Rebirth of the Phoenix God

"How do I say it…"

To say that Fen was hesitant to reveal everything about his unusual catalyst would be a great understatement. Given how Nadia clarified to him perfectly well how a normal catalyst was supposed to look like in her book, Fen had no doubts that once again, there was something special about him.

"Fen, listen. If you are looking to join a proper mercenary group, you can't hide your strengths. This is not a school party you are entering to have fun and hook with the bitches up, but a group of people that trust each other with their lives. Even if you only treat it as a training experience, it doesn't change this basic fact."

Nadia's words proved that she perfectly understood the doubts that were going through her junior's head. After all, no matter how peaceful the core of the academy was, it would be strange if someone would be happy to reveal something that could be potentially his greatest ace in the sleeve. 

But from what Fen understood from her words, it wasn't as if he really had any options to choose from here. Or rather, if he were to hide his abilities, he could as well decide to create his own mercenary group without even the slightest clue as to operate it, as no other seriously group would agree to hire him if he were to hold back from telling them the truth!

"Okay then. Yes, my catalyst consists of wings, but also of something akin to armour around my chest and hands. And yes, before you will ask the question. It allows me to fly."

Even though so far no one asked about it, Fen wasn't naive enough to think that he could avoid this kind of inquiry. 

"That is quite interesting, not gonna lie…"

Rather than instantly getting excited, some kind of hesitation appeared on Victor's face, as if there was a deeper meaning to what Fen said so far. Thankfully, the young mercenary's face quickly returned to its normal, light-hearted expression, indicating that his doubts were connected to some kind of passing though rather than a serious matter.

"Either way, I think you have a huge potential. While the way you are fighting is quite crude, it's nothing that cannot be fixed. Nadia, would you like giving him a go?"

Given what kind of situation Fen was just before going for the welcoming party, the thought of his senior giving him a go… Instantly made his blood boil. Even though so far, he never dared to look at Nadia in this way, once this topic was brought up, there was no denying the fact that her body was quite attractive!

"Sure."

Not getting flustered over this simple request at all, Nadia reached with her hands to her side and unsheathed her sword. 

"Do you have any weapon of choice?"

Finally understanding what this "giving a go" actually meant, Fen barely held himself from letting off a sigh of relief. As alluring as the perspective of sleeping with his senior could be, he wasn't willing to risk their relationship deteriorating because of this single, misplaced step. This lass already helped the young man to learn a lot, and Fen was as far as he could be from willing to compromise on the prospects of learning even more from her in the future!

"I will go with the sword as well. Just…"

Taking a moment to fight his hesitation to openly share his secrets like that off, Fen looked around to confirm that the three of them were the only ones present in the area before finishing his sentence.

"What I wanted to say, is that while I can fight with sword pretty well, it's not a skill that I obtained with honest practice. It's more like, whenever I'm using my catalyst, it feels as if the proper way to move all its parts simply appears in my head, only to disappear the moment I drop the catalyst."

As if in order to confirm his words with a real-life example, Fen invoked his catalyst once again, this time allowing for it to remain after its initial appearance.

"Amazing��"

With the red hue of the flames that Fen's catalyst was made off, the darkness of the night didn't seem to be as dark as it used to be. His wings were still coated around his body to form a full-scale protective layer around him, just like he made them appear back when he crashed against the wall of the building.

"Oh my… So that's how your catalyst looks!"

Contrary to the relatively silent amazement of Victor, Nadia was far more vocal with her reaction to what she saw. Not bothering with stupid stuff like personal space, she quickly approached her junior. With her hands reaching towards Fen's wings, she stopped her fingers only the tiniest distance away from the surface of the flames that made up the young arcanist's flames.

"It's… beautiful…"

Tracing her fingers down Fen's wings, Nadia followed what looked like a thick vein, all the way to the point where Fen's wings turned into his chest armour. Taking a long moment to realise that she was actually placing her hand on her junior's chest, Fen's senior finally backed out with her cheeks turning slightly reddish.

"Weren't we supposed to fight?"

Rather than allowing the awkward mood to incapacitate all three of them and slow down the process of what was actually a negotiation, Fen quickly brought up the matter that was supposed to be on the agenda right now.

"Oh, right. But how about your weapon?"

Slightly surprised by her junior taking the lead in the heat of the moment, Nadia looked at his face instead of his arm, only to turn even more surprised when Fen raised his hand from which a fiery sword grew.

"Isn't this blade good enough?"

At the same time as the young man presented his sword to the others, he finally noticed one thing. This was exactly the same kind of blade that all the people whose memories he saw were using! While it wasn't something tangible to speak about inheritance, maybe being able to wield this sword was the sign of his actual noble blood, even within the limits of phoenixian bloodline?

"Yes, this sword will be good enough. Not only that, seeing it made me sure about one thing. If you are still interested in joining my group in the way that was explained to me before, then I will have to refuse. But fret not! That's not all that I want to say."

Suddenly dropping a bomb on their talks, Victor stopped Fen from clashing with Nadia before they could even cross their weapons against each other. 

"I'm all ears."

Even though Fen didn't really have that much experience when it came to negotiations, it was fairly obvious that Victor wasn't about to end their entire encounter with a flat-out refusal right now. This young mercenary still had something important to say.

"First thing first, I think I'm the only one in our small group that actually have any fucking idea what having this kind of catalyst means. As such, I'm unwilling to take the responsibility for the Phoenixian heir without properly teaching him first. Nadia, what I will tell right now might confuse you a bit… But this young man seems to be the straight line descendant of the Phoenix Lords."

One by one, Victor continued to drop one bomb after another, as if his words implied at something that was so basic that not knowing about it would instantly fail someone as a proper descendant of the Phoenixian bloodline. 

"You mean the pioneers? While this is huge, I can't really see you making such a fuss about it. It's not like their genius could be inherited in the bloodline…"

Contrary to Fen's expectation, Nadia didn't seem to regard those Phoenixian Lords, or in that case, the pioneers that were responsible for creating the old kingdom as someone that should be respected all that much.

"No, I do not mean pioneers."

Suddenly moving forward, Victor approached Fen with a strange look on his face… Only to suddenly drop down on one knee, and bow his head before him!

"Phoenixian Lieutenant Victor pays respect to the Phoenixian Lord!"

It was hard to say whether this young mercenary was sane or not with all the bombs that he was dropping in what was supposed to be a simple negotiation. Yet, instead of remaining on his knees for as long as it would take for Fen to ask him to raise, Victor returned to a normal position on his own right away.

"I'm sorry about that, but this is something that all Phoenixians should do when they will see you in the future. But instead of explaining what I meant by Phoenixian lords, let me ask you something else instead. Have you ever had the moments when you could gaze into the past? When you could experience the times already gone?"

Uncovering the secrets that Fen never was willing to share as if it was nothing, Victor looked at him with an intense stare.

"..."

Looking down at the face of the young mercenary, Fen was really in a pinch. Should he admit to it? Should he attempt to pass it off as some kind of misunderstanding? Either way, he would be pushing himself right into the line of potential schemes and political games, something that he was too weak to handle right now.

"Yes, I happened to experience the memories that I couldn't place in our current times no matter how hard I tried."

Those words instantly put an expression of relief on the young mercenary's face. Relief so big, that his muscles actually gave up, sending his bottom down on the ground.

"Hahaha… finally…"

Starting to laugh as suddenly as all the power left his body, Victor took a moment to raise his eyes. Yet, rather than looking at the source of his sudden fit of character, he turned his eyes towards Nadia.

"This man is a descendant not of the pioneers, but from the line of the Phoenixian lords. To make things easier for you, rather than being a royal, he is of the true imperial blood!"

Hearing those words, Fen couldn't help but recall one particular memory that he never managed to make any sense off to this point. One of the first images that he saw in his visions that depicted a land that he never saw on any of the maps, a land that was on the wrong side of the setting sun and an endless expanse of the sea to the west. 

Was this the true origin of the Phoenixians? Was this folk that Fen saw back in that memory the group that Victor was referring to right now? No matter what the answer was supposed to be, there was still one topic that was put off in today's negotiations for way too long.

"Victor, I know I'm killing your great mood, but I came here to get one answer. No matter who my ancestors are, I am only who I am. I'm not one of the people that surely achieved great things in the past. And right now, I came to you because I thought that joining your group of mercenaries would be the best thing for me to do in order to grow. So, would you give me your answer that I came here for in the first place?"

Victor smiled.