Chapter 352: Entering the Origin Pantheon

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

At the very instant he agreed to the prompt that allowed him to create the skill [Lesser Origin Affinity], a massive change had occurred to his outward appearance. In less than an instant, the four colors that made up his current appearance: blue, brown, green, and red, decided to separate itself into four parts in the air, making it seem like Argentum had lost his body.

Not long after, these four colors then went ahead and formed a quarter of a circle before connecting with one another once more, only to rotate on a central axis soon after that. Slowly but surely, the speed at which the circle of four colors rotated became faster and faster as the four colors overlapped with one another, gradually turning into one homogeneous color.

Eventually, the circle stopped rotating on a central axis, revealing that the four colors had combined into one color, which was light gray. This light gray circle of energy then gradually transformed into the shape of Argentum's body, with Argentum eventually feeling his body after a few minutes of feeling that he was only a floating entity.

He then looked at his body with an aura of curiosity surrounding him as he could not help but notice that with his enhanced senses, the gray color making up his body was not purely gray at all. In fact, if he looked very closely, he could see that every large gray particle of energy was being surrounded by multiple small motes of energy that ranged between the four colors covering his body back then. Of course, to the usual naked eye, these small motes were invisible, only showing that Argentum had a gray body.

Whoosh!

Not long after that, a feeling of enlightenment had washed over his body as he felt that his connection with the world had been strengthened at least by a hundred times. At this moment, he felt that he could manipulate anything in the world as long as it was made out of the four foundational elements.

Ding!

Just as the feeling of being somewhat omnipotent gradually disappeared from his senses, a notification sound resounded throughout his mind, prompting him to open up the notification screen not long after.

Whoosh!

'You have obtained the passive skill [Lesser Origin Affinity: Sophos Veritas].'

'You have obtained the active skill [Lesser Origin Magic: Truth].'

'You have obtained the active skill [Lesser Origin Magic: Erudite].'

'Due to the energy making up your body taking on a drastic transformation, your species has been changed from [Wind Elemental] to [Lesser Origin Elemental].'

'Please prepare to be teleported as your Origin Trials are about to start.'

Ignoring the last notification he had obtained, Argentum could not help but feel some surprise that his whole species had changed just because he had become inclined towards a stronger element. Then again, he could not help but feel like this would also be the case for Argento if he ever achieved Tempestuous Terra Firma, turning into a species that was related to his new element.

"Identify [Lesser Origin Affinity: Sophos Veritas]," Aurus commanded the system not long after, knowing very well that the most important skill he had obtained out of all the skills was the passive skill. It did not take long for the system to listen to his command, prompting a screen filled to the brim with text to appear in front of his field of vision. As he skimmed through its contents, he could not help but feel ecstatic that his combat power had increased to a higher level, making him ask himself, "I wonder how strong my attacks currently are?"

Ding!

________

[Lesser Origin Affinity: Sophos Veritas]

Grade: C (Mortal)

"The four creating the world as we know shall eventually form into one, forming Lesser Origin, the lifeblood of anything and everything."

Enhancing one's understanding of the four elements to an insanely high degree, one would be able to master the four elements and fuse them into a higher tier of element, the Lesser Origin. As the user has increased their understanding of the four elements to a level far beyond what could normally be achieved, the user has become a Sage of Lesser Origin, obtaining the modifier Sophos Veritas in the process due to the user achieving the True Element level on all four foundational elements.

> Gain access to [Lesser Origin Magic: Truth], a set of Lesser Origin-based magic spells focused on dealing damage

> Gain access to [Lesser Origin Magic: Erudite], a set of Lesser Origin-based magic spells focused on defense/support

> All four foundational elements can be used to enhance any other element, including Lesser Origin itself

> Any skill that uses the four foundational elements or Lesser Origin has its damage increased by 100%

> Any skill that uses the four foundational elements or Lesser Origin has its energy consumption cost reduced by 15%

________

"For some reason, I really want to try attacking once with my newfound powers," Argentum could not help but mutter to himself, pondering over the question as to whether or whether not he should do it at least once. In the end, he let his urges get the better of him as he went ahead and tried one of the Blessed spells from his [Sage's Magic] skills.

But unfortunately for him, even before he could start casting the Blessed spell, Argentum disappeared from where he was standing without leaving any trace whatsoever, heading towards a certain place that he did not know. Of course, Argentum knew that he was going to be teleported to the place where the Origin Trials were being held, though he could not help but lament the fact that he was not able to try using even a skill once.

…

Swoosh!

After some time, Argentum had appeared in the middle of a certain place, though he could not help but feel a bit motion sick. While he was being transported to the place where the Origin Trials located, he felt like he was being pushed and pulled at certain parts of his body from time to time, with the most often target on his body being his head. Fortunately, he was a Pseudo-Animate. If he was already an Animate, then he would've already vomited all over the place he had appeared.

To hastily remove the nausea he was feeling, he closed his eyes for a bit as he sat down, allowing him to become more and more in-touch with the surroundings around him. Eventually, after a couple minutes or so, the feeling of nausea was finally gone from his body as he stood up and opened his eyes, wondering where he had been transported. Surprisingly, the place where Argentum had ended up was far beyond what he had expected.

"Am I…am I…in actual heaven or something?" Argentum could not help but ask himself as he allowed his enhanced senses to spread as far as possible. At the moment, he was currently standing on what seemed to a circle where people usually appeared on, being located on what seemed to be a decently high hill.

Beyond the hill, all he could see were plants and trees that were as vibrant and healthy as they could be while the feeling of harmony of the four foundational elements could be felt all over the place. Although the path that led to the place he was on was only a dirt path, that dirt path felt like it was not out of place at all, as if it was there from the start.

"Where…am I?" Argentum asked himself, only for a man's voice to respond to him as he said with a light chuckle, "It seems like you're a newcomer, huh. In any case, welcome to the Origin Pantheon."

"The Origin…come again?" Argentum tried to repeat the term that the voice had used, only to fail as he forgot the final word. Fortunately, the voice was understanding as it repeated, "The Origin Pantheon."

"The Origin Pantheon…" Argentum muttered, this time being successful in reciting it. He then turned around to the direction of the voice's origin, eager to thank the man for telling him what the name of the place was. At the very instant he turned around, though, he instantly felt an aura probably millions of times more terrifying than Eleanor's aura at her fully berserk form emanating from the origin of the voice.

Noticing that Argentum was left at a loss for words…and even action, the man that was talking to him a while ago could not help but say, "Ah, sorry."

Swoosh!

Not long after, the incredibly intimidating pressure pressing down on Argentum had disappeared without a trace as he looked at the man in front of him with a hint of fear. In contrast, the man looked at scared Argentum with a large grin on his face as he laughed.

"My bad, my bad. I didn't expect that the being that appeared in front of me would be a Pseudo-Animate," the man said soon after before asking, "Speaking of which, what's your name?"

"A-Argentum…" Argentum timidly replied, wondering if the man in front of him would lash out at him. In response, the man placed his hands over both of Argentum's shoulders before gently rubbing them as if he was telling him to not be scared. Soon after, the man directly looked at Argentum and said, "Argentum, huh? That's a nice name. The name's Cardis. Nice to meet ya."

"Nice to meet you too, Cardis…" Although Argentum was gradually removing his fear of Cardis, the unintentional show of power he had done still lingered in his mind. Naturally, Cardis had a hunch as to what was going on in Argentum's mind, prompting him to say, "How about this? I take you on a tour of the Origin Pantheon and we become friends. Does that sound good to you?"

"Sure, I guess?" Argentum asked, making Cardis grin with glee as he grabbed onto Argentum's arm before dragging him along.

Soon enough, the two of them were out of the place where Argentum had first appeared as they then made their way to the other parts of the Origin Pantheon. For the most part, the Origin Pantheon looked more like a garden rather than a place that seemed to house the Origin Trials, a set of trials that, according to what Argentum had heard from others, had a high chance of failure and death.

Of course, while they were touring the entirety of the Origin Pantheon, Cardis went ahead and asked Argentum, "So what brings you to the Origin Pantheon? Have you undergone through the Origin Trials yet?"

"No…not yet," Argentum shook his head, prompting Cardis to stop in his tracks as he looked at Argentum with a curious gaze. Naturally, Argentum could not help but feel uncomfortable that Cardis was staring at him like that. And so, he asked him, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"What Pseudo-Animate grade are you at?" Cardis asked before adding, "I'm already at Rank 9 Animate, which means I can see through your grade in less than a second…but for some reason, I can't. Are you at a grade far higher than I expect?"

"The opposite, really," Argentum responded before going silent as he pondered as to whether or not he should tell someone he had met for the first time his grade. With that in mind, he asked, "Speaking of which, what do you need this information for?"

"Once you answer my question, I'll tell you why I asked you your grade," Cardis said in response, only to add soon after, "I'll let you know for now that it has something to do with the Origin Trials you're going to take."

"I see…" Argentum said in response with a light nod. Taking in a deep breath, he went ahead and said, "Well, I'm a Normal-grade Pseudo-Animate."

"…" In an instant, Cardis was left at a loss for words as he did not expect that kind of answer. Thinking that he had heard wrongly, he asked him, "Did you just say…Normal-grade Pseudo-Animate?"

"Yes? Is there a problem with that?" Argentum responded to Cardis' question with a question of his own, only for Cardis to utilize all of his strength as they zoomed through the dirt paths at breakneck speeds.

Being dragged along as if he was a flag being waved around in frenzy, Argentum endure the strain he felt from his arm as he asked Cardis, "Why are you running so quickly all of a sudden?"

Rather than respond to his question with a normal smile, an incredibly excited expression could instead be seen on face as he looked at Argentum and said, "You're gonna bring a big change to this place, that's for sure!"

"I'm sure you'll forge a new faction once you're finished with the Origin Trials!"

Although he was kind of happy to hear that he would be able to do something that others couldn't, he could not help but fixate on a certain part of Cardis' statement as he asked.

"Cardis, I have a question."

"What is it?"

"…what the heck are factions?"