I Reincarnated As A Stick Chapter 96: Inferno Grounds

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

With his speed higher than before, Aurus was able to reach the Inferno Grounds within three hours, taking in the fact that the Greater Experience Haven was only 10 kilometers away from this place.

The first sensation Aurus felt from entering the Inferno Grounds was intense heat, which was definitely a given since from the name of the place alone, it would definitely have something to do with fire or magma or anything that radiated heat.

As he hovered towards the place where the boss of the Inferno Grounds was, he could not help but notice the lack of Inanimate beings within this area, especially wood-based Inanimates just like him. After thinking about it for a bit, he could not help but have the urge to slap his nonexistent face as he muttered, "Fire counteracts wood, which means that the chances of a wood-based Inanimate adapting to this environment is extremely low. Thankfully, the Flux covering my body is protecting me right now."

The reason why Aurus knew that the Flux protected his body was because, while traversing the Greater Experience Haven, an Inanimate that was weaker than him shot an attack towards him all of a sudden, with him only hearing the sound of metal bending as the attack collided with his body.

No notification appeared in front of his field of vision, which he finally deduced to the Flux passively protecting him. He also did a few more tests before fighting against the boss of the Greater Experience Haven, allowing him to learn the fact that he could adapt to any environment thanks to the sheer density of Wind element particles in his Flux.

Minutes pass by as he avoided any place within the Inferno Grounds that radiated an intense bout of heat that could suppress his Flux's protection, gradually making his way towards the south end of the Inferno Grounds, where the strongest Inanimate aura was radiated. Only the boss of the Inferno Grounds could radiate such a strong aura.

As he made his way closer to the boss of the Inferno Grounds, he stopped around a kilometer away from the boss, deciding to make some preparations beforehand.

"Summon Staff No. 1," Aurus softly commanded.

Whoosh!

In an instant, Staff No. 1, the first ever Flux weapon he created, appeared in front of his field of vision. He then looked at it for a bit before muttering, "Although you're the first weapon I've created and you have been with me for like…a day, I'm afraid I can't stick with you any further. I have to branch out and turn over a new leaf, you know? If I want to get stronger, I need to craft a new weapon. Don't worry, you will be rooted into my memory." Even though it was true that Staff No. 1 lasted for a day, it was still the first weapon he crafted, which did hold a bit of sentimental value.

Sighing with slight melancholy, he then commanded, "Dismantle Staff No. 1."

Crack! Crack! Crack!

At the instant Aurus was finished with his command, a hairline crack appeared on the staff, which gradually expanded to cover the whole staff before breaking the staff into extremely miniscule fragments which could not be even detected by the naked eye.

He went silent for a bit before saying, "[Better Flux Weapon Creation]."

Whoosh!

Not a moment later, a screen appeared in front of his field of vision, asking him the same questions as before, but with some things changed, like the special effects of choosing between a Physical or a Magical weapon being enhanced, and the amount of Flux he could allocate to creating a weapon, which has been increased to 6, double of what it was previously.

A few minutes later, a staff that looked slightly more extravagant than Staff No. 1 appeared in front of Aurus' field of vision, radiating an aura that resonated with his own, allowing him to feel the power within the weapon he created.

"Examine Weapon," Aurus muttered.

Ding!

________

Staff No. 2 (Magical)

Grade: Inanimate — Magic

Attack + 180

Damage + 9%

Cast Time - 15%

SP Cost - 15%

A staff created out of a highly ranked Flux from a Spiritas, if not for the fact that the Spiritas' crafting capabilities were inferior, this could perhaps become a weapon that could become a legacy for many generations of Inanimates to come. Nonetheless, thanks to the superior material used to create the weapon, it boasts a power unlike others, allowing the user to dish out high amounts of damage at a fast rate while using less SP.

________

Satisfied with the properties of his new weapon, Aurus flew closer and closer to the boss of the Inferno Grounds, only leaving around a 100 meter gap between the two of them.

Whoosh!

"Hm?" In an instant, the boss of the Inferno Grounds could not help but feel an aura that seemed to suppress its own. It searched all throughout its surroundings, before looking upwards at a branch that hovered in midair.

"Hoh? A wood-based Inanimate like you actually has the guts to enter a place filled with Fire element particles." The boss of the area could not help but cackle as its mouth stifly opened and closed as it spoke.

From Aurus' perspective, the boss of the Inferno Grounds looked like a rough carving of a dragon from stone. Nonetheless, the aura radiated by this rough stone dragon did not lose out to his in any way, prompting Aurus to identify the boss.

Ding!

________

[Fuschar (Lord of the Inferno Grounds)]

Level: 32/40

Species: Boulder Dragonica Inferna

Existence Level: Inanimate (X)

[HP]: 23600/23600

[SP]: 4550/4550

Stats:

[Solidity]: 1436

[Vitality]: 1823

[Rage]: 1134

Skills:

Information does not need to be known due to the user's overwhelming advantage.

________

Aurus could not help but click his tongue after seeing the boss' health. "Although that's nothing compared to the Pillar level members of the alliance, that's still impressive."

Not long after, another screen appeared in front of the previous screen, seemingly coming from the system's Battle module.

Ding!

Fuschar (X-grade Inanimate)

Power Level: Novice (12 degrees)

Ideal Killing Method:

>Usage of [Zenith Spirit Transcendence]

>Attacking with [Sword of Sloth], inflicting a debuff

>Attacking with [Sword of Insatiable Lust], a fusion of [Sword of Lust] and [Sword of Gluttony]

>Attacking with [Spirit Gale Blade]

"It seems that my choice is correct." Aurus could not help but chuckle inwardly. With just the simple allocation of a single OS Point to upgrade the Battle module to a higher level, the capabilities of the Battle module have risen to greater heights, not only letting Aurus know of a single killing method, but instead, a formulated plan that would allow to triumph over his enemies without consideration.

"Not only did the killing method become a battle plan, the power level of the enemy has become more detailed as well," Aurus muttered. "12 degrees…degrees…where have I seen that before?"

Of course, Aurus could not put a finger as to where he read it since he was close to engaging with the Lord of the Inferno Grounds in a fight to the death.

"Heh…scared to the point you can't move eh?" Taking Aurus' immobility as a sign of fear, Fuschar could not help but snigger as a ball of fire was gradually formed as its stone jaws opened.

"Then, let me make the first move!"

Fwoosh!

With the innately high movement speed brought by the skills of an X-grade Inanimate, Fuschar's fireball flew at a considerably fast speed towards where Aurus was, not even needing a minute to reach him. Then again…

Aurus was faster.

"[Supreme Tempest Burst]."

Fwoosh!

In an instant, the aura Aurus radiated was intensified by twofold as Aurus easily dodged the fireball with his currently insurmountably superior speed. Using this heightened speed to his advantage, he activated [Zenith Spirit Transcendence] as he reduced the gap between the two of them.

Swish!

Only hearing the sound of the wind blowing, Fuschar could not even sense that Aurus was already behind it, conjuring a sword of a green color out of his Anima, which its power was intensified thanks to the aura radiated by Aurus' new weapon, Staff No. 2.

"Yeah, I won't let you take me down that easily," Aurus said behind Fuschar as the green blade slashed down on Fuschar.

"[Sword of Sloth]!"

Swoosh! Crack!

"Graahh!" Although Fuschar was an Inanimate of the stone-type, the sheer power held by the [Sword of Sloth] conjured by Aurus made Fuschar's skin seem like tofu that could be cut easily.

"You dare attack me?" Fuschar, who had never been at a disadvantage once in its life, could not believe that someone was able to land a hit on itself before it could, suppressing the pain it felt as it felt extreme rage. "Just you wait, I won't let you die that easil—"

Just as it was planning to retaliate, Fuschar noticed that it could not move any part of its body at all. Ironically, Fuschar could be said to be like a stone statue at this moment, awaiting its final verdict.

With Fuschar immobile, Aurus took this time to mock it. "Oh? You won't let me die that easily? Then I'll say the opposite to you."

Weeeng! Weeeng!

Two swords, one of orange color and one of yellow color, fused together above Aurus' body into one, exuding an aura that it could not be stopped by anything in its way as it was almost fully orange color, save for the splotches of yellow on its hilt.

"Goodbye."

"[Sword of Insatiable Lust]!"

Swish!

This time, Aurus slashed horizontally on Fuschar's body, creating a deep gash that severely wounded its vitality. Not only that, the scream of pain Fuschar released was on an extremely higher level, with the earth shaking and trees and plants falling down due to the boundless might of Aurus' sword.

Hearing the loud scream come out of Fuschar's mouth, Aurus then turned around and started to hover as he said to himself, "If it were not for its thick skin, then it would've died at the first sword."

He knew that Fuschar was already dead at this point, but just as he was waiting for the notification screen to pop up…

A black fireball collided with the back of his body!

Bang!

"…!" From the power of the fireball alone, Aurus was flung tens of meters away from where he was originally placed. Thankfully, the Flux covering him mitigated a great portion of the damage he could have received.

Using [Formosus Exuberance] to heal his HP back to full, he could not help but click his tongue afterwards as he said, "This is going to be a bit more annoying than I thought."

Chapter end