844 Luan Bird

The purpose of this was to help Mithra adjust the change of center of gravity every time Alex stepped on the ground. Since he didn't really have much time to do this, he decided to use this kind of unconventional method.

For Mithra, it was a challenge and torture.

"Sir Alex… Although I am not in a place where I can say this, I want you to know that it was really hell…"

"Don't worry. Unlike the time you got tricked, this training wouldn't cost your life." Alex brushed it off.

"Fair enough." She struggled to get up and somehow rose while staggering. Suddenly, she lost her balance and fell down, but she instinctively took another step on the right to prevent her from falling. At the same time, she realized that the step was solid to the point she managed to stand back up with that one step alone. "I…"

"Well, it's just training. The effect is just a fluke, so you need to train a little bit more to get a good balance. At the same time, it's time for me to teach you about footwork. I never trained my footwork, but I created one after fighting so many times. However, you can't do this because you don't have enough experience to do so."

"That's why you want me to learn footwork?"

"Yes. Most strong people actually create their own footwork to prevent their enemies from noticing what kind of footwork they are using. After all, if they learn your footwork, they can move one step ahead and destroy your entire movement."

"I understand."

Alex nodded and looked at the mountain. "This mountain will be perfect for me to teach you. You need to constantly move your feet according to the footwork while climbing this mountain. Of course, I don't mean to give you something hard and unpredictable since this is just simple footwork. You can refine it later when you have gotten enough experience."

"Yes, Sir."

"Still… To think you have Darkness as your element…" Alex let out a sigh. "I don't know what kind of ability your element has though."

"Eh?!" Mithra opened her mouth in surprise before everything turned into confusion. "I have an element? That is impossible. I tested it once in the past, and it turned out I didn't have a single element in my body. That's why I can't become a Mage."

"I… I want to have my element." Mithra hesitated for a second but wanted to follow in Alex's footsteps. Since the one teaching her was the latter, she wanted to be the same as him.

Alex then nodded. "I will awaken your element when you have reached the Qi Gathering Stage."

"Yes."

After confirming her desire, Alex then showed her basic footwork. It consisted of ten basic steps to refine her movement even more.

It was simple enough for Mithra to remember it after a few tries. She then replicated it while trying to reach a bit farther and succeeded after a few more minutes.

Since then, they started climbing the mountain. There was a path they could use to reach the top. According to Mithra, this path seemed to be used by the adventurers who wanted to have the Phoenix Spring. And yet, not a single one of them was able to get it because the phoenixes that protected this one were one of the strongest beings in the world.

Alex asked if Mithra was scared to do this, but the latter only shook her head. After knowing Alex for a while, she learned many things. Just like how she didn't want Alex to get into trouble with the kingdom because of her, she realized it was her looking down on him. He was far mightier than them, so if he said it was fine, Mithra immediately agreed.

They climbed the mountain steadily. If Mithra didn't practice her footstep, they might already reach the top within a few hours, and yet, they only managed to reach halfway in a day.

When they become closer to the peak, they should feel cold due to its altitude. But it was different for this Phoenix Nest. The closer they are, the hotter it is.

Alex activated his Spirit Eyes and found a few signs of energy at the top.

"There are at least five phoenixes on top of this mountain. What do you think?" Alex asked Mithra.

"Sir is not scared of them, so there is no reason for me to be scared."

"I might just be overconfident you know." Alex smirked.

"If that were the case, I have accepted everything, including my death. I have steeled my heart to follow you, Sir, so I won't regret it even if I die during this journey." Mithra smiled from ear to ear, showing she wasn't afraid of death.

"Haha…" Alex patted her head a few times. "Decision is hard to make, but once you make it, you should see it through even if it means your doom."

"I will remember your words." Mithra nodded with a serious expression.

The two continued to the top and finally felt the scorching heat coming from the top of the mountain.

"This…" Mithra watched the top of the mountain in amazement. There was grass everywhere and a huge bird nest. There were five red birds that seemed to be a family washing their body in the water pond.

However, Alex noticed this was not a phoenix. Not only was their body not made by fire, but they also had a different intensity of flame in their body.

"This is not a Phoenix… They are Luan Birds."

"Luan Birds?"

"Yeah. From my world, they are considered a mythical bird related to the phoenix. For this reason, it's also called a Phoenix at times. However, there seems to be a unique one among them."

"Do you mean the blue one?" She asked. Out of the red birds, one of them actually had blue skin, making it look eye-catching.

"Yeah. Still, let's go to check them." Alex nodded and walked toward the birds while glancing at the spring.

The Luan Birds found this disturbing as they suddenly flew toward Alex with a menacing glare. They even summoned their fire and cried as if asking Alex to leave.

"Hmm… They don't want to attack us." Alex nodded and decided to converse with them. "Excuse me. I know that you are disturbed by me, but I am searching for something here… Do you think you can make way for me?"

*Cry!*

They looked even angrier, but Alex had dealt with Sherry and Kyle in the past, so he could somehow understand their cries. He then summoned his Pure Fire, creating an overbearing pressure on them.

"Wu?!" Shocked by this Fire as they wanted to kneel in front of him, the birds panicked and looked at each other, wondering what to do.

"Don't worry. I just want to check something. If I find the thing I am searching for, I can exchange it with you." Alex assured them he came not to steal but to exchange. "You can even try to absorb a bit of my flame to enhance your flame… How is it?"

"Ga?!" The birds were shocked. They realized how powerful Alex's Fire is. The moment they absorbed even a little portion of it, they would evolve to a greater being. That was why they hesitated and exchanged looks at each other.

"Ga Wu!" One of them stepped forward as he shook his head. It wasn't to reject Alex's offer. Instead, he looked at his son while flapping his wing a few times.

The son was none other than Blue Luan. It might have understood the weirdness of it and thought it was a disease. The father Luan wanted Alex to cure him instead.

"Sir Alex…" Mithra seemed to understand it and called Alex's name with an unsure tone. She hesitated because she didn't want to get tricked again, but she could sense it this time that these birds were sincere in their request, making her pity them.

"Ironic, isn't it? Sometimes, monsters that are acting with their instinct most of the time are gentler and more trustworthy than a human… Our own kin," said Alex with a sad expression.

Mithra couldn't say a single thing as she understood that well because of the experience a few days ago.

"Your son is not sick but special. It might be due to his ancestor, but he has an ice element that is countering his fire element. That's why he looks like this. And I feel the energy has yet to fuse, so it sometimes creates a clash within his body, causing him immense pain. Isn't that right?"

Father Luan nodded repeatedly. He then pointed to everything on his side while trying to say, "You can take everything here as long as you cure my son. I don't want him to be in pain anymore."

Their expressions filled with sadness. Even Father Luan let out tears in the corner of his eyes.

"The curing process is not hard, but it takes time because your son needs to fuse the two elements in his body, harmonizing the two elements. I have a practice for that… I think…" Alex thought, trying to ram all the knowledge he got from the Lightning Tribulation. It was a kind of Martial Art called Element Harmonization.

When there are two elements with the same rank in one's body, they are bound to have some friction between them. There are two ways to solve this. One is to eliminate one of the elements while the other one is to harmonize them.

Alex never had this problem because the Pure Fire took control of the Space Element. And the fact that his Space Element was born because of the system, the Pure Fire felt it was his brother instead.

On the other hand, the blue Luan was a bit special. Alex could burn one of the elements, but he had a way to give him a benefit, and he planned to do that.

"How about this… Since you want me to cure your son, he will need to follow me while I am in this world. I don't have a mount to fly around the world anyway. The reason as I said earlier. If you trust me with your son's life, not only I can solve his problem, but I can increase his strength. To prove that, I can lessen the pain first." Alex smiled and walked toward the blue Luan.

The blue Luan looked at his father for a second before lowering his head. His father had begged Alex to save him, so he shouldn't waver at this point.

Alex channeled his Pure Fire inside his body, suppressing the two elements for a period of time. The weak blue Luan that had troubled even to stand suddenly stood on his two feet before flapping his wings and flying to the sky.

"Ga Wu!"

The Luans spread their wings in unison and shouted, feeling happy to see him flying in the sky. However, the blue Luan suddenly fell.

"Ga!" The other four started panicking, but Alex immediately waved his hand, controlling the Spiritual Energy to gently land him on the ground.

"I said it earlier, it's only for a period of time…" Alex shook his head before asking the Luans. "So, how is it?"