning bolts. Even Herellia was surprised that the third layer was holding on while facing against this force. Nevertheless, the current situation was in her favor, prompting her to infuse a bit more of her energy towards the three petal layers. This intensified the golden sheen radiating from the three layers, and surprisingly, it pushed the dark blue pillar quite a bit in the process.

Wondering if the dark blue pillar could be pushed back all the way, she then manipulated the three petal layers to gradually move upward. To her shock, her hypothesis was, in fact, correct as the dark blue pillar was gradually being pushed back towards the dark clouds. While this was happening, one of the lightning bolts making up the pillar would separate from it once in a while before returning to the dark clouds on its own. This phenomenon gradually reduced the burden she faced while she was pushing the pillar back to the dark clouds.

“This is it?” Looking at what Herellia was doing, Argentum could not help but radiate an aura of confusion as he felt that this trial was a bit too easy. Not wanting to jinx the next trial, he kept this thought to himself as he pondered over how the current scenario came to be. In the end, his question was left unanswered as the dark blue pillar was pushed all the way back to the dark clouds, thus ending the Blitzkrieg of the Century Abyss.

——–

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