I Reincarnated As A Stick

Chapter 204: Partial Owner

“[Pseudo-Animate Ascension].”

Whoosh!

Bang!

At the very instant Aurus had activated this new skill, the aura radiating from his body had intensified by a thousand times, creating a shockwave that sent the Supreme Ruler of the Void, who was incredibly dumbfounded by the sudden increase in power, flying back towards the dome.

Ding!

On the other hand, a notification sound resounded within Aurus’s mind, with Theresa reading the notification for Aurus as it seemed that Aurus could not check the notifications on his own, being too engrossed by the amount of power he wielded.

“Master, due to the constant consumption of [Pseudo-Animate Ascension], as well as the other skills activated before it, you can only maintain this level of power for only 15 seconds before [Pseudo-Animate Ascension] automatically deactivates,” Theresa said to Aurus. 

Fortunately, after hearing Theresa’s voice, Aurus finally snapped back to reality, letting out a chuckle as he commanded Theresa, “Theresa, show me a small screen with the Spirit stat on it. Since [Pseudo-Animate Ascension] temporarily changes my existence level to Pseudo-Animate, there’s no need to convert it.”

“As you wish, Master,” Theresa responded to Aurus’s command, bringing up a small holographic screen in front of Aurus’s field of vision not long after. It then told Aurus, “You only have 10 seconds remaining.”

“I got it. Don’t worry, Theresa. I know what I need to—” As Aurus responded to Theresa’s timely reminder on how much time he had left before his current power drastically drops down, he focused his sense of vision towards the small holographic screen in front of him, leaving him at a loss for words as he could not believe the number that was written on the screen. Thankfully, since he knew that he only had a limited time to wield this power, he hastily came to his senses as he muttered, “Is this really…my full power?”

[Spirit]: 219,156,300

With his Spirit stat at the millions, Aurus could not help but recall the first time he checked the description of [Pseudo-Animate Ascension]. In actuality, the first time he checked it was before the third stage had started.

…

After Inhee told Aurus that he had a 10-minute break to recuperate his losses after the second stage, Aurus went ahead and told Theresa to set a timer for 10 minutes, to which Theresa promptly followed, not taking a lot of time to do so. With that being done, Aurus then went ahead and wondered what he could do to pass the time, eventually thinking about his plan to solidify his foundation before he evolved to X-grade Inanimate.

And so, using up 2 minutes of his time, Aurus did just that, letting out a low sigh as he muttered, “Well, after I’m done with this trial, I don’t really have anything to change about the third and fourth step. I shouldn’t overthink the plan too much.”

With the plan now out of the way, Aurus then pondered on what he could do next, eventually recalling that he was going to check on the two active skills that came with the two passive skills he had received from the war, both of them piquing his interest as he told Theresa to bring up the description of those two active skills.

Ding! Ding!

And just like that, two holographic screens appeared in front of Aurus’s field of vision, allowing Aurus to hastily skim through the descriptions of both skills at once. After skimming through the description of the first active skill, Aurus could not help but wonder how it could be useful to him, eventually saying, “If I’m in a life-threatening situation where I’m pretty sure I would die, I think I could use this to at least let me live.”

________

[Lesser Fate Manipulation]

Only those blessed by the Goddesses of Fate shall be able to wield such a skill, allowing them to minutely change their destinies in order to forge a new path that has not been seen before. Of course, due to the power of such a skill, a great backlash would occur when the user uses the skill. Please use this skill with caution.

FP Cost: Depends on how much of the user’s destiny shall be changed.

Note: The penalty of changing fate varies on the severity of the destiny changed.

________

“Let’s check the next one,” Aurus said as he focused his sense of vision towards the description of the next one, hastily closing both screens not long after as he shouted without hesitation, “[Pseudo-Animate Ascension]!”

Whoosh!

________

[Pseudo-Animate Ascension]

A skill that gives the user the ability to temporarily replace their existence level to that of a Pseudo-Animate. This skill could be used to increase the combat power of a being, or reduce the presence of a being to a minimum.

> Temporarily replaces the user’s existence level to Pseudo-Animate

FP Cost: 20,000 FP per second

________

After activating [Pseudo-Animate Ascension], the first thing Aurus felt was that his senses had sharpened quite greatly, allowing him to see minute details on the walls of the large stone room he was in. Not only that, whenever he looked at Theresa, he faintly had an idea of what it was thinking at the moment. Of course, the greatest change brought to Aurus was the increase in his power. Since a single stat point for a Pseudo-Animate was equivalent to 1,000 stat points for an Inanimate, that meant that the efficacy of a single point of Aurus is now equivalent to 1,000 points.

“Master, since you have temporarily changed your existence level to Pseudo-Animate, the efficacy of a single stat point of yours is now equivalent to 1,000 stat points of an Inanimate,” Theresa said, to which Aurus became greatly bewildered. He pondered over it for a bit, eventually getting to a conclusion as he asked Theresa, “In other words, you’re telling me…that my power has increased by 1,000 times?”

“Pretty much, Master,” Theresa replied to his question before adding, “Since temporarily changing your existence level is not part of amplification, your body would not implode, Master. Of course, since your power has increased by 1,000 points in such an abrupt manner, you can only maintain this state for a certain amount of time.”

“How much time do I have left before it deactivates, then?” Aurus asked Theresa, to which it replied with a chuckle.

“None.”

Whoosh!

Just as Theresa said that word, the feeling Aurus felt a while ago had disappeared in an instant, reverting all of his senses to its original state. Nonetheless, Aurus was still in awe at how much his power had increased. While still savoring the feeling of [Pseudo-Animate Ascension], a thought entered his mind.

‘What if I activate [Pseudo-Animate Ascension] while my status boosting buffs are enabled?’ Aurus thought to himself, letting out a chuckle as he thought that with that kind of power, he would probably have enough power to fight against high-ranked Animates and still end up winning.

And so, with his fast FP regeneration rate, Aurus went ahead and activated [Pseudo-Animate Ascension] a few more times to savor the feeling of being a Pseudo-Animate again, eventually stopping after Inhee had told him that his break was over just as he had finished recovering his FP.

…

After being flung by a shockwave thanks to the abrupt increase in strength Aurus had undergone, the Supreme Ruler of the Void had collided with the dome, a decently loud explosion sound resounding not long after as he hastily landed on his feet. He then dusted off his clothes before taking a look at the current Aurus that was now quite far away from him. 

Of course, since Aurus’s strength had significantly increased once again, the Supreme Ruler of the Void had to adjust to his current level of power…only to be left at a loss for words as his hasty examination as to what level of power Aurus had reached made him look at the Inanimate as if it was a monster.

“Rank 1 Transcendent…no, wait. The Inanimate doesn’t even have control over a Principle,” the Supreme Ruler of the Void muttered to himself in disbelief, gauging the exact level of strength Aurus currently had. “Even though it doesn’t have control over a Principle, this Inanimate can still be considered at the Pseudo-Transcendent level!”

Whoosh!

And just like that, the aura radiating from the Supreme Ruler of the Void had intensified to match the current aura Aurus was radiating as he made his way towards Aurus. On the other hand, Aurus looked at the Supreme Ruler of the Void, slightly surprised that he was able to reach him in a matter of an instant.

“How long can you hold that form? I’m pretty sure you’re consuming a lot of energy to use that,” the Supreme Ruler of the Void said at the very first instant he had arrived in front of Aurus. As for Aurus, he hastily replied, saying, “I can only hold this state for around 20 seconds at most right now. In fact, I only have a few seconds remaining before this state wears off.”

“Oh?” In response to Aurus’s words, the Supreme Ruler of the Void looked at the Inanimate in front of him from a new perspective, realizing that the title the Inanimate currently had was actually lacking when compared to its true power. With a light chuckle, he then told Aurus, “Before it wears off, go ahead and attack me with that power you have. Don’t worry about me getting injured. I’m an incarnation anyway.”

Hearing that he could hit the Supreme Ruler of the Void without worrying about retaliation or anything, Aurus instantly became eager to hit him with his current level of power, hastily conjuring a thousand swords above him, which reduced the amount of time he could maintain his state by a second. Nonetheless, due to the [Hexatasking] skill Aurus had, he was able to easily manipulate the swords to congregate and fuse into a claw far larger than the one he had conjured in the second stage.

Without hesitation, he went ahead and swung this claw made out of swords towards the Supreme Ruler of the Void as he shouted the name of the skill he had used.

“[Spellswords of Ruination: Ultimate Art]!”

“[Millenium Sword Embodiment]!”

“[Nine Realms’ Nether Claw]!”

Bang!

At the instant the claw made out of swords had collided with the Supreme Ruler of the Void, a loud explosion sound resounded from it, as well as a large shockwave, sending Aurus flying towards the dome as [Pseudo-Animate Ascension] had deactivated, reverting his existence level to S-grade Inanimate. Nevertheless, he was very satisfied that he was able to unleash an attack that was at his limit for now.

After hitting the dome, Aurus went ahead and teleported back to where he previously was using [Omnipresent Movement], radiating an aura of shock as he noticed that even though the attack he had sent out had far greater power than the one he sent out in the second stage, the Supreme Ruler of the Void was unscathed as a black mass of energy blocked the claw from even hitting him as he grinned while looking at Aurus.

Eventually, the claw made out of swords disappeared as the Supreme Ruler of the Void removed the black mass of energy protecting him. He then looked at Aurus, who was currently radiating an aura of disappointment, and let out a chuckle as he said to him, “You know, for an Inanimate, you really pack a punch. If I were still at my original existence level at the start of this third stage, I would probably be turned to dust right now.”

“Hm?” Aurus’s interest was piqued, prompting him to ask the Supreme Ruler of the Void, “What do you mean by that?”

“As I’ve said before, I wanted to see the maximum limit of your power,” the Supreme Ruler of the Void replied to Aurus’s question as he added, “Of course, for a Supreme Ruler, wouldn’t it be quite embarrassing to lose against someone who has a title three ranks lower than you?”

“With that in mind, whenever your power abruptly increases, I go ahead and adjust my power to be on the same level as you, which would allow me to at least defend against your attacks without much problem. Of course, if my real body was here, you’d be crushed to pieces. Hahaha,” the Supreme Ruler of the Void continued, letting out a laugh which made Aurus awkwardly laugh in response.

“Anyways, wanna know what existence level I reached before you unleashed that attack of yours?” This time, the Supreme Ruler of the Void asked Aurus with a smile on his face. In response, Aurus eagerly responded, “Please tell me, Supreme Ruler of the Void!”

“Pseudo-Transcendent level. That’s the level you’ve reached,” the Supreme Ruler of the Void said before sitting on the ground and letting out a sigh. As for Aurus, after hearing the last existence level the Supreme Ruler of the Void was at before he defended against his attack, Aurus could not help but shout inwardly, “So you’re telling me…the current me has more than enough strength to kill Chonk without a problem?!”

“Not only that, but with that level of strength, I would also be able to pass through every place of Erudinia unhindered!” Aurus continued to shout inwardly, eventually remembering that his amplification multiplier was still limited by his body. Realizing this, he then muttered, “Oh, right. My body wouldn’t be able to handle that much power. But that doesn’t mean I can’t go and come out unscathed from some towns and cities with low-ranked Animates, right?”

While Aurus was engrossed at the idea of him having enough power to combat Animates, the Supreme Ruler of the Void attracted his attention, saying, “Hey, Inanimate. It seems I have misjudged you. Although you don’t control the element of the Void that often, which isn’t really a problem to me, the power you’ve exerted far surpassed my expectations, with your existence level being my main problem.”

He then continued, “To make up for it, I’ve decided on a few things that would help you along the path to becoming a Supreme Ruler of the Void, just like me.”

At this point, Aurus’s interest was piqued, radiating an aura of curiosity as the Supreme Ruler of the Void soon added, “For someone like you, who has a great future ahead, these rewards might only be small. But do take it as a token of gratitude.”

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Hearing notification sounds resound throughout his mind yet again, this time, Aurus went ahead and opened up a notification screen in front of him, reading through the latest notifications he had received. Of course, it did not take long for Aurus to read through the new notifications, with him focusing his sense of vision towards the Supreme Ruler of the Void as he said, “Are you kidding me? These rewards are more than enough for an Inanimate like me!”

‘Due to the manipulation of the Supreme Ruler of the Void, your title [Assistant Ruler of the Void] has been upgraded to [Junior Ruler of the Void].’

‘Due to the Supreme Ruler of the Void feeling great amazement from your show of power, the passive Species skill [Blessing of the Void’s Ruler] has been obtained.’

‘Due to the coercion of the Supreme Ruler of the Void, the Inheritance Ruler has bestowed upon you partial ownership of the Area 52 Inheritance, giving you the title [Area 52 Inheritance: Partial Owner].’