“Have you been blessed by the gods?”

“What?”

“I said, have you been blessed by the gods?”

“Yeah, I heard you the first time. What do you mean by it?” Of course, Aurus was blessed by a god, the Goddess of Reincarnation specifically. He wasn’t stupid at all. It was one of his most hidden secrets and how was Herellia, a branch that had only been with Aurus for a short while, able to know that he was blessed by a god?

Sensing the confused aura surrounding Aurus’ body, it seemed that Aurus in front of her did not know what being ‘blessed by the gods’ meant. Feeling like a knowledgeable scholar, Herellia then said, “A being blessed by the gods is someone who has become a representative of the god, or perhaps, an indirect child of the god. This is attributed to how those blessed by the gods are able to grow strong that would allow them to defeat those stronger than them at a lower level, or perhaps even be undefeated amongst every being that fought them.”

“Mm,” Aurus replied with a soft grunt hesitatingly. He really didn’t want to tell Herellia that he was blessed by the gods. At that moment, a spark of realization entered Aurus’ mind. If Herellia asked him if he was blessed by the gods, then that meant she might be blessed by the gods as well? Testing if his hypothesis was correct, he then asked Herellia, “Well…judging by what you said, then that must mean that you’re blessed by the gods, Herellia?”

“Eh? Uh…” Unsurprisingly, Herellia went silent for a moment as she hesitated on what to answer. From this alone, it seemed that his hypothesis was correct. With this, Aurus continued onto the next step, which was coercing her to say she was blessed even if it meant knowing he was blessed.

Looking at Herellia that was floating a few decimeters above the ground, Aurus then said, “You know what? Let’s just say our answers at the same time?”

“Answers? What answers?” Herellia easily forgot her question as she wanted to keep her secret as well. Aurus then followed up with, “Being blessed by the gods. Whether we are blessed or not.”

“Ah. Uh…” Herellia hesitated for a bit before giving off a helpless aura. “Sure.”

“Okay then. I’ll count from 3.”

“3…”

“2…”

“1…”

“Yes!”

“Yes.”

“Oh, as expected,” Aurus couldn’t help but say after hearing Herellia’s answer. Herellia, on the other hand, was surprised that Aurus had the same fate as her, being blessed by the gods. Continuing to trudge on forward, she then asked, “Which god blessed you?”

Seeing that Herellia was now open to this topic, Aurus didn’t hesitate to say it out loud. “The Goddess of Reincarnation. You?”

“The Goddess of Kinship,” Herellia replied with motivation. “Why did the Goddess of Reincarnation choose you?”

“Well…” Aurus hesitated once more. If he answered the question, she would be the first one to know his past. Deciding to play safe, he asked, “You should tell me why the Goddess of Kinship chose you first. If you answer, then I’ll tell.”

“Heh? That’s unfair,” Herellia couldn’t help but complain that she became the one answering Aurus’ questions rather than the opposite. But it did seem that Aurus didn’t want to answer unless she answered first, so after letting out a sigh, she then explained, “Before the Goddess of Kinship chose me, I was any other stick out there, no life at all. Though there were circumstances and lucky encounters that made my body grow stronger, I still wasn’t ‘alive’…until the Goddess found me. Even up to now, I still don’t know why the Goddess chose me. But she did say something to me once she chose me.”

“What did she say?” Aurus asked.

“Make a family that you won’t regret.”

In an instant, Aurus’ mind went into overdrive as he tried to find the hidden meaning within that statement. Although he knew that the Goddess of Kinship was focused more on trust and family, he couldn’t help but think about it the other way.

‘How do branches do it? Can we even do it at all?’

Without a doubt, Aurus became flustered. He was only 16, a virgin that has only dreamt of doing it. Herellia, on the other hand, was originally a stick that was granted a soul by the Goddess of Kinship so she really didn’t see any hidden meaning in the statement.

“How about you? Why did the Goddess of Reincarnation choose you?” Not minding Aurus’ current emotion, she asked.

“Ah! Eh…” Aurus calmed down and noticed that she interpreted the statement as an innocent one, only he interpreted it in another way. Lightly coughing, he then explained his circumstances, making Herellia the first one to know his secret.

“I haven’t said this to anyone yet, so you’ll be the first one to know of it. Can I trust you to keep it a secret?” Aurus started off with a statement that questioned whether Herellia was trustable or not?

“I swear on my xylem and phloem that I would not spread this secret. Ever.” Of course, Herellia didn’t disappoint by agreeing to keep it a secret.

Letting out a short sigh of relief, Aurus then started to tell his story.

“Before I was even in this state, I was a human from another world. In other words, I was already an Animate being that was sentient and intelligent. Unknowingly, a bolt of lightning struck the place where I was living and pretty much burned my body into charred bits, with only my soul left.”

“As I pondered on what I was going to do, a goddess happened to notice my soul and give me the greatest gift of a lifetime, that was…to live a second life.”

“She gave me two choices, one was to live as a human again while the other was to live as a stick. It’s quite obvious as to what I chose. I don’t know why I chose it, but I don’t regret it at all.”

“I still feel like I should repay her somehow.” Unknowingly, a melancholic yet happy aura was being exuded by Aurus, letting Herellia know what he felt. Herellia then stopped floating and went closer to Aurus, saying, “I apologize for asking you why you were chosen. It feels like a sad story to me.”

“Don’t worry, it has already been a long time since that passed…well, a long time for a stick at least,” Aurus did not mind telling her as it allowed them to get a bit closer to one another. Continuing to roll, he then asked, “I would like to ask though, why did you pick the Blood Belhazard class?”

Of course, after apologizing to Herellia, she began to float once more. Hearing Aurus’ question, she answered, “The Goddess of Kinship says that blood runs through the family. So why not pick a class that has something to do with blood?”

“Ah…” Although he didn’t get it, Aurus nodded his head and continued to roll onwards as they got closer and closer to the place within Aurus’ memories.

While rolling, Aurus decided to make use of this free time to raise his most important skill, his Spell Core. Watching Herellia fight a while ago made him think that he should get stronger fast.

…

A few hours pass and Aurus and Herellia were only around 200 meters away from the place within Aurus’ memories that held the two skills he needed.

At this moment, Aurus was conjuring a magic circle within the Spell Core before shooting a condensed ball of energy towards the sky before it bursted with an extremely luminous glow, looking like pure white fireworks.

Ding!

Aurus instantly became ecstatic after hearing that notification sound as he knew that his hard work had finally paid off. Without dilly-dallying, he opened the notification screen and looked at it.

‘[Low Spirit Spell Core (Wind Variant)] has leveled up twice.’

‘[Low Spirit Spell Core (Wind Variant)] has reached the MAX level.’

‘[Low Spirit Spell Core (Wind Variant)] has met the necessary requirements and is ready to evolve.’

Seeing that Herellia was still looking ahead at their path, Aurus then commanded the system in his mind…

“Evolve [Low Spirit Spell Core (Wind Variant)].”