I Reincarnated As A Stick

Chapter 311: The Heavens and Its Jokes

Propelled by the great amounts of energy that were infused in the attacks, the three attacks sent out by the trio towards the white lightning drops had arrived at their respective areas, wreaking havoc to a great number of the white lightning drops as the two collided.

Bang!

The first one to collide with the white lightning drops was Herellia’s [True Submission] skill in the form of a large golden X. Thanks to the increase in combat power brought about by Argentum’s enhanced buffs, the power inherent in the large golden X was enough for a large number of white lightning drops to be dispelled, though after being dispelled, no white strands were formed. At first, Herellia could not help but radiate an aura of confusion after seeing this common phenomenon not appear on the white lightning drops, but after she remembered that this trial was a trial that allowed her to obtain an enhanced final evolution, she finally understood why this was happening.

Nevertheless, she still could not help but ask herself, “If this trial did not form any strands that boosted my power, then why did that other trial form strands?”

The other trial that Herellia was talking about was none other than the bonus trial she underwent after she was finished with the second trial. The reward of that bonus trial was the same as the current trial the trio were undertaking, giving her an enhancement to her evolution. But even though the reward was the same, only the earlier bonus trial gave her strands that increased her power. Just as she was about to mull over the question even more, she hastily realized that there was no point in finding the answer to it, feeling that she would enter a deep hole if she forced herself to do so.

The next one to collide was Horell’s large swath of weapons. The reason why there was a delay between Herellia’s skill and his was that he still had to manually control the weapons that were made from the large sphere that he had conjured. Nevertheless, the number of white lightning drops that were dispelled by his attack was actually far greater in number when compared to Herellia. This was because he was manually controlling every weapon that came from the large sphere, hence he controlled these weapons to cover a large area.

Nevertheless, the number of white lightning drops Horell had dispelled paled in comparison to the number of lightning drops Argentum had dispelled with his attack. From the name of the spell Argentum had used, 81 meteors were conjured out of nowhere, clashing with the lightning drops that were in their way before exploding into a large mass of frosty shrapnel, which also dispelled more lightning drops in the process.

Seeing this attack dispel a large number of white lightning drops in one move, Horell and Herellia, whose attacks landed on the lightning drops first, could not help but look at Argentum, who was intently looking at the collision of the meteors and mutter to themselves, “Monster!”

Unsurprisingly, with the help of his enhanced senses, Argentum was able to hear this word being muttered by the two of them, prompting him to let out an awkward chuckle as he said in response, “Just so you know, Herellia’s going to be the bigger monster after this trial is done.”

After saying those words, Argentum returned his focus to the meteors, allowing the meteors to collide with the lightning drops one by one. Eventually, all 81 meteors had done their job, clearing out a large number of lightning drops to the point that only a quarter of the original amount was left hovering in midair.

Seeing this, the trio could not help but exude auras of excitement, only for it to turn into shock as they noticed that more lightning drops started to drop from the dark clouds, replacing the lightning drops that had been dispelled by their attacks. Although Argentum felt that something was off, he looked at Herellia and Horell before looking back at the lightning drops and shouting once more, “Attack!”

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

And just like that, the three of them used their ultimate attacks one more time, dispelling a large portion of the white lightning drops that were in their surroundings. Unfortunately for them, just as they thought that the number of lightning drops would stay fixed at that time, more white lightning drops fell from the dark clouds, replacing the lightning drops that were dispelled once more. While this was happening, the other lightning drops continued to drop from the sky and collide with the ground, forming large shockwaves. Of course, these shockwaves did not affect the three as they hovered off the ground.

Nevertheless, a confused aura was evidently exuding out of the trio, wondering why the lightning drops that they dispelled were being replaced by more lightning drops. This thought circulated inside Herellia and Horell’s minds as they did not know the true name of the trial. As for Argentum though, after seeing the lightning drops being replaced every time they made an attack, he had a hunch that the meaning he obtained from the name of the trial was actually quite different from the real thing.

‘How many lightning drops are currently in the surroundings right now?” Argentum asked himself, feeling that he would obtain the answer he was looking for as long as he knew the number of lightning drops at the moment. Without hesitation, he utilized his enhanced senses to the fullest extent before hastily counting all of the lightning drops that did not collide with the ground yet. It did not take long for him to find out that the number of lightning drops in midair had exceeded 2,000, which made him instantly conclude that his first hypothesis of the trial was, in fact, wrong.

In hindsight, this hypothesis was something he mentioned to Horell as an answer to the number of lightning bolts that were going to hit him. Realizing this, Argentum could not help but inwardly let out a mocking laugh as he muttered to himself, “To think that I’ve actually jinxed this trial without me knowing. Then again, I can’t really jinx something that has already been destined to happen.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that we’re facing against a million of these white lightning drops,” Argentum continued to mutter to himself as he looked at the two in front of him. At the moment, the two of them were radiating auras of determination as they were prepared to send out another wave of attack. Unfortunately for them, they wouldn’t be able to unleash one more attack as Argentum shouted, “Herellia, Horell, change of plans. Stop attacking.”

“Wait…what?” At first, the two of them could not help but wonder if they had heard Argentum’s words wrongly. With that in mind, Herellia was the first one to ask, saying, “Did you just tell us to stop attacking, Argentum?”

“Yeah.” Argentum nodded, prompting the two to look at each other before looking back at Argentum. Soon after, Horell focused his sense of vision on him before asking, “Why’s that?”

“I just found out that we’re up against a million of those lightning drops,” Argentum said in response to Horell’s question, eliciting an aura of fear and shock to radiate from both Herellia and Horell, which they hastily suppressed soon after. He then continued, “Although we can continue to attack these guys as long as we have enough energy, we have to remember that there are limits to our regeneration rates. Once we exhaust all of our energy, all of us are more or less susceptible to being hit by the white lightning drops.”

“In other words, we die,” Argentum emphasized this point, although he knew that they wouldn’t actually die after being hit by the white lightning drops. He only said this in order for them to listen to his words. And well, to say the least, it unsurprisingly worked, with Herellia dispelling the crimson halberd she was wielding all this time while Horell retracted the energy he had released.

At this moment, the two of them were waiting for Argentum’s next words as they knew that they wouldn’t have reached this point if it wasn’t for Argentum. Although Herellia knew how an Existence Tribulation worked, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to react to the abrupt changes of the trials in time. As for Horell, he only had an inkling of knowledge regarding Existence Tribulations, so he knew that he had no say over them.

Seeing that the two of them were waiting for his next words, Argentum looked at the barriers that covered them and said, “For now, fortify the barriers surrounding us. After that, we’ll think up of a method to survive this ordeal.”

With the two of them nodding, Herellia and Horell went ahead and started to infuse their energies into their respective defensive skills, repairing them to a state where it seemed that they had not been hit by the white lightning drops. Sadly, even though they repaired their barriers, the white lightning drops continued to pierce through skills like a hot knife cutting through butter, colliding with the ground below them without a problem.

Noticing this, Argentum went ahead and used one of the innate spells he had obtained after evolving [Sage’s Water Magic] to a higher grade. Although this was the first time he was going to use it, he already knew its effects and had a hunch that it would shine under the influence of [Niflheim Horizon].

Without delay, he started to mutter the incantations for this innate spell before slamming his palms onto the ground once more as he shouted, “[Niflheim Aegis Dominion]!”

Whoosh!

In an instant, an energy far stronger than the energy that made up the ice covering their surroundings spread throughout the area before arriving at the edges of the defensive skills Herellia and Horell had created. Just as they wondered what the energy was going to do, the energy went ahead and covered the two defensive skills before forming a thick layer of frost that seemed to radiate the intent of being impenetrable.

Seeing that his skill was successfully cast, Argentum could not help but let out an aura of elation, only for this aura to disappear as he saw the white lightning drops pass through the thick layer of frost without a problem, colliding with the ground once more. At this point, an aura of slight fury radiated from him, wondering why the defensive skills they threw at the white lightning drops wouldn’t work at all.

Fortunately, it was at this moment that he noticed that the white lightning drops were following a certain pattern while looking at the holes made by the lightning drops on the thick frost layer he conjured. Wondering if his hypothesis was correct, he went ahead and dispelled the thick layer of frost covering them, causing Horell to radiate an aura of fear as he asked Argentum, “What are you doing, Argentu—”

“Shut up for a second.” Before Horell could finish his question, Argentum interrupted him, telling him to be quiet. After making sure that Horell was quiet, he then looked at the white lightning drops that were slightly farther away from the three of them, making sure to use his enhanced senses to the fullest to make sure that his hypothesis was correct.

After about five minutes or so of careful examination, Argentum let out a long sigh as he blurted out, “You’ve got to be kidding me. Do the heavens think that the trials a trial taker needs to undertake are a big joke?”

Hearing Argentum’s words, Herellia and Horell were left at a loss for words before the two of them looked at each other, wondering what Argentum was talking about. Thankfully, after he said those words, Argentum started to explain the reason why he said those words, with his vision focused on the two before saying, “This trial is actually incredibly easy.”

“By easy, do you mean easy to succumb to death?” Horell asked, to which Argentum replied by radiating his aura of power towards Horell, forcing him to become silent. Seeing that Argentum was not joking around, Herellia went ahead and asked him, “What do you mean by that, Argentum?”

“All of the lightning drops fall straight down to the ground,” Argentum said in response to her question. He then continued, “As long as one doesn’t disturb a lightning drop through an attack or any other means, then it would unconditionally fall and collide with the ground.”

“By that, you mean…” At this moment, Herellia felt like she now understood what Argentum was trying to say, an aura of slight expectation radiating from her. In response to her words, Argentum replied, “That’s right. Dispel the barriers. We’re going to dodge the lightning drops until all of them collide with the ground.”

Whoosh!

Without hesitation, Herellia went ahead and recalled the energy she infused into the crimson magic circle above their heads, dispelling the magic circle in an instant. After that, she went silent for a bit before sending a punch towards the cyan barrier Horell cast around them, shattering it in one hit thanks to the buffs they had. In response to his barrier being shattered, Horell could not help but look at the two in front of him and ask them, “Have you two…perhaps…lost your minds?”

“Horell, do you—” Just as Herellia was about to persuade her way to make Horell believe what they were saying a while ago, Argentum interrupted her from continuing before looking at Horell and saying, “It’s up to you if you believe us or not. You can cast another barrier around you and wait for it to look like Swiss cheese, or come and join us in avoiding the white lightning drops.”

Whoosh! Whoosh!

After saying those words, Argentum then utilized the entirety of the strength inside his body before dashing out towards a certain area, making sure to dodge the white lightning drops that were about to fall to the ground along the way. As for Herellia, she looked at Horell for a bit before deciding to dash towards another area as well, doing the same thing as Argentum while she made her way towards the location she had in mind.

Seeing that the two actually distanced themselves from him, Horell could not help but mutter to himself, “I may be cowardly, but I’m not stupid. If it was that easy in the first place, then the trial would’ve been over already.”

After saying those words, Horell then focused his vision to a point directly above him, only to see that a white lightning drop was only a couple of meters away from him. At first, he thought that he would cast a defensive barrier before moving away from it, but then, after remembering Argentum’s words, he could not help but have second thoughts over his decision.

“Ah, fine. Fine. I’ll do as what you say, Argentum,” Horell muttered to himself in a defeated tone before continuing, “But you better tell me what Swiss cheese is after this.”

Whoosh!

Without hesitation, Horell took a step backward, easily dodging the white lightning drop that was about to hit him. Unsurprisingly, that alone was enough for him to retract his previous statements and say, “Well then.”

“I guess I’m stupid.”

And with that, the three of them dodged the white lightning drops that were about to fall on them with great ease thanks to the buffs that the three had on their bodies. Eventually, after what seemed to be a long time, no more new lightning drops fell from the dark clouds, signaling that the trial was now over.

——–

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