I Reincarnated As A Stick

Chapter 162: Acolyte of Wind

Ding!

‘By combining three highly compatible skills with one another, the Tempering skill [Divine Wind Spirit] has been created. Would you like to train in this Tempering skill?’

As this notification appeared in front of Argentum’s field of vision while a halo of green light was revolving above his head, he could not help but ponder as to what kind of path the Tempering skill would give him. Not only that, he also wondered if it would suit him in the long run.

“Identify the created Tempering skill,” Argentum softly commanded the system, to which the system subserviently followed as a screen filled with the information regarding the [Divine Wind Spirit] appeared beside the notification screen.

Ding!

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[Divine Wind Spirit]

A spirit loved by the wind. A spirit loved by nature. The world is its mother, and the wind is its nourishment. Due to how it has been raised, its power is extremely pure and strong, allowing it to cast tornadoes with a small power or tear the skies asunder with a simple movement of its limbs. That is the Divine Wind Spirit.

Effects:

> Class changes to Acolyte of Wind

> Intelligence + 15 (Reach full mastery)

> Vitality + 5 (Reach full mastery)

> Agility + 10 (Reach full mastery)

> Ability to cast certain Level 0 Spells

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“Hmm…that’s quite a good effect when compared to other Tempering skills,” Argentum could not help but say as he read through the information written on the screen. He then added, “Although it’s not as good as those top-tier Tempering skills, I could still enhance the skills that make up the Tempering skill in order to enhance its effects.”

“Nevertheless, this will definitely do for now,” Looking at the halo of green light above his head, he confirmed through the system that he was going to train in the Tempering skill that was created. In response, the notification screen that asked him whether he was going to train in it or not had disappeared, while the halo of green light over his head had intensified, radiating a brighter light than before.

Not long after, the halo of green light had expanded in diameter and went down by a bit, circling around Argentum’s forehead, giving him the feeling that a cool breeze was blowing around his forehead. After that, the halo of green light instantly shrunk in diameter, passing through Argentum’s head in an instant. Rather than feel any sort of pain from this occurrence, Argentum felt intense comfort from this occurrence instead as the Wind energy particles that were inside that halo of green light started to spread throughout his whole body.

With every cell that the Wind energy particle from that halo touched, a bit of the energy inside those particles would be absorbed by the cell, gradually transforming it into a cell that was inclined towards the Wind element. This lasted for a few minutes, with the final changes happening on his brain, allowing him to think faster, as if he was thinking at the speed of wind.

Whoosh!

After that final change, the Wind energy particles that constituted the halo of green light a while ago had dissipated as a notification sound resounded throughout his mind.

Ding!

‘The user has obtained a Tempering skill: [Divine Wind Spirit]. Progress: 0%’

‘The user has undergone the first Tempering process. Intelligence has been increased by 3 points, Vitality has been increased by 1 point, and Agility has been increased by 2 points. The user must reach 25% progress in the Tempering skill to undergo the second Tempering process.’

‘The user has become more inclined towards the Wind element. [Wind Affinity] has been upgraded to [Wind Affinity (Intermediate)].’

‘The user has changed their class to Acolyte of Wind.’

These were the notifications Argentum had obtained after hearing the notification sound resound throughout his mind. After reading through all of it, he then started to move here and there, noticing the improvement he had obtained in terms of Agility and Vitality.

“Although the increment was only a few points, the improvement it brought is quite surprising,” Argentum could not help but say as he closed his eyes. “Let’s see if 3 additional points in Intelligence has some great effect.”

Whoosh!

At that very instant, Argentum started calculating in his mind, starting with the number 1, then doubling it, then doubling it again and again. Surprisingly, it was about a minute until Argentum opened his eyes, the insides of it glistening with wonder as he muttered, “To think that I can actually calculate to that extent…in my previous life, I couldn’t go beyond the millions…”

“What if my intelligence had increased by 15 points…how far would I be able to calculate,” Argentum could not help but wonder, before snapping back from his daze of awe and wonder. He realized that even though the skills he fused together were not at their greatest levels yet, the power of the Tempering skill they created did not lose out to some Tempering skills made with maxed out skills. He was quite satisfied with what the Tempering skill could do for now, but he would surely enhance it to its limits after the war.

“Okay, I’ve finished testing what the Tempering skill can do right now,” Argentum muttered to himself as he sat down on the ground cross-legged, closing his eyes as he opened up the [Divine Wind Spirit] skill in his mind, a light green book manifesting in his mind not long after.

As someone who had read a ton of web novels in his past life, Argentum could not help but think that Tempering and Ascension skills were similar to the cultivation techniques from those web novels he had read. While browsing through the pages that instructed Argentum on how to progress further in the [Divine Wind Spirit] skill, he could not help but say inwardly, “I guess I can consider this as cultivation?”

Since [Divine Wind Spirit] was a Tempering skill was made out of skills that weren’t maxed out yet, the difficulty in progressing through it was not that hard. Well, for Argentum, it was not that hard. If it were given to another person to train in, they would already be stumped as to how they would manipulate the mana surrounding them, allow a cycle of transformation to form around their body, and then using those cycles to hammer the cells from the inside, as well as the outside, achieving a qualitative change.

Fortunately, Argentum was someone equipped with the memories of his past life as to how he would go about training in the Tempering skill. Even though it had been a long time since he had trained in a Tempering skill, after testing the waters for a few minutes, he was able to pick up the pace, completing his first cycle in 30 minutes. After the first cycle, he looked at how much progress he was able to accrue and noticed that he had only increased the Tempering skill’s progress by 0.2 percent.

Rather than getting discouraged by this, Argentum let out a small chuckle as he muttered, “0.2 percent is already quite a lot for one cycle. I remember that some Tempering skills only progress by 0.001 percent per cycle. Add in the fact that they’re Tempering skills made from maxed out skills, I can say without a doubt that I’ve obtained quite a good Tempering skill.”

After that, Argentum closed his eyes and focused all of his attention to training in the methods of the [Divine Wind Spirit] skill. Surprisingly, he was able to speed up the cycle a bit more thanks to his past memories, reaching a peak of 20 minutes per cycle. When compared to the multiple Tempering skills out there in the world, it might seem slow, but in terms of power to time ratio, it had quite a high ratio.

And so, with his attention wholeheartedly focused on training in the [Divine Wind Spirit] skill, 8 hours have passed since Argentum had started training in it. At this point in time, the amount of progress Argentum had achieved in mastering the Tempering skill was already at 4.8 percent, a number that quite a lot of Animates would scoff at if they didn’t take the amount of time taken into consideration.

Just before he started his current cycle, he noticed that he was close to getting to 5 percent, which was mentioned in the book of the [Divine Wind Spirit] that achieving this number would unlock something related to the person’s class. With that in mind, he tried to make the cycle go faster, finishing the cycle in 15 minutes.

Ding!

As he finished the cycle, a notification sound resounded in his mind, prompting him to open up his notification screen as he read the latest notification he had received.

‘The user has achieved 5% progress on [Divine Wind Spirit]. The user now has access to the [Nature’s Wind Bolt] spell.’

“[Nature’s Wind Bolt]?” Although Argentum was quite ecstatic that he was actually able to obtain a spell he could cast at 5% progress, at the very moment he read the name of the spell, he could help but recall a certain spell his original body had.

“If I could remember correctly, it was called [Wind Energy Bolt] or something along those lines,” Argentum muttered to himself as stood up and looked at the surroundings in front of him. With a plan in mind, he started to walk towards a certain direction, making sure that he was still close to the alliance base. While walking, he could not help but think about how [Nature’s Wind Bolt] is different from the [Wind Energy Bolt] he used to cast.

“System, identify [Nature’s Wind Bolt],” Argentum softly uttered as he continued to walk towards a certain direction, a translucent screen appearing in front of his field of vision not long after.

Ding!

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[Nature’s Wind Bolt]

MP Cost: 3 MP

A Level 0 Spell inclined towards the Wind element. Its more known variant is the [Wind Energy Bolt], a spell that allows those that learn the magic arts to cast a bolt of wind towards their enemy. Although the normal variant is known for its speed, this variant is known for its improved speed and power, harnessing the power of nature’s mana to propel the bolt at greater speeds.

The spell’s damage depends on the caster’s Intelligence stat, as well as various skills that enhance Wind-based abilities and spells.

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Step. Step.

“I’m finally here,” Argentum muttered to himself as he looked at the tree in front of him. This tree was one of the trees he had in mind when he wanted to obtain branches to make a fire. Unfortunately, due to his lack of strength, he was unable to do so, giving him the idea that this tree was a great target practice for a spell like [Nature’s Wind Bolt].

“Let’s see how powerful this [Nature’s Wind Bolt] really is,” Argentum looked at the tree and brought up the incantation of the spell in his mind.

“Veritas Opensei Maximum.” As he started to chant out the incantation, he channeled the mana that was in his body towards his right hand, extending his palm outwards as he aimed towards the trunk of the tree. Eventually, his right hand started glowing green, gradually intensifying in color. And then…

It turned white.

“[Nature’s Wind Bolt]!”

Fwoosh!

At the very instant he was finished saying the spell’s name, the white light covering his right hand converged towards the center of his palm and shot outwards towards the trunk of the tree. If one had fast enough eyes to catch it, as the bolt of white light was travelling towards the tree trunk, a faint green light started to swirl around this white bolt, which was actually the mana of nature being absorbed by the bolt.

Swoosh!

Since the white bolt was a better variant of the [Wind Energy Bolt], it only took a fraction of a second for it to reach the tree’s trunk…and pierce through it cleanly. This sight left Argentum speechless as he looked at right palm for a bit, then looked back at the hole he had made through the tree trunk. It was then that he noticed that the bolt had not just pierced through one tree trunk…but ten.

“I…was actually able to do that?” Argentum could not believe what he was seeing, questioning himself in the process. Nonetheless, his motivation had instantly reached an all-time high thanks to this sight. If the first spell he had unlocked already had such great power, wouldn’t he be able to dispatch Chonk in a matter of a few spells?

With that thought in mind, he dashed back to where he was training before, shouting along the way, “Chonk, better prepare to beg for mercy!”