Chapter 467 Arriving at the Phoenix Island
The village looked the same every day, with nothing new happening. Arthur stayed in the same inn he had been the last couple of days, chilling before leaving.
Myla did the same after visiting her father's tombstone. Arthur was not the slightest concerned about her running away — he would notice her departure, and she had no chance in terms of speed.
It was early in the morning when Myla and Arthur left the island. Myla had a massive sword she always used as her transportation, and Arthur followed along.
"Be careful not to fall from it," Myla said as she increased the speed of her flying sword.
For her, it was quite fast, the fastest she could muster, but for Arthur, it was as slow as a turtle. But she was the only one who knew the path to the Phoenix Trial, and Arthur was not feeling like rushing there either!
"So why do you want to take part in the Phoenix Trial?"
"Me? I just want the experience, and who knows, maybe finish it. What about you?"
There was nothing better to do than talking, so Arthur used the chance to not only know more about Myla, but maybe get more intel from her. n)(o//V-)e(.L-)b-(I.(n
"It's... complicated."
"We have a lot of time. That if you want to tell me."
"It's for my personal health but more for my sister," Myla said, stopping a few seconds before continuing.
"I have a twin sister, and we both have a disease that not even powerful mages can heal.... She's not a mage, so with her weak body, she's in bed right now. My future is not that different from her in a few years, so I want the Phoenix Blood to heal me and her."
That was not the reason Arthur was expecting to hear. The blood of the Phoenix had incredible healing capabilities, and if the disease Myla spoke about was something not even powerful mages could heal, then maybe the blood of a Phoenix was her only option!
A noble act, one that Arthur recognized. He wouldn't risk his life for her to complete the trial and get what she wanted, but if it turned out his help allowed her to get some drops of the blood, he would not be mad about it.
"I believe anyone can achieve things with proper motivation, and you surely have one."
"Thanks, I guess. But tell me, how can you be so powerful? You destroyed my flame spell as if it was nothing!"
Arthur chuckled at it, "I told you, I am a dragon, so weak spells of humans cannot hurt me."
"Right," Myla thought it was a joke, but she noticed the serious face Arthur had and wondered, "Are you serious?"
He shrugged his shoulders, "Who knows? Maybe this is a lie, or maybe this is the truth. What do you think?"
"I think you are not simple, and way more powerful than the strongest mage on this planet, meaning you have to be from somewhere else, but travelling from planet to planet requires a lot of power..."
The more Myla thought about Arthur, the more scared she was! Who exactly was that old man? She felt like she did not have the power to get those answers unless he shared them with her.
"Maybe one day I will tell you something, only if I trust you enough. Anyway, how far is the trial?"
"We can get there in 5 hours at this speed."
"5 hours? Not bad, not bad."
~~~~
They flew above the endless ocean until they saw a tiny island in the middle of nowhere.
It was far from everything else, and the powerful beasts living in the deep ocean and the skies were enough to make anyone stay far from it.
The area also had terrific waves, so ships sinking was a normal occurrence — not that any ship would go that far into the ocean.
"This is the place. Come, I will show you."
Arthur analyzed the island, and different from Myla, his perception was way superior, so he could tell the familiar aura inside the island, one that certainly belonged to the Phoenix.
'Maybe it is because I? have the bloodline, so I can sense it?' Arthur thought.
They descended from the sky, stopping in a small cottage, one that looked abandoned.
"This is not the best of places, but it's the house I am living in.
"Did you build this place?" Arthur asked.
"Yes, I did. You can enter the trial, leave, and do it as many times you want, so I made a house here considering I would spend a lot of time here."
The cottage was all made of wood, not that big, but decent enough to fit two people. It had all the tools one needed to live, but it needed some repairs.
Myla had spend a time away, so the roof had moss hanging from it, and a few small creatures used the cottage as their home — and it had a lot of dust.
"We will not pass the trial on the first try, right? So let's just clean this place first, and go there tomorrow," Arthur said.
He was not eager to try it, but to explore and learn more about it beforehand.
They spent two hours cleaning the place and make it decent for them to live again, and by that time, it was already getting late with the sun leaving the sky.
Arthur and Myla sat around a campfire right outside of the cottage.
"You enter the trial without your body, so dying there has no consequences, but you still get tired, and there are a lot of monsters there. Like a palace, pass the floors to complete the trial," Myla explained.
It differed from what Arthur expected, and one thing Myla said made everything harder than it should be.
"Your power is locked inside that place, meaning even the weak monsters are difficult. Strategy and skill are more important."
Arthur was expecting a place he would use his superior power to overcome everything, but based on what Myla said, that would not happen.
'But I need to complete it...'