Seeing as how Helios had taken his bait, Argentum could not help but grin widely. Fortunately, he swiftly concealed this grin as he made sure to give off the feeling that he was not happy because he had persuaded Helios to give him a cut of the ownership, but instead feel happy that Helios was willingly giving away part of his ownership to him.
Of course, to a bystander, what was actually going on could be seen in plain sight.
Nevertheless, Helios had fallen into the illusion that Argentum was trying to set up, thinking to himself that he was a great person for being so magnanimous that he would give his greatest fan a share over the ownership of the Heaven's Gust Inheritance. Taking a few deep breaths, he then looked at Argentum with a solemn expression as he said, "Although I would be willing to give you a part of the ownership over my inheritance, this divine being right here has the right to decline the share you give if it goes beyond my boundaries."
As he said this, he could not help but feel regret since he allowed his narcissistic side to reign over his rationality. Though, since he had already said it, he, the great Tempest King, would not go back on his words…even if he was persuaded to say it.
Naturally, Argentum wanted to obtain as much of a share from Helios's inheritance as possible. With that, he went all out with his numbers, asking Helios, "Would the great Tempest King be willing to give me authority over half of the inheritance?"
"Declined." Unsurprisingly, Helios declined the first quote Argentum gave him. If half of his authority over the inheritance was given to Argentum, his combat power wouldn't just stop at being reduced by half.
"How about 40%?" Of course, Argentum was going to make sure that he systematically went down through the various percentages.
"Declined."
"35%?"
"Declined."
"Would the great and magnanimous Tempest King be willing to settle on 30%?"
"I appreciate the compliment, but declined."
"25%?"
"Still declined."
"How about 20%?"
"Declined."
"Will Helios Gustav, the dashing yet charitable Tempest King that could wield all of the wind in the world, be magnanimous to give this lowly being here a 15% share over the inheritance?"
"As I've stated before, I appreciate the compliment, but I would still decline."
"Would you be willing to settle on 10%?" At this moment, Argentum felt like giving up. Fortunately, a look of contemplation had appeared on Helios's face this time around when he heard the percentage that was given to him. Seeing as how he was close to accepting the percentage, Argentum hastily gave him a hopeful look while radiating an aura that screamed 'Please accept, please accept, please accept…!'
Eventually, a light smile appeared on Helios's face as he replied, "Alright, although my capabilities would be reduced by around 50%, it wouldn't really affect that much, considering that I am the strongest being out there. Hahaha!"
"Indeed, indeed! Such is the great Tempest King. Even a small percentage of your power would be equivalent to the power of many." Unsurprisingly, Argentum kept up his bootlicking, making sure that Helios would not go back on his words.
As for Rosalia, who was looking at the two of them all this time by the side, could not help but think to herself, 'Am I watching some sort of play where the joke is there's no joke?'
Leaving her thoughts aside, Helios could not help but beam in delight as he heard Argentum's words, letting out a loud cackle as he said in response, "And this is why you are my biggest fan!"
Snap!
Snapping his fingers, a green magic circle appeared between the two a few seconds later, giving off the feeling that it could be see through everything. Naturally, Argentum looked at the circle with interest as he wondered why Helios would conjure a magic circle out of nowhere, only to recall that this was just his way of assuring that Argentum wouldn't lose his share of the inheritance. To the main inheritance owner, one would experience a loss in combat power far greater than just sharing the inheritance with another person if the co-owner died.
As a beam of green light shot out of the magic circle, stopping at Argentum's chest, Helios looked at him with a solemn expression and asked, "Will you, Argentum, swear that you would not let your share over the inheritance be lost?"
"I swear by my life that I would not lose this share even if I die," Argentum replied as he adjusted his response to match Helios's wavelength, to which Helios lightly nodded in satisfaction. Soon after, a beam of green light shot out of the other side of the magic circle, attaching itself to Helios. Eventually, the green magic circle shattered, as well as the green beams of light as both Argentum and Helios felt that there was now a connection between the two of them.
Seeing as how Argentum did not decline forming a connection between the two of them, Helios became more at ease and felt that he could trust Argentum a bit more. Letting out a light sigh of relief, he then went ahead and waved his right hand in the air as a few strands of Wind energy particles soon appeared on his fingertips. After that, he shot those strands of Wind energy particles towards Argentum as he told him, "Absorb it."
Following Helios's words, Argentum absorbed the strands of Wind energy particles that were sent towards him, only to feel that his combat strength had increased once again. Unsurprisingly, he had obtained a notification from the system regarding this increase in combat strength.
Ding!
'You have obtained the passive skill [Heaven's Gust Inheritance: Partial Ownership].'
As he felt his newfound strength course throughout his body, he could not help but think that the boost he had obtained from Helios was somewhat greater than the boost he had obtained from Melzarin's inheritance, even though the cut he had obtained was only half of what Melzarin gave him.
'Does that mean Helios's inheritance is already at the peak of large-sized inheritances?' Argentum could not help but think, eventually placing these thoughts at the back of his head as he thought that there was no point in thinking about it.
With his goal after coming to the Heaven's Gust Inheritance now achieved, as well as obtaining a bit extra out of it, Argentum decided to head back to the Flame Spirit Inheritance to talk with Felix and Eleanor about distributing a part of their Heaven's Element potions to Helios.
With that, he looked at Rosalia and lightly nodded, to which Rosalia looked back at Argentum and nodded as well in response. Soon after, both of them looked at Helios as Rosalia started to speak, telling Helios, "Well, we've obtained all of what we need from you, Helios. We apologize for disturbing your beauty sleep, but I still want to thank you for helping Argentum out. Anyways, we shall now take our leave."
Just as they were about to turn around and head out of the inheritance, Helios stopped them as he asked them, "Where are you going to head after this?"
This time, Argentum was the one to answer his question, responding, "The Flame Spirit Inheritance. We did talk about how Felix and Eleanor would have to distribute some of their potions to you, so we're going to do that as soon as we leave your inheritance."
"Flame Spirit Inheritance? Eleanor's inheritance?" Helios muttered in response, only to go silent as the two were left in slight confusion. Soon after, he snapped his fingers, changing the sleepwear he was wearing into a set of casual outdoor clothes that would definitely make him stand out amongst the masses.
"Since I haven't gone out in a while to meet up with the others, how about I, the great Tempest King, be magnanimous once more and accompany you two to where Eleanor is?" Helios said after he changed his clothes, prompting Rosalia and Argentum to look at each other in silence for a while.
"Sure, why not." Rosalia shrugged her shoulders, waiting to see what response Argentum would give, only to see that he shrugged his shoulders as well, telling her non-verbally that he did not care if he came along or not. He was now a benefactor of Verdant Breeze Town, after all.
And with that, the three of them left the Heaven's Gust Inheritance as a group. At the very moment they appeared at the entrance of the inheritance, Helios then went ahead and enveloped all of them into a cocoon of Wind energy particles as they quickly made their way to where the Flame Spirit Inheritance was located.
…
By the time they had arrived at the entrance of the Flame Spirit Inheritance, the moon was about halfway to setting. With that, one could already guess as to how quick Argentum had cleared the three trials that Helios had given him for no reason.
As the cocoon of Wind energy particles surrounding the three of them gradually dissipated, Argentum went ahead and circulated a bit of his energy to form a connection with Eleanor. In the meantime, he could not help but recall how quickly they traveled through the continent with Helios's mastery over the Wind element.
Although in terms of speed, Aurus's ability to teleport was still better in his mind, Argentum had an urge to ask Helios about his movement skill once he had finished talking with Felix and Eleanor about the distribution of Heaven's Element potions.
"Oh, Argentum! You're already back?" It did not take long for Eleanor to respond to Argentum's request to form a connection, initiating the conversation with a question.
"Well, it took a while to convince Helios to accept, but we still did it," Argentum said in response, to which Eleanor said, "That's great!"
"I suppose you want me to have you and Rosalia enter the inheritance, right? Give me a second," she said not long after, only to go silent for a bit before asking Argentum, "Er…from what I could sense with my energy, there's another being with you two. Is that…?"
"The man himself." Argentum said in response, letting out a sigh soon after.
"…could you just give a minute?" Eleanor said, to which Argentum responded that he did not mind. Fortunately, that one minute only took about 30 seconds or so as Argentum and the others were soon transported into the insides of the Flame Spirit Inheritance.
Whoosh!
As the three of them had appeared the center of Eleanor's room, what Argentum and the others could see at first glance was Felix and Eleanor sitting on a pair of chairs in a menacing fashion. Well, to be more exact, only Eleanor was radiating a menacing aura. Felix, on the other hand, just looked at the three of them with a light smile…though an awkward aura could be perceived from him.
"How have you been, Helios?" Felix asked, to which Helios responded with a light nod, "I've been well, Felix. It's nice meeting you again."
"It's nice to meet you again as well," Felix said in response before going silent. With that conversation now done, Helios then redirected his gaze towards Eleanor, who was looking at him with a menacing gaze.
At this point, Rosalia and Argentum had already distanced themselves from Helios as they could not help but feel that Eleanor's menacing aura might turn tangible at any moment.
As for Helios, after sensing that menacing aura, he could not help but let out a sigh and ask Eleanor, "Are you still mad at me because of that fight from back then? If so, I'd suggest you don't think about it anymore. There's no point fighting against each other again."
"Oh, that's not what I'm thinking about," Eleanor said in response, her tone cold.
"Then, what are you thinking about?" Helios, naturally, was curious.
"Well…" As she said this, a hint of rage could be heard from her tone as she continued, "Can you tell us why you decided only now to meet up with us even though we've invited you multiple times before?"
"Er…" Surprisingly, Helios let out a bit of cold sweat from that question, prompting Felix, Rosalia, and even Argentum to look at the two with curiosity, wondering if there was something going on between the two of them that they did not know.
'Unlike the thing with Melzarin, it seems this one has more substance,' Argentum could not help but think as he looked at the current situation.
Unfortunately for the three of them, Helios did not delve into it as he perfunctorily said, "I was just…busy…with matters."
Seeing as how Helios did not delve into their past, Eleanor could not help but let out a light sigh as she finally looked at Argentum and asked, "So, I presume Helios is here because of something, right?"
"Ah." Hearing his name being called, Argentum finally recalled why he had returned to the Flame Spirit Inheritance.
Nodding, he replied, "Although Helios came along with us two for no reason, he does have an involvement in the topic I'm going to talk about."
"Let's talk about the distribution of Heaven's Element potions."