Chapter 509: Extra Crispy

Chapter 509: Extra Crispy

I tried to put my hands in the pockets of my tunic - it had pockets! - but alas, my tunic didnt survive the conflagration I was subjected to. Neither did my amulet - shouldve taken it off before coming here. Stupid. Id left it on out of habit. The heat and the flames had taken the metal and gems straight from solid to gaseous, preventing me from needing to work out how I could handle the molten metal.

Oh well. Note to self: Dont have valuables near the phoenixes.

Instead, I put my hands on my hips and looked around, noting how big the blaze I was being subjected to was, trying to think of pithy one-liners. I noted that it was only the red flames of Inferno - the classic golden look of Radiance or black flames of Pyronox were entirely missing.

This was an almost peerless opportunity. A phoenix trying to kill me with its flames? Training, drilling, and for real had wildly different impacts on skill gain and class levels, and just because I was immune, it didnt mean there werent fantastic multipliers going on to any experience I could get. [Parallel Thoughts] went on and kicked into overdrive, each mind hitting a different set of skills, seeing which ones I could quickly practice.

Being on a Celestial skill kick, I threw out a tiny [Shroud of the Stellar Sea] bulwark, unsurprised as it instantly broke, the all-consuming flames eradicating it without a whimper. [Zenith Everlasting] got its first trial run, and my heart started to beat wildly as if Id just ingested a dozen stimulants.

I [Blinked] in place, but there was sadly nothing intact and near enough to use [Rapid Reshelving] on. I tried to manipulate the flames themselves with the skill, but it just didnt take. Either [Rapid Reshelving] itself wasnt able to move flames around, or the phoenix had such strong skills that I couldnt touch it.

I was just preparing to [Imbue] a butterfly when the Pyronox owl flew over in a blinding blaze of dark flames, smacking the Inferno tupandactylus with its wing. The flames vanished, and I stretched and yawned loudly.

Oh! Thank you for the lovely warm-up, it was getting a little chilly here.

The owls head snapped around as he stared at me, and the other two phoenixes looked at me with frank disbelief.

Rapid-fire, the three birds started talking to each other, trading whooos and squawks and great honking cries, wings beating and small gouts of flames erupting in their argument. I couldnt understand a word they were saying - my phoenix-fu extended to Auris brrrpts and nothing else.

One part of my mind quickly checked on my level up loot from my shenanigans.

[*ding!* [Etheric Aegis] leveled up! 2 -> 20]

Damn shame. My tunic had lasted only a fraction of a second, getting only a fraction of a second of experience. If it had lasted even a hair longer, I probably couldve skipped a few hundred levels. Interesting to know that my fire immunity didnt extend to my clothes.

[*ding!* [Aurora Curialis] leveled up! 741 -> 743]

Oh nice, I hadnt even tried to level that one up.

[*ding!* [Luminary Mind] leveled up! 477 -> 490]

I had a feeling this skill was going to just start leveling up all over the place. If simply thinking was enough to level the skill up, I was in good shape. My hopes of it merging with [Parallel Thoughts] were going up.

[*ding!* [Shroud of the Stellar Sea] leveled up! 580 -> 610]

Easy levels! Shame I didnt have a way to try and delete the flames as they hit.

Ahha! That was an idea though. Use the [Shroud] to cup a bunch of water, have Auri hit it with weak fireballs from above, the shield is deleting matter. That would be an easy way to push the skill in that direction!

[*ding!* [Zenith Everlasting] leveled up! 566 -> 580]

Nothing to say.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Butterfly Mystic] has leveled up to level 645 -> 646! +8 Strength, +8 Dexterity, +70 Speed, +70 Vitality, +70 Mana, +70 Mana Regen, +70 Magic Power, +70 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Strength, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]

I suppose get engulfed in a phoenixs flames counted as new experiences and magic enough for the class to level up.

[*ding!* [Blink] leveled up! 140 -> 142]

The skill was a huge pain in the ass to level. Id take it.

Seriously, it felt harder than a level 500 skill for some unknown reason. Maybe if Id tried to escape with [Blink] instead of staying still I wouldve seen more levels.

No levels on [Rapid Reshelving], which said my skill couldnt move flames in the first place.

[*ding!* [Parallel Thoughts] leveled up! 298 -> 333]

Yes! Another thought process!

[*ding!* [The World Around Me] leveled up! 174 -> 180]

I mentally patted myself on the back for thinking to try and level up under an enraged phoenixs attack. The only thing that concerned me was his control - hed kept it to just the park, yeah? Hadnt blasted half the city? I struggled to imagine someone as high level as the phoenix hitting so many targets they didnt intend to, but then again, I knew nothing about phoenix culture and mentality.

I pretended to brush some ash off my shoulder.

Part of my companion bond with Auri, I said in an even, conversational tone. Is a complete immunity to phoenixes. Come on now, weve sent for her, she should be here any day now, if not later today. No need for such hostility.

I was naturally lying through my teeth. I was fairly certain my fire immunity extended to Pyronox, but it only worked on some types of Radiance skills. That was ignoring the phoenixes potentially having some meta-magic that could bypass my immunity, or just, like, making a solid bar out of Pyronox or something and beating me over the head with it. That wasnt fire anymore, that was a club. I was immune to a sword made out of Inferno, in an odd twist of how the fuck does this work, but I wasnt willing to test things.

Before any one of the phoenixes, I was nothing. I was potentially durable enough to survive various shenanigans, but I didnt want to test them or infuriate them. Perhaps I was underselling myself a little, but it was better to be humble than to have a swelled head.

The owl gripped his amulet again with a claw.

It is not our goal to simply burn you from existence, He glared significantly at the tupandactylus phoenix, who threw his crested head back in defiance. But we do require answers. There are no records of a phoenix going missing that matches the description we have been given, nor are there any eggs unaccounted for. A bond with a dwarf? Preposterous!

That couldve gone better. I idly commented. Iona shrugged.

It seemed to go swimmingly from where I was standing. She said. No major incidents, nothing went outside the boundaries, nobodys dead, theyre not flying away in a huff, youre uninjured given your record, its practically a divine miracle. Iona teased.

I blew a raspberry in her direction.

Fine, fine, yeah. Lets go shopping? I proposed.

Iona slung her arm in mine.

Lets! She agreed.

[Parallel Thoughts] once again to the rescue! I had three new interesting skills offered, and given they were from the strongest Radiance [Mage] Id ever seen, on top of being a legendary phoenix, there could be some nice goodies.

A Raging Tempest of Golden Phoenix Feathers: A single flap of the majestic phoenixs wings summons a blinding tempest of razor-sharp golden feathers, filled to the brim with destructive potential. The feathers appear to move under their own consciousness and power, their mystical fluttering confusing to those who behold it. In truth, they are controlled by the summoner, each one going exactly where directed. -8,128 Mana Regeneration.

I squinted at the skill, sure there was some catch to it, something I was missing.

But no, it just looked like a straight-up upgrade to [Kaleidoscope]. Stronger, more powerful, a sharpness aspect, and instead of butterflies, Id have feathers. It had the same passive regeneration drain makes it stronger when used aspect that Id started to see in [Arbiter], hinting at how deadly it was. It didnt quite have the insane numbers that [Arbiter] skills did - I suspected I was getting a halfway skill, not the full-powered version - and it was fun to see how the regeneration was a perfect number.

Really, the only issue was I was moving away from the Butterfly theming of the class, which would influence the theming of future evolutions. If I entirely replaced all my skills with phoenix-related skills - or killed all the butterfly ones with phoenix ones at least - Id get offered [Phoenix Mystic] as an upgraded class over [Butterfly Mystic]. Which wasnt the worst thing to have happened. Probably be rewarded a little more for being noble and phoenix-like over wandering around, but that wasnt the end of the world. Especially not if I upgraded a number of skills now.

Well, that and the new name was a mouthful and a half.

Unable to see a true downside, I accepted the new skill.

[Blazing Presence of the Phoenix] was less interesting. It was an aura/domain skill, and it was the reason the place had felt hot when Id entered the garden. It amplified Radiance skills and abilities, and implied a whole host of minor things that I was frankly uninterested in. I liked my current skills and set up too much. The fact that itd been offered as a level 1 skill, as opposed to an upgrade, showed how far off it was.

If I was a triple-Radiance Classer, Id have jumped on the skill in a heartbeat, making it one of my crowning accomplishments and the center of an entire build. I wasnt though - I didnt have the spare skill slots to entertain the aura.

[Crowned by the Summer Solstice, Blessed by the Noon Sun] left me feeling smug as a bug in a rug. I dismissed it.

[Solar Corona] was already better in virtually every aspect. It was why the System had offered a change, not an upgrade.

All in all, I had strongly upgraded one skill without even trying, and I was a happy panda.

The two of us went through the city on an idle date, just browsing the thousands of sights to see. Deadly encounter one minute, shopping the next, being a Sentinel was weird as heck at times.

The chatter I was picking up all around me was another indicator of how weird things were at times. A good number of people were talking about the pillar of Pyronox flames that had reached the Ashen clouds above us, but it wasnt like that was all people were discussing. A good number shrugged and said something along the lines of so what? It wasnt like they were unused to casual displays of huge skills, although they were frowned upon.

Two [Alchemists] were arguing with each other across the street. One was distinctly scaly, while the other had a bone theme going on.

All you sell are poisons! The bone-alchemist accused the scaly one. He hissed in laughter.

Yesss, yesss, but I label my poisons properly! I dont slip laxativesss into healing potions! He accused right back.

The two were high-level and probably Immortal, and were bickering like an old couple. They were driving away all sorts of business from the two of them, but seemed to enjoy shouting and arguing across the street more than making a living.

It took all types.

Lettuce! Cabbages! Get your produce here! A devil shouted from behind his stall, effortlessly juggling a dozen different fruits and vegetables. I instantly spotted my favorite treat.

Oooh! Mango! I cried, bounding over to the vendor. He grinned at my approach and clear eagerness.

Ill buy all your mangos! I declared, Iona facepalming behind me.

Ehhh, I was probably breaking a dozen of Ambers rules about how to buy and sell in such a way to squeeze every last arc out of a body, but I was getting mangos!

Not even Ionas silver tongue could stop me from getting horribly fleeced, not with how eagerly Id approached. Eh, I had almost four years of pay that I hadnt spent in the bank, I was fine. It was practically a rounding error. We left with a sackful of mango, and I took one out. I lovingly gazed at it, admiring the soft skin and beautiful colors. The smell! The touch! Oh blessed perfection that was mango, how I missed you so.

Can I borrow a knife? I asked Iona. She started to hand me hers, but pulled it up at the last second. I tilted my head, wordlessly asking the question.

She wagged a finger at me.

I know you havent forgotten your bet with Artemis. The Valkyrie said. Im not going to stop you, just reminding you.

My face fell. The evil sadist grinned at the look on my face and the dilemma I was facing.

Fuck. I swore with feeling. Any mango I ate would be the first mango.

Artemissssss!!! I screamed at the sky, shaking my fist dramatically.

Naturally, that was the moment Sentinel Spark skidded to a halt in front of us, Lightning crackling around him in a great halo.

I only had eyes for the little bundle of flames cupped delicately in his hands.

Brrrpt!