Rebirth of the Phoenix God

"I will allow myself to be perfectly honest with you, not only because I personally like your idea, but mostly because you no longer have any other path to walk for now. For the things as they are today, you can forget about any kind of support. Be it from the academy or the state at large. That is, I mean official support…"

Hanging his voice on a promising tune, the dean sighed deeply before putting the envelope back on the table.

"To think that I was so worried about an initiative of our own student… Next time when you plan something like that, be sure to inform people you wish to be allies with in advance. If I knew about what you planned to do just a week earlier…"

Shaking his head with disappointment, this elder-man sitting on the other side of the table pretended that he didn't drop an insanely important hint for the young man at all.

'Officially, huh?'

"Sir, if I might ask for a moment…"

Sitting down and thinking during a meeting was something that Fen didn't dare to try. Unless the dean approved of this request, he would have no time to attempt cracking this old man's code, opting to sound him off even further instead.

"Go on, take your time. I'm quite curious about what you will do from now on myself."

Smiling gently at Fen's reaction, dean leaned against backrest on his chair while shutting his eyelids down. For some reason, the young arcanist could feel that this old man decided to use this chance to get at least a short moment of rest. And for as strange reason as the dean might have, Fen suddenly realised how the burden of responsibility looked like.

It would be unbecoming to tell that he didn't face his own deal of hardships before. From his own execution through the exile and game of shadow in Akhaz, this young man never really had any chance to rest. Once he no longer had to look back in fear of a party chasing after him, he instantly dived into the intense training and quests, polishing and developing his personal power.

Even after he managed to enter the second stage of the life of an adult that managed to get inside the academy, his mercenary life didn't spare him any leisure either. From the quest to quest, the more the young man earned, the more he had to spend on all the costs of the life he grew to have. Repairs for his equipment, drinking parties with the rest of the group - something that couldn't be avoided given the rowdy nature of the mercenaries and the need to cast strong bonds with each and every soldier. Taverns' and drinks cost quickly turned into the wages of his subordinates as he skyrocketed through the ranks, quickly putting him on the position of an officer.

And during his very first mission as a second in command over the entire group, he ended up carving out a small kingdom for himself. 

No, it would be a lie to claim that Fen lived a calm and unchallenging life so far. But only once he saw how tired the old man before him was, did he realise that creating a Kingdom almost on his own, didn't mean just the splendour and glory of going down in history books as the one who dared to reach above himself.

But just as the Dean pointed, right now Fen couldn't step away from the path that he has chosen. If he were to suddenly give up on the idea of the kingdom, a long line of his current friends would form in order to kill him. The greatest problem of this kind of future would lie in the fact that everyone would think that they can only kill him once. 

On the other hand, Fen's current position wasn't favourable either. Just like the dean said, they could forget about any form of official help. While this sentence instantly suggested that some less open ways of obtaining support was highly encouraged, Fen didn't have the funds to organise anything even remotely filling the gap they had to fill in order to think about any further expansion…

'But do we need to… expand? What's the point of doing that?'

Suddenly struck by this idea, Fen was so shocked by the long-reaching meanings of this idea that he was unable to stop his eyes from opening wide. On the other hand, despite his closed eyes, dean seemed to sense that something was up. Opening his eyes, he cast a sharp look at the young arcanist's face.

"Sir…"

Despite starting, Fen was unable to follow up with the rest of the words. The thing that he wanted to ask, was simply too dangerous for the young man to take the risk of his intended words lightly.

"Go on, son."

Noticing the anxiety of the young student of his, the dean smiled gently before assuming a parental tone over him.

"Sir, you claimed that you would be completely honest with me. If I may ask, does this right of asking questions right out in the open apply to me as well?"

This idea was simply too daring. Too reckless and ambitious at the same time. It was something that would instantly elevate Fen's country to the position where everyone would be forced to acknowledge it existence, and make a spot at the big game for him and his compatriots.

The question was, was the newly-born mercenary republic ready for such jump? Were they prepared for moving away from dealing in small lords and protectorates, and turning their attention to the kings and emperors?

'Wait…'

Once again, even before the dean could respond to his inquiry, Fen was blasted by an idea sent directly from the heavens above.

'Are we ready to not make this jump?'

All at once, all the puzzle pieces have fallen in their respective places, creating a vivid image in the young arcanist's head. If they couldn't stagnate on their current level, and couldn't press their weight in ways other than militaristic one… Then only an open conflict remained as a way of furthering the power of the mercenary country of the new age. 

And then, Fen's vision was blasted away. For a moment, his consciousness returned to the familiar state of visions. But this time, Fen saw an entirely different picture than usually. 

There was no heroic deeds or history-changing moments. The host that shared his experiences through the phoenixian bloodline with Fen… This time, the young man could entirely immerse himself in that person.

Once in his new skin, Fen could see a wast and unending expanse of the raging ocean. With it's waves easily capable of tearing his entire fleet apart, only the bunch of Fairy arcanists that salvaged their heritage from the royal purge by escaping with their phoenixian kin managed to keep the ships generally safe. 

Yet, that didn't mean that the journey was easy. After months at the sea, the sight of land should bring relief and awaited peace to the heart of one of the original lords of the phoenixian bloodline. 

But his mind was in complete and utter chaos instead.

'Will we be able to establish the camp? Where we will get the supplies? How about the reaction of the locals? Can we even find a place to descend?'

With more and more questions appearing in the head of this great, historical figure that was so ancient that barely any records remained about him, Fen understood something at the same time as his vision broke up, returning his consciousness back to the reality.

'He didn't know…'

Recalling the image and set of feelings that he just experienced, Fen had to shake his head and take two deep breaths in order to calm himself down.

"Sure. It's only fair for me to answer your honest questions."

Smiling amiably at the young man, the dean still had this strangely annoying paternal aura to him. Repulsed by it as if it was nothing more but a stench of faeces, Fen suddenly realised something. 

When was it decided that the dean would be his ally? Was he really in the right place to ask about the idea crashing around his head before even explaining it to his compatriots? Just suggesting something to the dean could turn disastrous if the mercenary kingdom would fail to follow through the expectations set by his questions!

"Sir, I would like to apologise. I forgot what I wanted to ask. And since I forgot, it means it was never something important enough to bother your excellency with."

Dressing his face up with an embarrassed and slightly anxious expression, Fen attempted to laugh this matter off. Sadly, from the look of disappointment on the dean's face, it was clear that he failed at this task.

"Either way, sir. I'm thankful for your time and advice."

Instead of keeping the tense atmosphere, Fen simply stood up and bowed to the old man behind a desk with a happy smile of a student having his wish fulfilled.

"I will make sure to… take your words into consideration while discussing the further step of our newly-founded kingdom with my compatriots. Speaking of which, I will really have to excuse myself. With how I still have failed to perfectly control my flight - as your excellency could experience a few moments ago by looking outside the window - I can't risk infringing on the other town aerial space. Here, my student's token made the guards give me some slack, but in the other academy…"

Once again bowing his head, Fen quickly escaped from the room, timing the break in his sentence perfectly with the moment he shut the door behind himself.

'If he didn't jump on the opportunity now, then I will make him pay to enter the business later on. Either way, it's time to cash some favours…'

Thinking to himself, Fen looked at the window in the corridor. With the sun still hanging quite high above the buildings, he might be able to finish at least some of his preparations before hurrying back home. After all, it would be far easier to find out where Orsha and Victor moved if he did so during the daylight!

'I wonder, will we be really able to block that southern road?'