Phoenix Rising Chapter 182 Birthday Surprise It was morning time where the chirruping noise of the birds could be heard. The sounds of the morning echoed in the early morning. These sounds went rang through the open window of a room on a two story building. It was a spacious room with things lying everywhere. A desk and chair faced the wall near the windows which were closed. The light of morning streamed through the curtains and they swished by the cool wind. In the side of the wall was a bed with a bunch of blankets. There was a person sleeping underneath the four layers of blankets. Beside the bed there stood a table with a Crystal Clock. Light was glowing in three of the crystals embedded into it which read seven-fifteen in the morning. The person moaned a little and moved around underneath the blankets. Then they slowly sat up and stretched their arms out while yawning hugely. Then they pulled the blankets down to reveal who the person was. The person had a handsome youthful face, but it was currently a sleeping face. He looked towards the windows with half-open eyes. Then he yawned again before looking at his bedside bed side table. He checked the time the Crystal Clock was showing and then his eyes widened in shock. “Crap! Seven-fifteen! I’m late!” he said and, with great skill, he jumped out of bed and landed on his feet. Just as he was about to head towards the door, he suddenly remembered something. He turned around saw how crumbled the bed looked. “If I don’t do the bed, mum will get annoyed at me!” he said with a sigh. Then he said “Infinity Step!” Then he dashed around while tucking straightening the bedsheets, tucking them in the corners and straightened the pillow. He did it all at a superfast speed and he looked at the Crystal Clock and smiled. “Good! Under five seconds!” he said in satisfaction.
Then he turned around, opened the door and walked out before closing the door behind. Then he headed towards the steps and jumped down in a great hurry. He landed on the middle landing and jumped again to the bottom landing. At that moment, a woman appeared in front of him carrying a basket full of clothes. The woman turned and was startled to see him flying directly at him. He quickly reacted and said “Pass Through!” In a surprising move, he passed right through as if there was no solid contact. “Be careful, young master!” the woman said sternly. Once he landed, he swirled around and apologetically said “I’m sorry, but I’m late!” He turned around and dashed to the front of the house and quickly put his shoes on. Then he opened the front door and stepped into the cold wind that was blowing outside. The first thing he noticed was a person wearing thick layered clothes. He also noticed the person was also wearing insulated boots. This was all to keep themselves warm from the cold weather. Upon hearing the sound of closing door and footsteps, the person looked over and scowled. “You’re late!” the person said to him in annoyance. “Sorry, Stuart, but I sort of felt pretty sleepy. You know... its winter and all,” he said apologetically. “You’re right, but still... To keep your friend waiting like this is such bad manners! Next time you do this, I might decide not to train with you!” Stuart said in an annoyed voice. He shrugged his shoulders at his friend’s words and said “Anyway. Let’s start the training like usual.” With a nod at each other, they walked to the front gates leading to the house. At present, they were open because Stuart had opened to come in earlier. Then they walked onto the road and took running stances. “I’ll beat you today, Lucky!” Stuart said and he flashed a grin at his friend.
“In your dreams, Stuart!” Lakshman said and he grinned back. Then he began the countdown by saying “Ready... Set... Run!” He yelled the last word and both boys took off with strong force. Both kicked off the ground with tremendous force and rocketed ahead. With legs moving as hard as possible, Lakshman and Stuart disappeared into the distance in a matter of seconds. Three years had passed in a blink of an eye. Lakshman had grown really tall and handsome. He was currently performing his regular training session with Stuart at seven in the mornings. It was mid-winter and the ground was covered in snow. That day was also an important day which Lakshman was unaware of. Lakshman and Stuart soon reached the edge of town. It was bustling busily with people going around and going to work so early in the morning. The towns’ people saw the two boys running towards them and began to cheer. They were used to seeing them run there and go back to Lakshman’s home as their morning warmup exercise. So the boys usually waved while smiling the best they could while running at full tilt. The boys touched the ground. Then they turned around and ran back as fast they could. They were really pushing themselves to beat each other even though it was just for training. As they crossed the front of the gates, both shouted “AAAH!!!” They came to a stop and breathed quickly. Stuart bent over and clutched his knees as his breathing was a little rough. Lakshman was also breathing roughly, but he was able to quickly cool down. “Ha... Ha.... Looks like another draw...!” Lakshman said and he sounded sad. Stuart clicked his tongue and said “Yes, it was, but don’t be happy. It’s eighty-to-eighty-one for now, but don’t feel too happy! I’ll get my win back very soon, you just wait!” Lakshman laughed and said “Better luck next time then!” “You got that right!” Stuart said firmly and they grinned at each other. A few second slater, the two picked up a wooden sword each and began sparing. They were not using energy to make their wooden sword strong or using magic for an advantage. It was a simple training exercise to improve their strength and how they fought with the sword.
After a while of sparring against each other, the two began to tire out. Both Lakshman and Stuart had been fighting at incredible speeds without rest. At a guess, they would have been fighting for longer than thirty minutes nonstop. Feeling tired, the two of them stopped fighting and breathed very quickly. They put the swords away and moved to sit on the stairs leading into Lakshman’s house. For a while, they just sat there in silence as their breathing returned to normal. “By the way...” Stuart began to say. “Hmm?” Lakshman said and he looked at his friend. Stuart turned to him, pointed at Lakshman’s clothes and said “Why do you keep wearing light clothes, dammit? It’s winter! Wear some winter clothes like me!” Lakshman looked surprised at his friend’s words. Then he sighed and said “Seriously? How many times has it been you said this time over and over again to me?” Stuart looked determined as he said “I don’t care! Now tell me why do you keep on wearing those clothes? Don’t you feel the cold at all?” Lakshman shook his head and said “Nope. I don’t feel the cold at all. It’s pretty normal to be honest.” Stuart gawked at his friend’s words. Then he quickly shook his head to clear his mind before asked “You trained in the Gravity Chamber, right?” “Yes...” “And it had the effect of changing weather from super-hot to ridiculous cold, right?” “Then tell me what’s the difference between normal weather and weather of the chamber?!” Lakshman sighed and said “Sevedant, the Death Titan, told me how the weather inside the Gravity Chamber fluctuates wildly. Sometimes I felt like my body would boil up and other times I thought I was going to freeze to death! It was so crazy I thought I might die training at thousand times gravity!” Stuart shook his head and said “I don’t understand your body at all...”
Lakshman raised his eyebrow at him and said “You don’t understand my body? I don’t understand my body at all! It’s like I have high resistance to normal weather, but when it’s turned up, I start feeling it!” “Really strange, but it’s probably has something to do with you being the Phoenix Titan? You are, after all, the strongest warrior in the world! Even amongst the Nine Pillars of Power, you are the strongest!” Stuart said and he winked at his friend. Lakshman laughed sarcastically and said “Are you seriously saying I’m one of those hideous monsters that looks like a human, but deep down it can’t be called human at all?!” Stuart smiled and said “Why not? I think the fact that you’re the Phoenix Titan and pretty resistant to normal weather most normal people, like me, struggle to live with. To top of it, you’re incredibly powerful! You defeated the Demon Emperor with nothing, but your fist, right?” Hearing that, Lakshman sighed. In these three years, word spread like wildfire about his amazing victory against the Demon Emperor. Then Rumours began to spread and exaggerate how he won against him and one of them was about how he defeated the Demon Emperor with a single punch. Lakshman sighed and said “I told you, I punched the damn... um...” “Revenge Death Ball,” Stuart said helpfully. “Yes, that! I punched that damn thing straight back at him and added a bit of power to it. That was it! There was nothing else I did, except blast the damn thing back at him for trying to kill me and my comrades!” Stuart laughed and said “Yes, I know, but the rumours just don’t stop, do they? Eventually, they’ll start treating you like a god!” Lakshman snorted and said “Every time I hear people refer to the Nine Pillars of Power, they get really nervous and start speaking in hushed tones! It’s like they’re afraid to draw attention to themselves.” “Naturally, they do. The warriors from the Nine Pillars of Power have powers that could rival the gods! So I think it’s a natural reaction for the common folk, under the King rank, to fear them.” “What about you? You don’t seem to fear me or anything.”
It was Stuart’s turn to snort and he said “Why would I be fearful of you?” “Hmm?” “Like... In town, people keep asking me why I’m so casual with the Phoenix Titan. I just told them Lakshman is my friend and he is too stupid to be the Phoenix Titan!” Lakshman was stunned by Stuart’s words. Stuart was smiling at him and laughed at seeing his reaction. “W-What did you say, Stuart?” Lakshman exclaimed and he raised his hand to hit him. Stuart laughed easily and moved so fast he instantly reached the front gates. He looked back and said “Sorry, but I’m just saying how it is!” “Why you little...! I’ll get you back for this!” Lakshman called to him. “Whatever!” Stuart said with a grinning face. Then he said “I’ll see you tomorrow!” “Fine!” Lakshman said and he waved at his friend. Then he smiled cheekily and muttered “Frozen Ground.” In an instant, the ground in front of Stuart became frozen like ice. Stuart, unaware, put his foot on it and suddenly slipped. He let out a soft groan as he slipped forward and fell, face first, into the snowy ground. For a moment, he did not move. Then he stuck his face up which was covered in snow. He quickly pushed the snow off his face and slowly got up while looking puzzled. Stuart had no idea what just happened, but he surmised he had slipped on a slippery part of the ground. He never once suspected Lakshman’s handy word. “Are you alright?” Lakshman called while he tried to smother his laughter. “Y-Yeah...! I just slipped by accident!” Stuart called back and he made it out of the front gate. He turned around, waved his in goodbye and he began running towards his home. Lakshman waved at Stuart until he disappeared. Then he shook his head while laughing as he said “You fool...!” Then he got to his feet and dusted the snow off his clothes before walking back into the house. “I’m back!” he called once he closed the door.
He took his shoes off and walked towards the stairs. At that moment, he heard a familiar voice speak to him from the kitchen. “Welcome back, ma- Ugh... Master... You’re always such a stink bucket in the mornings!” “W-What’s that supposed to mean, Ondine?!” Lakshman said when he turned to face her. Ondine was walking towards him while holding her nose. In the last three years, she had grown tall and now reached around his shoulders. With her grown of height and her hair which fell down to her waist, her beauty also developed into something most young men would get distracted over. At that moment, Lakshman suddenly felt himself turn towards the stairs. Ondine had quickly grabbed him and turned him around. Then she began pushing him up the stairs at a run. “Hurry, hurry! Go up and wash yourself, master!” she called energetically. “H-Hey! Don’t push! What if I stumble?” Lakshman asked as he was quickly pushed up the stairs. “Don’t worry. I’m here to grab you if anything bad happens!” Ondine said brightly, but he did not feel reassured. They soon reached the top floor and Lakshman thought she will stop, but he was wrong. Ondine continued to push him towards the door that led to the bathroom. Once they reached the destination, she stopped pushing and he was finally able to turn around. “Wait! I don’t have any clothes to...” Lakshman began to say. At that moment, Ondine pulled his arms out and handed him a pair of clothes. Lakshman was startled to see the clothes were brand new and not worn before. Then he wondered why Ondine was giving them to him and whether they will fit him or not. “Ondine. I never wore these clothes before,” he told her with a puzzled expression on his face. “Stop talking and get washed, master! You’re stinking like anything!” Ondine said as she clapped her nose tightly. “W-What’s that supposed to mean?!” Lakshman asked indignantly.
“Get go and take shower! Make sure to rub your hair down properly! Got it?” Ondine said and she opened the door for him and pushed him in. “W-What’s the heck was that?” Lakshman asked with a confused expression on his face. He looked down at the clothes she gave him and he shrugged his shoulders. Turning around, he placed his hand on the doorknob and said “Lock.” He heard a click sound and he knew the door was locked. Walking over, he placed them on a rack attached to the wall. Then he took off his currently worn clothes and threw them into the bucket. Lakshman stepped into the shower and closed the door to not let any water get out. Then he placed his hand on a rod sticking out and muttered “Fifty percent cold and fifty percent hot. Start.” In an instant, water began to stream down the shower head. He moved it a little high to wash his body from the top to bottom. Because of how hard he had been training these past three years, Lakshman’s body developed fine muscles and abs. He bent his head down and washed his head before placing his hand on the rod and said “Pause.” It caused the water to stop flowing out. Then he took the bottle from the side which read “Flower & Roses Shampoo”. He poured some of it into his hand, applied it to his hair and began rubbing energetically. After rubbing for a minute, he placed his hand on the rod and said “Resume.” He cleaned the shampoo off his hair and repeated the steps one more time. Once his hair was done, Lakshman stopped the water and put the bottle back. Then he picked up the soap which was being used by everyone in the family. He rubbed it down fully and then washed it all away by turning the water back on. “Stop,” Lakshman said and the water stopped flowing out as it reset to normal. Lakshman turned around and placed his hand on another rod attached to the side. In an instant, his body began to glow warmly and the water dried off his skin. Even his spiky hair dried up easily and he took his hand off it. He opened the door and stepped out with a sigh of relief. Then he walked over to the brand new clothes Ondine had given him. He was surprised to see that they were shirt and pants. Wondering why she gave such clothes to him, Lakshman shrugged his shoulders and quickly got into them.
“I’m out!” Lakshman said brightly when he opened the bathroom door. He was surprised to find Emilia standing in front of him with a big smile on her face. Over the past three years, Emilia had changed quite a bit. She decided to cut until she had medium length hair. So it gave her a good look and appearance. When she saw him in those clothes, she looking him up and down with a wondering look on her face. It looked like she was taken in by how handsome he appeared in those clothes. “Emilia? Why are you here?” Lakshman asked curiously. “You’re know soon enough, master,” Emilia said brightly She quickly walked over to him and closed his eyes for some reason. “Um... I can’t see like this,” Lakshman said as he pointed out the obvious. “That’s the point. Now follow my guidance,” Emilia said happily. Lakshman shrugged his shoulders and moved along with her. They reached the footsteps and they slowly walked down it. Step by step, Emilia carefully guided him down the stairs until they finally reached the landing. Then she turned him to the side and they walked towards the dining room. When they entered, Lakshman felt excitement in the air which puzzled him. He did not know what was so special was today to make them all feel so excited. “Here we are!” Emilia said brightly and she took he hands away from her eyes. Lakshman slowly opened his eyes and looked around. There were his father, Indra, his mother, Lakshmi, their house maid, Marian, Tetra and Cantia. He saw them grinning which surprised them when Emilia nudged him forward. Then his eyes fell on the dining table and there it was; a birthday cake. Looking at it and reading the words made him smile. That was also when he finally realised it was his sixteenth birthday. It was also the day he will officially be recognised in society as a man. Happy 16th Lakshman!!! “Um... Really... I forgot about my own birthday...!” Lakshman said with a chuckle.
Lakshmi smiled and said “Go on! Let’s not waste any more time!” Indra excitedly said “Make sure to blow as hard as you could to take out those sixteen candles on the cake!” Lakshman looked at the cake and noticed the sixteen candles on them. He was surprised, but he quickly resolved himself to blowing them out. He took one final glance at everyone’s big grins and smiles before turning back to the cake. He took a deep breath and held on for a moment. Then, just as he was about to breathe, Marian suddenly realised something was wrong and began to say “Master... Wait! I don’t think you need to glow that hard...!” It was too late and Lakshman blew at the cake. In an instant, a powerful force of wind began to blow within the room. The wind was so strong, it lifted the cake and sent it flying everywhere. Everyone got their face splattered by cake figments and they yelped in surprise. Tetra, however, summoned a shield and used it to cover her face against the flying cake. Once the wind settled down, the room was littered with cake fragments and so was everyone’s faces. Then Indra burst out laughing as he scooped up the cake on his face with his tongue and ate it cheerfully. “This is delicious!” Indra said brightly. Lakshman smiled widely, put his hand behind his head and scratched in embarrassment. Then he said “Oops... I used too much force when I blew. My bad...!” Lakshmi was shaking her head and wiped the cake fragments off her face and said “Honestly... This is what happens when you’re so out of control!” Indra laughed and said “Cheer up! This way, he’s given us the cake... to our faces...!” Then he began to laugh at his own joke and everyone joined in, including Lakshmi, She moved over to her son and began cleaning the cake off his face with a cloth. The girls were doing the same with a cloth from the dining table. “Ah!” Cantia suddenly cried in surprise. Then she said “Tetra’s shield herself with a shield! That’s unfair!” Tetra shrugged her shoulders, smiled and said “I’m a Sacred Spirit. I’m not letting a cake hit me!”
“Grr...” Cantia said unhappily and she scowled at her. Emilia laughed and said “We predicted this might happen. Isn’t that right, Ondine?” “You’re right, Emilia! We thought master might be careless and blow a little too hard. So we prepared another came as backup!” Ondine said brightly. At that moment, Mariana walked into the room carrying a cake on a plate. Lakshman was surprised because he did not notice her leave the room at all. Then he realised she must have left when she realised he was about to use excessive force. “Okay! I’ll blow again!” Lakshman said eagerly. “No you don’t! Someone please give me a take to seal his mouth!” Lakshmi said quickly and they laughed. She wiped the dining table and Mariana placed the cake on it. This time, Lakshman smiled as Cantia walked over and handed him a cutting knife. Thanking her, he began to cut the cake and everyone began to clap and sing the birthday song. “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Lakshman, happy birthday to you!” Then they began clapping energy and Lakshman laughed. In the year eight-thousand-andninety-seven of the month of Aporos and the day was the twenty-seventh when Lakshman turned sixteen. This was the first time, in his life, he had really enjoyed his birthday. Then he cut up the cake into pieces and fed them to each of his family member. They did the same to him enjoyably. Ondine, Emilia, Tetra and Cantia all kissed him on the cheek and he did the same to them happily. Afterwards, he, Indra, Tetra and Cantia moved into the living room with slices of the cake. Meanwhile Lakshmi, Mariana, Emilia and Ondine cleaned up the room before it stank of cake. “Lucky! When you turn twenty-one, make sure to blow as hard as you could okay?” Indra asked him eagerly. “Sure!” Lakshman said happily. The two of them were happy, but the girls were not. Tetra scowled at Lakshman and said “Master... If you dare to do that, I swear I will seriously stab you up you...”
She did not finish, but he got the message. He quickly waved his hand at her and said “It was a joke! Just a joke, Tetra! Please don’t say such nasty stuff on my birthday!” “Hmph! Knowing you, I’m sure you might’ve tried to pull it off...” Tetra said crossly. At that moment, a familiar voice said “I think he would’ve said that as well. He is, after all, Indra’s son.” They were shocked by the sudden voice and they exclaimed “What the?!” Then a black hole suddenly opened and it swirled all around. Cantia panicked wildly and jumped back, but the rest of them knew what it was. “Phoenix Portal!” Indra said as he looked at the portal. Then realising who will be coming through it, he slowly said “So that means...” “You guessed it! It’s me, the Phoenix Emperor, Felix!” Felix said as he stepped through the portal. “Felix!” everyone, except Cantia, exclaimed. After exchanging hellos to them all, Felix walked over to where Lakshman was standing. After shaking hands firmly, Felix held out an envelope to Lakshman. “What is this?” Lakshman asked in a puzzled voice as he took the envelope from Felix. “It’s a birthday present from me. It’s your enrolment letter,” Felix said brightly. “Enrolment letter...?” Lakshman asked curiously. Then his eyes widened and he slowly said “You don’t mean...?” Felix nodded and said “That’s right. It’s your letter of enrolment into Astral Academy.”
Phoenix Rising Chapter 183 Departure “Astral Academy? You mean the one located in Floria Kingdom?” Lakshman asked curiously. Felix nodded and said “That’s right! I’ve enrolled you into that school.” “I see...” Lakshman said slowly as he looked at the letter in his hands. At that moment, Tetra looked at him with a puzzled expression and asked “Felix, what’s the meaning of this? Why are you enrolling master into an academy?” “Yes, that’s what I want to know,” Indra said as he nodded in agreement with Tetra. Then he looked at Felix and asked “Why are you enrolling him without asking our permission?” Felix snorted and said “Sorry, but this doesn’t concern you as parents anymore.” “What? It doesn’t?” Indra exclaimed in surprise. Felix shook his head and said “Lucky’s will eventually become the Phoenix Titan. Even though he’s awakened to those powers, he has much to learn. He is still unable to use a lot of techniques I tried teaching him.” Then he turned to Lakshman and asked “You still haven’t been able to use the Phoenix Portal, right?” Lakshman shook his head unhappily. He had been constantly trying to use some of the really complicated techniques Felix taught him, but they just keep exploding in his face. Phoenix Portal was, by far, the most draining of the techniques he knew. Then he smiled up at Felix and said “I did master Pass Through!” “Hmm? You mean that Transport Magic Spell that lets you pass through objects?” Felix asked him. When Lakshman nodded, he smiled and said “Good job. It took your nearly three years to master that technique!” Lakshman sighed and, in a frustrated voice, said “The other techniques are pretty hard to grasp because I just don’t get it...!”
Felix chuckled and said “Which is why you need higher education. Don’t worry! Astral Academy is the elite of the elites! That place is the best place for you to start training your knowledge!” Lakshman nodded slowly at him, but Indra suddenly rose to his feet and said “Felix, you can’t do this! “What do you mean?” “We did agree to think about his future when he turns sixteen, but doing all this without telling us...!” “I’m tell you now, right? That’s better than me barging in, telling him has to go and drag him away without a pause, right?” “You never stop doing forceful things, will you?” Felix shrugged his shoulders and said “How do you expect me to stop when my role demands it. Besides, he’s not going to be attending an academy of horrors! He’ll be fine where he is going.” At that moment, Lakshman said “I’ll go.” “What? Master?” Tetra said in a surprised voice. “L-Lucky?” Indra asked in a surprised voice. “Nyaa?” Cantia said when she reappeared with her ears and tail out. “See! Even Lucky understands-!” Felix began to say cheerfully. “However, I’ll go on a condition,” Lakshman said. “Condition? What condition would that be?” Felix asked curiously. Lakshman his hand and began to fold them as he named them. “Ondine, Tetra, Emilia and Cantai. I want all four of them to join me as well!” Lakshman told Felix. “Eh?” Tetra said and she looked amazed.
“Why us-nyaa?” Cantia asked curiously. Lakshman turned to her, smiled and said “Because I need you.” The truth of the matter is, it was not his idea. Just now, he dived into his mind to consult with the Decisive Player. He was surprised when the Decisive Player told him to take the girls with him. “Eh? Why?” Lakshman had asked with a surprised expression on his face. “You need them. They need you,” the Decisive Player said with a smile. Then he winked and said “Thinking about how the girls would feel being left behind?” “Oh... You’re right. They’ll seriously be unhappy and I can’t do that!” Lakshman said and he looked determined. “Good. Then it’s decided,” the Decisive Player said with a nod of his head. Back in reality, Lakshman was smiling at the girls. The girls loved him and he loved them very much. Causing them sadness over being left behind was something he disliked. If there was a chance of them coming, he will gladly take it. Felix made a face as if he was thinking about it. Then he sighed and said “There’s no winning against you, is there? Fine. I’ll prepare their enrolment as soon as I get back. Actually... It’s better if I go now. Phoenix Portal!” When the black hole appeared, he began to walk towards it, but stopped just before it. “Oh! Almost forgot! You’ll need these!” Felix took out a scroll and threw it to Lakshman. Lakshman caught it with great skill and looked at it. He recognised it as a Transport Scroll. On it, he saw a drawing and bold letters underneath it read “Phoenix Portal.” “Use that in two days,” Felix informed him. “Why in two days?” Lakshman asked curiously. Felix grinned at him and said “Astral Academy starts in two days.” Lakshman was shocked by the news and said “Eh? In two days? Already?” Felix grinned at him and said “You got it. So I’ll see you in two days!”
“Ah! Wait!” Lakshman said, but Felix walked into the portal and disappeared. There was a stretch of silence that lasted for several seconds. Then Cantia unhappily said “What a rude man-nyaa? He gave master a present before us-nyaa!” Lakshman sighed and he turned to look at Cantia. She was standing straight with her cat ears twitching and her tail swishing back and forth. “Cantia... You’re in your humanoid form...” Lakshman said wearily. “Eh-nyaa?!” Cantia exclaimed in shock. Then she said “My bad-nyaa.” Tetra looked at her sternly and asked “Cantia... I know you’re from the Camdra Beast Clan who are full of cat people, but why are you the only one that speaks like that?” Cantia looked surprised by her question. Then she turned to Lakshman and asked “How many times has she asked that same question, master-nyaa?” Lakshman shrugged his shoulders and said “Who knows? I list count.” “Stop that!” Tetra snapped and they jumped in surprise. Then she stared sternly at Cantia and asked “I’ve never heard any of your clansmen, including your chief, speak like that!” Cantia shrugged her shoulders and said “It sort of became a habit-nyaa.” “It became a habit? I can’t believe this... Of all the Camdra Beast Clansmen, one turns out to be really weird by adding ‘nyaa’ at the end of every sentence!” Tetra said with a heavy sigh. “Don’t complain-nyaa!” Cantia said in an annoyed voice. There was a flash of light and Cantia returned to her human appearance. She scowled at Tetra and said “Is this better?” “Much better! Now you really look like a human!” Tetra said and she gave her a thumps up with a grin on her face. “Annoying...” Cantia muttered. Lakshman chuckled at seeing the exchange between the girls. Over the span of three years, he had learnt that the Camdra Beast Clan were capable of transforming to look human by changing their eyes, hiding their ears and tails. Then he was surprised to find that Cantia spoke like a human in her human form, but reverts to talk like a
cat in her humanoid form. Additionally, she can transform into a cat as well which he enjoys petting. The next morning, Lakshman informed Stuart about his decision after their morning run and sparing training. Stuart was really surprised when he told him. “You’re going away... again?!” Stuart exclaimed while looking shocked. Lakshman smiled and said “Sorry, but Felix just came yesterday and dropped it on us out of the blue.” Stuart sighed and said “At least you’re telling me this time. You never used to bother telling me about anything!" “What do you mean?” “Like last year you disappeared for a month and I got worried! Seriously! What were you thinking leaving without telling your best friend where you were going?!” “T-That wasn’t my fault! Dad and his friends found a Labyrinth Tower and dragged me away!” Lakshman said innocently. Then he went on saying “It took us a whole month because we kept going in circles and the traps were annoying as hell to escape from.” Stuart snorted and said “Hmph! At least you’re improving... at becoming very strong!” “I-I’m sorry...” Lakshman said apologetically. They fell silent after that. They remained like this for a minute and watched the people walking by their house. The people were happy as their children energetically walked with them and playing in the snow. Stuart suddenly looked at Lakshman and said “You’ve become really strong. So Why not drop the act?” “Hmm? What act?” Lakshman asked in confusion. Stuart pointed a finger at him and said “Your act with going easy on me!” “E-Eh?” Lakshman said and he was startled by his friend’s words. “I know you’re pretending to go full on at me all this time! I let it slip because I saw that you were enjoying yourself fighting one equal footing with me, but stop it! In the future, if you
keep going easy on people, they will take advantage of it because it will become your weakness!” Stuart told him harshly. Lakshman was rendered speechless for a moment. Then he shook his head to clear away the shock and said “B-But what can friend am I if I didn’t go do it for you?” Stuart nodded at his words and said “I know and I’m grateful for that! Thanks to it, I’ve managed to overcome training under three-hundred times gravity! These Gravity Rings are really a wonder! But stop holding back from here on!” Lakshman sighed wearily and said “Fine... I promise I won’t hold back or go easy on anyone from here on.” Hearing him sound dull, Stuart held his hand out and said “Promise on our friendship then! Prove to me you won’t go easy at all!” Lakshman hesitated when he saw Stuart’s outstretched hand. Then he sighed and placed his hand on it and gripped it firmly. “Fine! I won’t go easy on any idiot from here on!” Lakshman said firmly. Then he asked “Satisfied?” Stuart nodded and smiled as he said “Yup!” Then he jumped to his feet and said “Now show me how powerful you are when you aren’t going easy on me!” With that, he grabbed the handle of the wooden sword and jumped to his feet. He quickly moved to the other end of the house. Lakshman got up and walked down the steps and a few paces forward. He wanted to avoid using powerful techniques to avoid damaging the house. “Ready?!” Stuart called and Lakshman nodded at him. Then he saw Stuart grin and said “Ready or not, here I come anyway!” With a shout, Stuart charged at him with his sword bearing straight for him. To a normal eye, that movement would have been very fast leg movement. To Lakshman, however, it looked like a snail moving on two legs. He disappeared and reappeared directly in front of Stuart who bumped into him. He reeled back in shock at suddenly seeing Lakshman that close to him. “Infinity Step?” Stuart asked with a grin on his face. Lakshman shook his head and said “Nope. Pure leg power.”
“R-Really? Astounding! Then how about this!” Stuart said and he darted forward with a quick stab at him. His eyes widened when his sword went straight through Lakshman’s body. He quickly landed and looked around. Then his eyes widened when he saw Lakshman standing behind him with a big grin on his face. He also saw the raised wooden sword and quickly got out of the way just as Lakshman swung down. With a powerful swing of the wooden sword, Lakshman released a striking energy that cut through the snowy ground. Stuart, who had gotten out of the way in time, saw the snowy ground part with the energy wave that was sent. He looked back at his friend and asked “Seriously? Are you trying to knock me out?” Lakshman shrugged his shoulders and said “You did tell me not to go easy. So I’m using the necessary amount to simply knock you out.” “Oh really..? Heh...! Fine! I’ll take this seriously then!” Stuart said and he began to surge with power. He dashed forward and slammed his wooden sword into Lakshman’s sword. Lakshman was taken aback by the sudden increase in Stuart’s speed. Then Stuart began swinging the sword at an incredible speed at Lakshman. Each blow was powerful from the previous and caused Lakshman to step back. Even with that increased speed, Stuart was still unable to hit Lakshman. With the initial surprise over, Lakshman now easily block every blow Stuart tried to land on him. It soon became a one sided battle with Stuart barely able to keep up with Lakshman’s blocking speed. “I think it’s about time we wrap this up!” Lakshman said and he flashed a grin at his friend. “Eh?” Stuart said and he looked surprised by his words. The next moment, Lakshman withdrew back one step. He dropped his sword to his side and smiled at Stuart. Then he surged with power and swung the sword at Stuart. With a mighty blast, snow erupted and went flying everything and Stuart flew high into the air with a yell. “Oops...! I meant to send his sword flying, not him as well!” Lakshman exclaimed and he looked up to see his friend become a dot in the sky. Then, as Stuart slowly fell down, Lakshman muttered “Oh no... This will hurt!”
He quickly used his left hand to use magic. Over the past three years, Lakshman had mastered to be able to use magic regardless which hand he used. Yet, even with that, he was unable to write with both hands for some reason. His parents told him magic and hand writing are not the same. “Soft Earth!” Lakshman said firmly. Stuart fell down at incredible speed and smashed into the ground. Because of the Soft Earth Magic Spell Lakshman used, Stuart landed without a scratch, but it could have been worse. Stuart was staring up at the sky with wide eyes and was laughing hysterically. Lakshman knelt down where his friend had landed and was laughing hysterically. “I never thought humans could fly, but then I suddenly realised we don’t have wings to fly!” Stuart said once he recovered from his crash course in flight lesson. “Seriously? You know that I can fly, right?” Lakshman asked as he helped Stuart up. “True, but that’s Energy Manipulation! You truly don’t have wings, even for a Phoenix Titan!” “What? Are you saying I should be a bird man?” “Why not? Phoenix Titan the Birdman! That’s a wonderful title! All you need now are wings! Isn’t there some sort of technique to get wings?” “If there was one, I wouldn’t know about it,” Lakshman said and they both laughed. Once he dusted the snow off his clothes, Stuart asked “Just how much power did you put into your attack just now?” “Mmm... Quite a bit. The snow was making my energy a bit sloppy so I used more than necessary. That’s why I accidentally sent you flying into the air like a bird without wings!” Lakshman said and he grinned at him. While laughing, they put their wooden swords away. Then Stuart headed for the front gate and Lakshman escorted him to say his final goodbye. “Now...! Make sure you don’t forget our promise, got it? If I heard something about you holding back and going easy on people, I swear I will drop by and give you an earful! Maybe I’ll even consider telling your lovers to give you one on my behalf!” Stuart said severely.
Lakshman laughed and said “No need to worry. There’s no chance of me ever having to hold back now! I feel its time I start pushing my boundaries again!” “Boundaries?” Stuart said with a quizzical look on his face. Then he sighed and said “Who refers to their limits as boundaries? Use the proper terms from now on, got it?” “Yes, Mr. Language Expert!” Lakshman said and they laughed again. “Well then! Good luck with your studies and I hope you have fun!” Stuart said in encouragement. Lakshman nodded at him and then they waved before Stuart left. He watched Stuart walk towards town and disappear in the distance. This will be the last time Lakshman will see in a long while. The next day, Lakshman, Ondine, Tetra, Emilia and Cantia prepared their luggage for transport. Each of them only had one bag each to carry their clothes and anything necessary with them. Lakshman was not taking the Crystal Clock he got from Wolfenstine. Heeding his advice, Wolfenstine had released a prototype of the Crystal Clock into public. Upon discovering the use of the clock, the markets were filled with them. People bought the clocks enthusiastically because their friends also had one. At that moment, Lakshmi was checking with the girls if they had forgotten anything. The girls all checked their things and stated they did not forget anything. After that, Lakshmi sighed in relief which caused Indra to chuckle. “What?” she asked him. “You need to learn to relax,” Indra said and he winked at her. “How can I? I’m worried because they’ll be attending school from now on! So I’m making sure they have everything they need for school!” Lakshmi said in a worried voice. “Ah, calm down! We’ll make Felix take care of things if anything goes wrong.” “You’re turning the Phoenix Emperor into an errand boy?” “Why not? It’s his fault to make this kind choice so it’s also his responsibility to oversee it to the end!” “Now really... What would he say if he heard you say that?”
Indra shrugged his shoulders and said “He would probably agree with me. That guy’s pretty duty bound and likes to get things done in an orderly fashion.” At that moment, Lakshman said “Okay. Are we ready?” The girls nodded at him with smiles on their faces. Lakshman had the Phoenix Portal scroll with him and he nodded at them. He rolled the scroll open and placed it on the ground. Then he took a deep breath and said “Phoenix Portal!” In an instant, a black hole appeared in front of him. It hung in mid-air and sent black streams while rotating in a circle. Lakshman rolled up the scroll and put it into his bag. “Ladies first,” Lakshman said and he indicated towards the portal. “Got it! I’ll go first then!” Tetra said and she bravely walked into the portal and disappeared. “Me next!” Cantia said energetically and, while hoisting her bad over his shoulders, she entered the portal. “My turn,” Ondine said apprehensively and she carefully stepped into the portal with her bang in hand. Emilia sighed and she picked up her by the hand. As she walked towards the portal, she was suddenly called to a stop. “Emilia! Wait!” Lakshmi said to her. Emilia looked in wonder as Lakshmi darted into her room. She came back out with a flower clip which she handed to Emilia. “Um...? A flower clip?” Emilia asked curiously. Lakshmi nodded and said “It’s something my mother gave me as a present when I really young and I often wore it.” “Eh? T-Then why are you giving it to me...?” Emilia asked anxiously. Lakshmi smiled at her and said “I want you to have it, Emilia. I think it’s about time you look more womanly.”
Emilia looked at Lakshmi wordlessly, but her face was filling up with happiness. “T-Then... Will you put it on for me, please?” Emilia asked curiously. “Certainly!” Lakshmi said happily and she moved forward. While Lakshmi carefully put the clip on Emilia’s hair, Lakshman and Indra watched happily. Then Lakshman felt a thug on his clothes and he looked down. Standing there with curious expressions on their faces were his twin sisters; Indira and Priya. In the three years, the kids had the biggest change within the family. Lakshman had marvelled at how big his twin sisters grew from small babies to being able to walk on their own feet. He felt like it was only yesterday he saw them crawling around the house and exploring everything. The reason they did not attend his birthday yesterday was because they were fast asleep. Indra and Lakshmi decided it was best to let them sleep since they are just kids. Lakshman also did not mind in the slightest that his sisters were asleep when they had their birthday party. “Annayya going away?” one of the twins asked him. “That’s right, Priya. I’ll be going away for a while,” Lakshman said cheerfully. Lakshman did not know how, but he was able to tell who was Indira and Priya when he looked at the twins. His parents called it the brother intuition after living with them and watching them grow for the last three years. “While I’m gone, be nice and don’t be naughty, okay?” “If annayya says so.” “We won’t be naughty.” Grinning broadly, Lakshman smiled and rubbed the two sisters’ head cheerfully. They seemed to be enjoying it because they closed their eyes and began to make small noises. At that moment, Lakshman saw Emilia step through the portal and disappear. It was finally his turn and he straightened up. “Okay, dad. I’m leaving,” Lakshman said with a smile to his father.
“Right! Now make sure you study hard and well, okay? Don’t make the Reddy family look bad, got it?” Indra said to him seriously. Lakshman chuckled and he said “I won’t.” “Hmm...! Also, If you get more loves, make sure to take responsibility, got it? Girls can be pretty sensitive and might take rash decisions.” Lakshman looked alarmed by his father’s words and he exclaimed “Dad! What are you saying?!” Lakshmi hit Indra across the head and said “You are such a nice person!” “What? I’m just predicting what might happen...!” Indra said with his arms spread out. “Honestly...” Lakshmi said and she shook her head at her husband. Then she turned to Lakshman and said “Take care of yourself from now on.” “Thanks, mum!” Lakshman said cheerfully and he hugged her. Then he walked over to Mariana and said “Mariana... I’ll see you later.” Mariana nodded and, to their surprise, he hugged her tightly. She became flustered by his actions and he quickly let go of her, Grinning broadly, he quickly walked over to his bag. Picking it up, he slung it over his shoulders. “Bye, bye, annayya,” his baby sisters called to him and they waved at him. “Bye, bye!” Lakshman said and he waved back at them. Then he turned to the rest of his family and said “See you all later!” With that, he grinned and quickly walked through the portal and disappeared. The portal glowed for a moment before becoming small and vanishing into thin air.
Phoenix Rising Chapter 184 Hiding Identity It was the first time Lakshman went from one plate to another through the use of Phoenix Portal. He found himself walking through what looked like a veil of darkness. The path he walked on was light brightly and he could see into the distance, but everything around was shrouded by darkness. Next thing he knew, he walked into a sunlit room. He quickly closed his eyes to avoid the glare of the sunlight. That was when he heard familiar voice speaking from nearby. “Ah!” “He’s finally here!” “Cool!” “Felix! Master’s here!” “Yes, yes. I can see for myself so keep the volume down, please.” Lakshman slowly opened his eyes and saw the room was well spaced. Shelves were lined along the wall and were filled with books and folders. Sunlight streamed through the open windows and shone the room in a bright glow of light. He turned around and saw Ondine, Tetra, Cantia and Emilia standing near a desk. The desk was piled up with paper and papers littered everywhere. Seated behind the desk was none other than Felix. “Felix?” Lakshman asked in amazement. “Ah! Lucky! Glad you could make it!” Felix said brightly when he looked up and saw him. Lakshman walked over as the girls waved at him. He smiled at them and turned to gaze at the many papers lying around. “What’s with all the paper?” Lakshman asked curiously. “This... is the responsibility of being a Phoenix Emperor!” Felix said dramatically.
“Really? Wow!” Lakshman said in awe. He looked at the many papers and said “Looks fun!” Felix groaned and said “No! Not fun at all!” Then he went through several papers and said “Complaints about robbery... Acceptance letters for a permit on construction... Reports on security... Blah, blah, blah... Yup...! Not fun at all!” When Lakshman laughed, Felix sighed and said “You’re only lucky you don’t have these kind of duties.” “Can’t you get help with them?” “I usually get Rasha to help out, but she often gets annoyed that I’m slacking off and pushes me to do most of the work.” “That’s right! It’s your duty so you should do it!” Ondine said and she nodded in satisfaction with Rasha’s decision. “Ugh... Don’t remind me...!” Felix groaned after saying that. After chuckling, Lakshman asked “So? We’re all here. What do we do now?” “Just a moment...” Felix said and he pulled a drawer. While searching through it, he muttered “I think I put them here... Hmm...” When he found what he was looking for, he picked them up and closed the drawer. Then he placed them on the desk and said “Here you are, your enrolment letters! You’ll need to show this to be allowed to go past the gates.” “Really?” Lakshman asked, one by one, Felix handed them over to the girls. Felix nodded and said “The security at Astra Academy is pretty high! It’s a place of elites and, as such, security is top notch! If you don’t have permit to enter the premises, they’ll blast you out and punish you severely.” “Yikes! That’s tough!” Lakshman exclaimed and Felix nodded. Then he pointed at the enrolment letters and said “As promised, I got the girls their enrolment letter. Do you have yours with you?” With a grin, Lakshman pulled it out of his pocket and showed it to Felix.
“Good man,” Felix said in satisfaction and Lakshman pocketed it. At that moment, there was a knock on the door. When Felix said “Come in,” the door opened and a butler appeared. Master Felix, you called for me?” the man asked after bowing to him. “That’s right, Samuel. Please escort the ladies to the Astral Academy,” Felix told the butler. “As you request,” the butler said with a nod of his head. He turned and indicated to the door and said “This way, please.” Ondine, Tetra and Emilia looked hesitant and Cantia asked “Isn’t master coming?” “No. I have some things to talk to him, but you’ll see him soon. So go on ahead,” Felix told them. “Ah. Okay then,” Cantia said and she nodded in understanding. The girls waved their goodbye and the butler closed the door as they left. Now it was just Lakshman and Felix within the room. Felix began writing while Lakshman looked around curiously. “Where is this place?” he asked when he wanted to know where they were. “Inside the castle.” “What? Inside the castle? Your work room is inside the castle?” “That’s right. Well... Originally, my base of operations was from the Phoenix Clan village. However, the king thought it was best suited if I worked from the castle.” “Why is that?” “I used to have a Phintex Raja to delegate messages, but the king got scared of the Phintex Raja. So now I lugged all of my work stuff over here. I’m also living here with Rasha and Sasha.” “No kidding. It feels like a lot of work and stuff for you to keep moving around.” Felix shrugged and said “It can’t be helped. My role is just that important to the Phoenix Clan and to the Floria Kingdom.”
“I see...” Lakshman nodded in understanding. Felix completed writing on the piece of paper and put it away. Then he put his pen down and looked intently at Lakshman. “Lucky, listen. You came here for education purpose, okay?” Felix suddenly looked surprised when Lakshman began to chuckle at what he said. “What’s so funny?” Lakshman, trying to control his chuckle, said “Before coming here... Dad said he was fine if I get more lovers so long as I take responsibility.” Felix raised his eyebrows and smiled. He shook his head in exasperation and said “That fool. He’s jealous of how popular you are with the ladies.” “I don’t know. I’m not trying to get the attention of the girls. They just seem to... love me on their own,” Lakshman said honestly. Felix smiled and said “Being yourself is also an attraction that draws girls in. You just have a natural ability for it which is pretty rare.” After smiling at each other, Felix’s expression became serious. Lakshman guessed that whatever he was going to tell him was very important. “Lucky, from this day onwards, you are no longer a Phoenix Titan,” Felix told him in a firm voice. Lakshman blinked in surprise. Then his surprised expression slowly turned to shock and he exclaimed “What?! I’m no longer the Phoenix Titan?! What do you mean I’m not?!” “Relax. You’re still the Phoenix Titan, but don’t appear like one in public,” Felix told him. “Oh...” Lakshman said and he sighed in relief. Then he looked puzzled and he asked “Why, Felix?” “You see... It will draw too much attention. People will want to try and get close to you just for your powers. Then they will use your name to do whatever they want and then you’ll be held responsible. That’s why I think its best that you don’t appear as the Phoenix Titan in public. Don’t even think you’re the Phoenix Titan from now on!”
Lakshman nodded in understanding and said “I see... That’s actually quite good, but... wouldn’t people recognise me?” “What do you mean?” “I mean... They’ve seen my face three years ago, right? Wouldn’t they recognise me with just one glance?” Lakshman asked in a worried voice. Felix looked surprised at his question. Then he burst out laughing and caused Lakshman to get really confused. “I see what you mean, but you shouldn’t worry about it,” Felix said easily once he calmed down. “Eh? I shouldn’t worry about it? Explain!” Felix cleared his throat and said “I mean... Look at you! It’s been three long years since people had seen your face! You’ve grown so much, become so manly with really strong muscly body and a handsome face. They will only remember the spiky blond hair and the red crown shaped eyes.” “Oh! So people will only remember me by the key feature that identify me as the Phoenix Titan? Lakshman asked and Felix nodded. “Exactly! So there’s nothing you need to worry about at all!” Felix said and he grinned at him. Lakshman sighed and said “That’s a relief.” Felix smiled and he clicked his finger. Lakshman looked surprised and, as nothing happened, he asked “Why did you click your fingers, Felix?” “I’m telling my Phintex Raja to go call for an attendant to escort you to the academy.” “Wow! There was one in the room?” Lakshman asked and he looked around the room curiously as if he was going to see them. Then he asked “Is it a Magic Spell that hides them and lets them not make any sound?” “Yes. They use the Illusion Magic Spell called Hide which lets them go invisible while Sneak lets the move around silently and stealthily. Additionally, they use the Transport Magic Spell called Warp to move from one place to another.” “Ah! Warp. I should’ve known...” Lakshman said and Felix smiled.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door. When Felix said “Enter,” a man entered wearing butler uniform. “You called, sir?” he asked after bowing to Felix. “Yes, I did. Please kindly escort this young man to Astral Academy,” Felix told the man. The butler nodded at Felix before turning to Lakshman and saying “Please follow me.” “Ah. Sure!” Lakshman said and he got to his feet. He extended his hand and shook with Felix’s hand while saying “Thanks for the help, Felix.” “Anytime,” Felix said with a grin on his face. Lakshman slung his bag over his shoulders and followed the butler out of the room. Once the door closed, Felix sighed and returned to doing his work. “Hmm?” At that moment, he suddenly thought he had forgotten to tell Lakshman something. He pondered for a moment, but he could not think of what it was. “Oh well. I’m sure Lakshman will be fine,” he said before sighing and returning to go through the pile of papers. He had no idea the kind of trouble Lakshman got into because of not knowing that forgotten information.
Phoenix Rising Chapter 185 Accidental Trouble They left the castle with Lakshman following the butler and soon entered the crowded streets. The streets were packed with people going back and forth, talking to other people or just looking at things. Everything looked the same to Lakshman even though it had been three years since he visited the capital. After waking for a while, they turned a side street and went there. Here, Lakshman noticed how the buildings were looking grander. They were headed towards the east of the capital where he had never been before. “Here we are, sir,” the butler said after several minutes of silent walking. “Wow...! So this is Astral Academy...!” Lakshman exclaimed in awe. They had come to a stop at a set of tall gates. Beyond the gates, Lakshman could see a splendid buildings, gardens and forests. Right now, it appeared to be deserted which puzzled Lakshman since it was the day school was starting. He guessed that students were already there and he could not see them. At that moment, two guards stepped forward with spears in their hands. One of them extended their hand and asked “Provide your permit.” The butler nodded and turned to Lakshman and asked “Sir, would you please take out your enrolment letter.” “Sure,” Lakshman said and he pulled the enrolment letter out of his pocket. “Here you are,” he said and he handed the letter over to the butler, who handed it to the guard. The guard placed a hand on the sheet and it glowed for a moment. Lakshman did not know what they were doing, but respectfully stayed silent. A minute later, it looked like everything was checked and verified. “You can enter,” the guard said and he clicked his fingers. In an instant, the gates began to split in the centre and move to either sides. Lakshman pocketed the letter and, with a little adjustment to holding the bag, he and the butler set off.
Lakshman marvelled at how beautiful the gardens looked. The grass was knit neatly and the edges were cut just right. The path they were walking on was clean and tidy. It was a bricked footpath which let them pass through the garden situated on either sides of the road. “This place is really beautiful,” Lakshman commented as they passed a large fountain with water pouring out of the top. The butler nodded and said “It is the pride of the Floria Kingdom. It is an elite academy which only accepts those with great potential to reach the King or high rank. Anyone else are not welcome.” “I see. So it only accepts the best,” Lakshman said and the butler nodded at him. After walking for a while, the butler suddenly turned right and Lakshman followed him. They continued to walk and more and more of the neatly cut grass was situated on either side of the footpath. Several minutes later, the butler finally came to a stop. Lakshman stopped beside him and felt a little tired. They had been doing nothing, but walking for more than fifteen minutes. Naturally, Lakshman felt his feet were tired. Where they stood was several kilometres away from the rest of the buildings. In front of them was a large two-story building which was magnificently constructed. It was also the only building for kilometres around. For some reason, it was built well away from the rest of the buildings. “What is this place?” Lakshman asked curiously. “This building is the male dormitory, sir,” the butler informed him. “R-Really? Amazing!” Lakshman said happily and he smiled with renewed energy. They walked through the open door and entered the dormitory building. It was magnificently built with a large set of stairs leading to the second floor. The ground was carpeted with a smooth blue colour. The butler led him to the side where a woman receptionist awaited behind a counter. She looked to be wearing what looked like a uniform. On it, there was writing that read “Astral Academy Service” sewed onto the shirt. “This is where you provide your enrolment letter and receive your Student Identification card and Student Badge,” the butler informed Lakshman.
“A Student ID Card and a Student Badge... Okay,” Lakshman said and he nodded in understanding. “Please provide your enrolment letter,” the receptionist asked Lakshman. When Lakshman passed him the enrolment letter, the woman placed his right palm on it and touched the desk with his left palm. For a few seconds, the sheet glowed brightly and it soon turned into a miniature card. Then there was a popping sound and an object materialised with a pup of smoke. “Your Student ID Card and Student Badge, Lakshman Reddy,” the receptionist said and she handed the transformed card and the materialised object. “O-Oh...” Lakshman said and he took the Student ID Card and Student Badge. After he ticked them into his pockets, the receptionist bowed and said “Welcome to Astral Academy. We hope you will have a wonderful time studying here.” “Yeah... I’m hoping the same,” Lakshman said brightly. A moment later, the wall behind him suddenly opened much to Lakshman’s shock. A woman, wearing the same uniform as the receptionist came out. She smiled and handed Lakshman a card. Then the woman said “Please place the card in the middle of your palm.” “O-Okay...” Lakshman said and he did as he was told. Once he placed it in the middle of his palm, the woman said “Now say Insert.” “Insert!” In an instant, his hand began to glow brightly. Then the light faded and the card disappeared. “Um... What just happened?” “The card has been absorbed into your biological system. Now you will be able to access your room through voice command such as...” and she explained how the commands worked. Lock
Locks the door Open Opens the door Close Closes the door Light Makes the energy crystals inside the room to light the room Lights Out Causes the energy crystals inside the room to power out Warp Warps the user directly into the room unless location within grounds were specified Connect Allow the user to connect to a specified person and speak telepathically “I-I see... That’s pretty handy,” Lakshman said, but he felt a little unnerved by how he could not touch it. Lakshman suddenly he saw a small arrow thing appear hovering just above his eyes. He tired touching it, but his hand passed through it as if it was not there. “Uh... What’s this thing hovering near my eyebrows?” Lakshman asked while looking confused. “It is the navigation which will show you the way to your allocated room. It will constantly appear while you are inside the dormitory,” the woman said cheerfully. “That’s helpful,” Lakshman said and he smiled at the women. With that, the exchange was over and the butler let him away. Lakshman put the Student ID Card and Student Badge into his pocket and turned around. “Well then, I should leave, sir,” the butler said with a bow. “Ah. Thanks for showing me the way,” Lakshman said appreciatively. The butler smiled and said “No worries. I am just doing my job. Well then, have a good day.”
With that, the butler left through the entrance. Lakshman sighed and he walked over to the steps and climbed them because the arrow was indicating upward. Once he reached the top, the indicator pointed towards the left and he turned left. He walked along the corridor lined with doors and windows, but could not see anything through the blanketed window glasses. After a while, his indicator came to a stop pointing at a door. He held his hand out and tried turning the door knob, but it would not move. Guessing it was locked, he said “Open.” He heard a loud click sound and the door automatically opened by itself and swung inward. Lakshman walked in and surprisingly found the room to be dark. No light entered through the closed windows and curtains. “Hmm...” Lakshman thought for a moment. Then he said “Lights.” In response to his command, the energy crystals around the room switched on automatically. It threw a wide birth to the room and made him feel amazed. It was a room much bigger than the one back at home. There were two cupboards, a king sized bed with a bed side table and a desk with three chairs in total. Lakshman walked over to the bed and placed his bag down on it. He jumped onto the bed and looked around. It was a well-built room with an open kitchen big enough to be able to cook anything. He decided he will look at it later since he does not need to worry about food just yet. So he set to unwrapping his bag and taking out his clothes. They were a little ruffled, but he were still in good condition to wear. He got up and walked over to the cupboard and opened the doors. “Wow...!” Lakshman exclaimed when he saw the things inside. On the shelf was a Crystal Clock which showed that the time was eight-ten. At the side, there was a large space which had an ironing board with an iron box. Lakshman decided he will use it later when he needs to iron his clothes. They work by simply channelling his energy into the box and it becomes warm. He can even set the kind of heat it will output when ironing.
With his discovery complete, he set his clothes into the shelves. He finally put the clothes closed the sigh and let out a sigh. Then he put the put the bag aside and lay on bed. With nothing else to do, he fell back into his bed. At that moment, he suddenly got an idea. Speaking with Felix earlier about Warp made him curious about it. He got to his feet and was about to use it when he wondered if it was safe. He shrugged his shoulders and said “I’ll just explore a bit. After all, what’s the worst that could happen?” Smiling with eagerness, he remembered what the woman downstairs had said. To use Warp, he had to specify the location within the academy grounds. The only place he knew was the forest and that was only from the outside. This made him feel even more eager to try it. “Let’s see... Warp Forest!” Lakshman said firmly. In an instant, he felt like he was being sucked into the something and disappeared from the room. The next thing he knew, he reappeared as if he was pushed out. He instantly knelt down while breathing heavily. “Ugh... I forgot how bad the sensation was...” he muttered unhappily. A few seconds later, he felt better and he stood up. Looking around, he was surprised to find himself deep in the forest. He turned a direction and there, through the trees, he could see the entrance gates. This meant that he was just a bit deep in the forest. At that moment, something soft bumped into the side of his face. Lakshman looked around and saw many small light balls floating around and recognised them as young Spirits “Hello!” he greeted them happily. The Spirits bobbed around him curiously which reminded him of the past. When he was a kid, he had often visited the forest near where he lived. Within that forest was a great lake and there were these young Water Spirits. He often played with them and enjoyed a nice friendship between them. Looking at them now made him feel like he missed the old days. Then he noticed the Spirits bobbing around as they headed in a certain direction. Curious as to where they were going, Lakshman followed them.
After several minutes of following, Lakshman knew they were deep within the forest. He was not afraid because he was confident with his fighting ability. At the same time, he did not believe the Spirits would purposefully lead him into danger. Then he heard the sound of running water. It came from nearby and made him curious. “Hmm... Why would water be here so deep in the forest?” Lakshman thought curiously. At that moment, he suddenly heard the Decisive Player’s voice say “Tread carefully unless you want trouble.” “Huh? What do you mean, Decisive Player?” Lakshman thought curiously, but he did not hear the Decisive Player’s voice again. He wondered why Decisive Player said that, but he listened to the advice. Walking carefully, he made his way towards the sound of the waterfall. As he gradually got closer, he also heard an unusual sound; the voices of girls laughing. “Wha...?” Lakshman said in a surprised voice. Just then, he reached what looked like the edge of a lake. There was a large waterfall which had water running down and splashed into the large. Lakshman cautiously got close to the waterfall and looked up at it in wonder. He saw a random form at the top as water streamed down. That was when the voices of girls got louder. He stiffened and slowly turned to look in the direction the voices were coming from. His eyes widened in shock when he saw woman bating in the water surrounded by steam. There were several girls and they were bating in the water while happily talking. Lakshman watched them through wide eyes in shock. It was then that he recognised a certain face to whom he had met three years ago. It was the princess of the Floria Kingdom, Venezuela Sargold. As the steam from the waterfall shifted slightly, he caught the sight of bare skin. In an instant, he realised the girls were naked and quickly covered his eyes with both of his hands. It seemed the girls were having a wonderful without any clothes on. Lakshman decided staying any longer will be bad and made to leave. Unfortunately, he accidentally stepped on a twig which cracked loudly. The loud sound it made got carried to the girls and it made them look in his direction.
There was a moment of frozen silence as they looked at him and him frozen in place. Then all hell broke as the girls let out their girlish screams and tried to duck into the water to cover themselves. They had no idea that Lakshman had his eyes closed and did not even see anything. Lakshman thought he was done for when he heard the girls scream attacks in his direction. At the same time, he heard the Decisive Player’s voice in his mind. “I’d run like the wind if I were you...” “My thoughts exactly!” Lakshman shouted in his mind. “Fire Blast!” “Water Cannon!” “Frozen Cannon!” “Heat Blast!” “Rock Bullet!” “Light Fire!” Various attacks were released and they all flew directly at him. Lakshman gritted his teeth and muttered “Stone Wall.” A stone wall appeared behind him like a shield. When the attacks made contact, a violent explosion erupted and sent wild wind everywhere. Taking the opportunity, Lakshman kicked off the ground and retreated as quickly as he could, but not before hearing the cries of the girls. “There’s a pervert in the academy grounds!” “Alert the guards immediately!” “We need to hunt him down!” Speeding away through the forest, Lakshman cried out “How the hell did I end up in this situation?!”
Phoenix Rising Chapter 186 Shocking Conclusion to Trouble Lakshman was flying through the trees in the forest. He was desperately trying to keep distance between himself and the girls at the waterfall. The girls had misunderstood him thinking he was a pervert because he was there by accident. “Why...? Why the hell...? Why...?” Lakshman was muttered unhappily as he flew through the forest trees. At that moment, he heard the Decisive Player’s voice speak in his mind. “Something feels wrong...” “Yes! Something is wrong! I’m being blamed falsely!” Lakshman shouted. “No... Not that. I feel this strange... negative energy...” “Huh? Negative energy?” “Stop. Just stop!” “O-Okay...” Lakshman said and he came to a stop with his feet getting dragged on the grass. For a while, there was only silence where they were. Lakshman looked over his shoulders and sighed in relief to see them not chasing after him. “Use Elemental Sense, I fear something bad is nearby,” he heard the Decisive Player say. “Elemental Sense? Why?” “There’s no time! Just use Elemental Sense already!” the Decisive Player said desperately. “O-Okay!” Lakshman said quickly. He clapped his hands together and brought them to his chest. Then he closed his eyes and said “Elemental Sense!”
In an instant, all the layout around him became grey. The forest trees, rocks, grass and other wild animals all became great coloured. “What now?” “Try sensing nearby where you saw the girls.” “Okay.” Using the Elemental Sense gave him a clear image of who is ally and enemy from the world’s perspective. Blue shimmering light meant they are allies and red shimmering light meant they were enemies. Lakshman concentrated and shifted his view. His vision zoomed ahead until it reached the waterfall. He saw seven blue coloured shimmering light, in the shape of bodies, moving around. It looked like they were all allies, but he did not feel they were. “What’s this?” Lakshman suddenly said when he saw something strange. Nearby, around fifty meters away, he saw two red shimmering bodies. This made him feel worried and made him wonder what those two bodies were doing there. “W-What’s with those red shimmering bodies?” Lakshman asked, but he had a feeling he knew the answer. Like he expected, the Decisive Player told him exactly what he feared to hear. “They are here to kill the princess.” “What? They’re here to kill the princess?!” Lakshman exclaimed in a shocked voice. “There’s no time to stand here and talk all day! Hurry up and go save her and those girls! Go!” “B-But... I’ll get into-!” “There is nothing wrong to save people in this kind of situation! So go already!” Hearing the desperation in the Decisive Player’s voice made him realise. If he did not act now, the princess will be dead and he will blame himself for not saving her when he could have. He decided to go take care of this problem and ignored the fact that he might end up in deeper trouble.
Lakshman quickly turned around and kicked off with great force. He flew back towards them much faster than he did previous when he escaped from them. “Come on...! Make it in time!” he said desperately as he pushed to move faster. Back at the waterfall, the girls were a little more cautious, but they did not sense trouble. They had no idea about the Barrier Magic Spell the attacks were using to cloak themselves. The two attackers were wearing the same uniform as the guards. This meant they had infiltrated the academy by pretending to be guards. They had been about to start their plan to kill Venezuela, but it was ruined because of Lakshman’s unpredicted presence. Due to the confusion, they hesitated, but they were becoming impatient. They resigned to themselves as bad luck that the others girls will die with the princess. One of them pulled out a long rod and held it at the girls. Their target was the princess who was leaned against the rock as steam drifted around them. Then he nodded at his partner lying on the grass beside him. Seeing the nod his partner gave him, he nodded back and his eyes began to glow. He looked at waterfall where the girls were bathing. He was the observer who will give the signal to his partner who will fire some sort of attack at the princess. The partner, who was doing the observer, gave directions to his partner, who will be doing the shooting. Once the observer was satisfied, he raised his hand which was the signal to shoot. With sweat pouring down his face, the man muttered “Electron Burst Cannon” and he fired an electrical ball of energy at the girls. Just then, Lakshman burst out of the trees where he was a few minutes ago. The girls screamed when they saw him and one, who had a towel wrapped around her, raised her hand to attack him. “Stop right there, intruder!” she said firmly. Lakshman was not listening. He had felt the release of something powerful from nearby and knew something was headed their way. So he gritted his teeth and shouted “Get away and look out!” “Eh?” the girl said and she was surprised to hear the desperation in his voice.
Lakshman pushed her hand aside and continued to fly forward. Venezuela was startled to see him flying right in front of her and was even more startled to see the desperation in his face. Then the attack rocked forward and smashed into him. “GGAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!” Lakshman screamed as his body was suddenly hit by thousands of electricity. He flew forward and landed on the grass on the opposite side of the grass. Then he groaned and winced from the attack as his body felt heavy from the attack. Due to the shocking attack, he suddenly found himself unable to move properly. The girls saw his body literally getting zapped by lighting, were shocked. Then a hushed silence fell around them as Lakshman lay there, twitching horribly. “W-What the?!” “Thunder attack?” “I-It was aimed at us...” “Which means...” The girls turned their gazes from Lakshman and looked into the shadows of the trees. They could not see or hear anything and that made them even more suspicious. The girls quickly wrapped towels around their bodies and faced in that direction with their hands aiming. “Whoever is there... stop right there!” a girl shouted at the front. While they were facing where the two attackers were crouching, Venezuela and her attendants moved to where Lakshman lay. She was alarmed by how shocked he looked with his hair looking wild and smoke slowly coming out of his clothes. “A-Are you alright?” she asked him in a worried voice. Lakshman heard her voice and slowly turned to look at her. Seeing her safe, he slowly smiled and said “Y-You’re safe... princess...” “Hold on! We’ll get you help!” the princess said hurried when she heard him speak.
The two attackers cursed and realised they will die if they do not kill the girls. So the shooter readied his rod and released another Electron Burst Cannon. Lakshman felt the surge of attack and realised another one was fired. “AAAAAH!!!” he yelled and, with pure force, he jumped to his feet. The princess tried to stop him, but he quickly moved and escaped from her outstretched hand. He stepped in front of the attack and, this time, he swatted the thing directly back at the attackers. The attackers were shocked at seeing their own attack returning to them. Then they screamed like anything and that caused the barrier to lift instantly and they became visible to Lakshman and the girls. “Hold it right there!” the girls shouted and they aimed their hands at them. The two attackers shook off the feeling of getting shocked a lot quicker than Lakshman. Seeing the girls and Lakshman aiming their hands at them, they knew there was no escape for them. That was when they decided to kill themselves and kill them all as well. At that moment, Lakshman suddenly heard the Decisive Player’s desperate voice say in his mind “Quickly use Volt Force on them!” “Eh?” Lakshman said in a surprised voice. “Just do it!” There was nothing else for it. Lakshman winced slightly because his body has not recovered from the earlier attack. Lakshman gritted his teeth and he instantly moved forward. Dashing forward, he grabbed the men by their shirts and shouted “Volt Force!” An electric barrier like field erupted around them and covered the three of them. The two attackers tried to move their limbs, but suddenly realised they could not move them. The Barrier Magic Spell Lakshman used kept them frozen solid. Then Lakshman kicked the ground as hard as his body would allow. This caused the surrounding lightning and the warriors to soar high into the air. They soared over the top of the trees and disappeared.
“Let’s quickly go after them!” the girl, who seemed to be their leader, said and the other girls nodded. As the girls quickly began putting their clothes back on, the Venezuela had a worried expression on her face. She was worried about Lakshman because she had a feeling she recognised to whom that face belonged to. Meanwhile, the three warriors, inside the barrier that Lakshman created, soared through the sky. Then they landed with a great crash that sent lightning waves everywhere. Lakshman was blasted backwards and so were the two attackers. As thing settled, they heard voices calling. “Hey! What’s going on here?!” “Electricity discharge?” “W-Who are those three?” The guards came forward to check on the attackers and Lakshman. In an instant, the attackers whipped out their swords and cut the guards down. The dead bodies hit the ground with a dull thud and the two attackers slowly rose to their feet. “U-Ugh... That was painful!” one of them said angrily. “You said it! I’ve never felt so much lightning in my life!” the other one said and he winced. Lakshman slowly sat up while groaning softly. Normally, he would be fine for taking such a strong attack, but he had used his entire body to protect the princess. Because of that, he had forgotten to put up a layered Energy Barrier and took the full damage of the attack. He looked at the attackers and said “Y-You failed...! You couldn’t... kill the princess...!” The attackers looked at each other for a moment before letting out sighs. “You’re right, brat! Thanks to you, our pray got away!” the right attacker said unhappily. “On the other hand, our boss will have our heads if we return empty handed!” the left attacker said fearfully.
Lakshman chuckled as he knew what they were planning. The attackers decided to kill Lakshman and show his head to their boss. This will most likely save them from getting killed at the hands of their boss, whoever he was. The attackers walked forward and raised their swords to cut Lakshman down. Lakshman felt annoyed at himself and his body. He was the Phoenix Titan, yet he took so much damage from the attack. He did not know that the Electron Burst Cannon was an Emperor Ranked Magic Attack Spell. At that moment, Lakshman heard familiar voices coming out of a nearby building. Then Ondine, Tetra, Emilia and Cantia walked out while talking cheerfully. They suddenly stopped talking when they saw the dead bodies of the three guards lying on the ground. Moving their gaze towards where the two attackers were, she were shocked to see Lakshman kneeling in front of them weakly. Just as the left attacker swung the sword down, they panicked and screamed “MASTER!!!!” In that split second of hearing them, Lakshman looked at them. As he recognised who they were, something in him began to surge with power. His eyes widened and a firmness filled his eyes. Then he extended his hand out and caught the sword with his left hand. “What?!” the left attacker exclaimed in shock. Before he could do anything, Lakshman quickly got to his feet and pushed the attacker back. Then, in a flowing movement, brought his right hand up and delivered a powerful uppercut. The blow knocked the man out instantly and he flew high into the air. “W-What?!” the right attackers exclaimed in disbelief at how easily his partner was defeated. Without stopping in his movement, Lakshman set his sights on the remaining attacker. Then, with one step to the front, he delivered a power punch to the man’s face. The blow was so strong, he was lifted off his feet and he soared back before smashing hard into the building. With one punch each, Lakshman knocked both men out. Then he winced and let out a pained sound as he felt his body suddenly give way. Feeling weak, he finally collapsed on the ground and fell unconscious. Later, the two attackers were arrested by the Phintex Rajas. Lakshman was quickly taken to the hospital. The doctor checked him and reported that he was just unconscious and needed plenty of rest. Ondine, Tetra, Emilia and Cantia were all worried, but hearing the news relieved them.
It was several hours later that Lakshman finally woke up. He was surprised to find himself lying in a comfortable bed. Judging from the sunlight streaming through the open windows, he guessed it was still daytime. Then he looked around and saw a woman sitting on a chair next to him. Seeing him looking at her, the woman smiled and said “I’m glad to see you wake up, Mr. Lakshman Reddy.” “Um...” Lakshman began and hesitated, not knowing who the woman was. “My name is Carmela Chaikin. I am the principal of Astral Academy.” “You’re the principle?” Lakshman asked softly. “I’m the principle, yes,” Carmela said and she smiled at him. Lakshman did not have the strength to answer questions or think about it. He just sighed and asked “What about the attackers?” “You can be reassured that the Phoenix Emperor is personally dealing with them as we speak.” “I see... Then what about you...?”
“What about me?” “This is Astral Academy, the elite of the elite school with top notch security and all. How did two killers enter the premise so easily and blend in that no one noticed? Were your guards just that blind or were you too lazy to notice?” Lakshman spoke in a manner that could easily provoke people, but he felt too tired to care. He had questions and he answered them directly without hesitation. Carmela smiled and said “It appeared that two of our guards were drunk and were killed. The attackers took on their identities and entered the capital. After that, they simply waited for the chance to take the life of princess Venezuela.” She sighed and said “I was away for a week and this is what happens in my absence. Do not worry, Lakshman. I have had a full word with my staff and everything will be back to normal.”
Carmela smiled happily, but Lakshman shuddered when he looked at that smile. It somehow made him feel cautious around her. Lakshman could only reply by saying “I see...” Carmela suddenly cleared her throat and said “I have moved you to Class A.” Lakshman did not immediately understand what she said. “What?” “You were originally enrolled in Class C, but after witnessing your combat skills, I have taken the pleasure of moving you up to Class A,” she said cheerfully. Lakshman groaned and said “I don’t know what to think about all this...” Carmela chuckled and said “It seems like you’re still in a daze. Don’t worry. I’ll speak to you again. In the meantime, please rest and be ready by tomorrow.” Form the way she spoke, Lakshman thought she wanted him ready whether he was feeling better or not. He sighed and said “Sure... I’ll... be there...” Then, as a wave of sleep washed over him, he quickly fell asleep. Carmela smiled and she rose to her feet. Then she left through the door and closed it quietly behind.
Phoenix Rising Chapter 187 Deciding Classes The next day, Lakshman was checked by the doctor using strange instruments he did not understand. The doctor ran a rod up and down his body and then closed his eyes while using magic on his head. Once done, the doctor smiled at him and said “You’re in perfect health! You can return to school now.” Lakshman smiled happily and said “Thank you very much!” With that, he was allowed to go. After saying goodbye to the doctor, Lakshman left the room. He walked alongside the corridor inside the hospital building as sunlight streamed through the windows. The first thing he noticed, after going out, was Felix walking towards him. At seeing Lakshman, Felix smiled and they met a few seconds later. “You’re all better already after taking such a shocking attack?” he asked him in surprise. Lakshman nodded and said “The doctor said I was all better so I could leave for school.” “Oh really? That’s good to hear. So let’s talk while we go together.” As they set off, Lakshman asked “You have something to do here?” Felix nodded and said “Yup! I got business with the principal.” “I see...” Lakshman said and he nodded in understanding. Then, when he saw Felix grinning for some reason, he asked “Why are you smiling?” “Ah! I’m amazed you recovered in one day after such a power attack!” “It’s just Electron Burst Cannon which is a Saint ranked Magic Spell. It shouldn’t exactly leave me crippled, right?” “It is a Saint ranked Magic Spell, but they used an Amplification Rod.”
“Amplification Rod?” “It’s a crude, but very powerful tool that increases the power of magic spells by several times.” “R-Really?” Lakshman asked in amazement. Felix nodded and said “Yup! Which is why that simple Saint ranked attack turned into an Emperor ranked attack.” “Gah! Emperor ranked...! Now it makes sense why I was so hurt by it yesterday!” “Yet... Even after all that, you’re back to full health in just a day. You have remarkable resistance or resilience I should say. Maybe I should get Wolfenstine to come over and examine your body. Maybe he could make some sort of potion that’ll make our bodies as strong as yours?” Lakshman widened his eyes and he shouted “NO!” Felix laughed and they entered a building. Then he was surprised to find that Lakshman was still following. “Aren’t you going to classes?” Felix asked him curiously. Lakshman shook his head and said “I don’t know what class I’m in anymore. So I’m going to the principal to find out.” “Ah. Then I guess we’ll be going to the same place then,” Felix said and he flashed a grin at him. They walked through the hallway for a few seconds before climbing a set of stairs. This brought to the first floor of that building and they climbed another pair of stairs. They reached the second floor and walked along the hallway. Beside them were the classroom and students sitting there with teachers teaching them. Lakshman glanced around curiously and caught their attention. The girls glanced at him curiously and then began to talk to each other. “Um... Felix?” “Hmm?” “W-Why are there only girls here?”
Felix looked surprised at his question. Then he sounded surprised as he said “Ah! That’s right! I remember now! I forgot tell you something else about this school.” “Tell me what?” Felix smiled widely at him and said “Astra Academy is full of girls.” For a moment, Lakshman looked at him as if he could not believe the words he just heard. Then he loudly exclaimed “What?! Only girls? Why? Is this an only girl’s school or something?” Felix laughed and said “Don’t be silly. It’s a mix school. You went to the male dormitory yesterday, right?” “I did, but... You’re saying there are no males, but me here?” Lakshman asked and Felix nodded at him. “That’s right! You’re the only male in this school of girls! On top of that, yesterday’s events should’ve made an impression on them about you.” “If I had known, I wouldn’t have gotten into trouble! I would’ve stayed in my room like a good boy!” Lakshman said in a sad voice. Then he sighed and muttered “Ugh... I hope I won’t get tormented...” He was mainly thinking about what Ondine, Tetra, Emilia and Cantia will say to him later. “Relax and get into the school spirit!” Felix said energetically and he clapped Lakshman on the back. “Sure. I’ll try my best,” Lakshman said and he smiled at him. A while later, they reached the end of the hallway. There was a brass door which looked fancy in Lakshman’s eyes. At that moment, they heard voices coming from behind the door. “I don’t approve of it, principle! Putting him in Class A all of a sudden? What were you thinking?” “Why are you so unhappy about it? You should’ve seen him and how he fought yesterday, right?” the principal’s voice said. “I did and, although he showed skill, he couldn’t manage at all after getting by such a puny attack! There’s no way he is ready for the higher end of Class A!”
“Ah. You’re saying that because you didn’t see his combat skills. He showed some excellent combat skills and I’m impressed by the level of his power.” “He tried to peep on us while we were taking the Holy Bath, that pervert!” At those words, Lakshman shivered and he looked uncomfortable. Felix was chuckling without making a sound. “Mercia... He saved our lives,” another voice said which Lakshman recognised to belong to princess Venezuela. “That may be, but to put him in Class A on his first day is... I’m disapproving of it!” the girl called Mercia said firmly. “Regardless of your disapproval, I believe Lakshman Reddy will be joining the Class A,” the principal said smoothly. Lakshman looked confused because he did not completely understand the classes. He looked up at Felix and asked “What class did I enrol in, Felix?” “I enrolled you into Class C to keep attention away from you,” Felix said quietly. “Well... It looks like that’s not going to work...” “No... It certainly doesn’t look like it... Damn!” Felix said and he looked irritated. There was a handle at the centre of the two swinging doors. Felix, however, chose to use a direct method and he knocked on the door with his fist. With a bang, the door burst open and it swung inward. “Hey! What’s the meaning of this?” Felix asked in an annoyed voice as he walked in. Lakshman walked into the room and briefly thought it was a beautiful room. Racked shelves lined the walls with papers and folders. There were medals stacked neatly on a glass casing at the top. The principle looked at Felix and irritably said “Felix! Even if you are the Phoenix Emperor, please remember to knock before you enter!” “What are you talking about? I clearly knocked and the door let me in!” Felix said and the principle sighed.
“Um...” Lakshman said hesitantly as he stood beside Lakshman. He looked around and saw the black haired girl with red eyes. From how red her eyes were, he guessed she was from the Phoenix Clan. Standing beside her, with a surprised expression, was the princess. She seemed to be surprised by the appearance of Felix. “Sir, Felix. What are you doing here?” Mercia asked after bowing to him courteously. “I’m here because this old hag is doing things I’m unhappy about!” Felix said and he looked very annoyed. The principal laughed and said “Hag? Maybe I won’t mind giving you some overtime lessons on manners.” “Quiet!” Felix snapped at her. Then he leaned forward and asked “Why are you switching Lakshman from Class C to Class A? Hmm? Answer me, Carmela.” Carmela sighed and said “Lakshman has the aptitude which I don’t want to waste by putting him in Class C!” “And I’m telling you you’re wrong! Lakshman doesn’t have the aptitude that you think he does!” Felix said angrily. She scowled at him and said “My feelings don’t exaggerate and my eye’s don’t lie! I watched him beat those two with tremendous force and that’s when I decided he belongs in Class A!” It was his turn to scowl as he asked “What were you doing watching him instead of paying attention to your work?” She shrugged her shoulders and said “I want a break and that’s when it all happened. Isn’t that right, ladies?” She shot the question towards Mercia and Venezuela who both nodded their heads silently. Felix was frustrated and wanted to tell her a lot of things, but he knew it will cause more trouble. He never expected this kind of trouble on the first day that Lakshman got into school. Inwardly, he sighed heavily for not being well prepared. “I take your silence to mean that you’re agreeing with me,” Carmela said with a smile on her face.
Felix gritted his teeth in frustration. Then he thought of an idea and asked “How about we get Lakshman demonstrate if he is capable or not. Then we can all decide on whether he fits into Class A or not!” For a moment, there was silence in the room. Then princess Venezuela said “I think that is a good idea. Perhaps by this, we can all be assured of how capable Lakshman is. This will save the trouble of arguing on and on endlessly.” They were nodding their heads at her in agreement. She clapped her hands happily and said “Then it’s settled.” Half-an-hour later, they were standing in what looked like an arena. It was not as big as the colosseum that was situated outside the capital. “How is it? Our battle ground?” Carmela asked Lakshman. “It’s... big,” he said in a surprised voice. Then he asked “Is this where tournaments and completions are held?” “Yes and this is also the testing grounds for people to conduct experiments and physical exams.” “Ah,” Lakshman said and he nodded in understanding. Just then, three guards brought in a heavy looking statue using hovering magic. It was large and magnificent looking which made a great impact once it landed. Looking at it, Lakshman thought future of the statue looked like an armoured knight with his hands on the hilt of his sword stabbing into the ground. “That is the Statue of Knighthood!” Carmila said dramatically. Felix sighed and said “You mean a replica, right?” “Yes, yes. It’s just a replica,” Carmila said irritably when she glanced at Felix. Then she turned back to Lakshman and smiled as she said “This statue is what we use to test the strength of the students.” “How do you do that? By breaking it?” Lakshman asked and he looked a little unimpressed. Carmila chuckled when she saw his dissatisfaction. Then she said “We do break it, but it’s not that simple. Mercia, please demonstrate.”
“Yes, principle,” Mercia said and she walked forward by pulling her sword out. Lakshman was impressed when he felt the surge of her energy. It was strong and condensed as if she was controlling it masterfully. She held her sword with both hands which began to glow brightly as she applied Weapon Force to it. Mercia raised the sword and held it over her head. Then she swung it down and sent a powerful slicing energy at the statue. When the attack made contact, there was a loud bang followed by a large explosion. Once the dust cleared, they could see the statue still standing. Lakshman was amazed that it had no scratch at all while electric current flowed formed around it. “As you can see, the statue has ten layers of King ranked Barrier Magic Spells! Just now, Mercia destroyed seven of them with her attack which we saw by the bursts of electricity.” “Oh! So people get marked on how well they do in destroying the barriers and probably destroy the statue as well.” Lakshman said and he sounded amazed. “That’s right,” Carmila said with a nod of her head at him. Then she explained “Most Class A are capable of destroying seven to ten and even destroy the statue. Students below Class A are only capable of destroying the first six layers of barriers and that is at full power.” Lakshman nodded as the guards returned to cast the ten layers of Barrier Magic Spells on the statue. Just then, Lakshman looked at Felix and saw him trying to signal to him. “Try to destroy only the first three barriers! Just the three barrier!” Lakshman received the message and he simply smiled at him and turned back to face the front. If this was a normal situation, Lakshman might have did as he was told, but there was a difference. Felix was not aware of the promise to not hold back which Lakshman made to Stuart. “All ready, madam!” the guard called and Carmila nodded at them. “Show us your power, Lakshman,” Carmila said told him. “Sure,” Lakshman said and he nodded at her. He walked forward and Mercia gave him her sword. When he took the sword, she scowled, but did she not say anything. Instead, she walked back and stood next to the princess.
Venezuela was watching him observantly which caused him to feel a bit embarrassed. Then he shook his head to clear away unnecessary thoughts. The sword was beginning to brightly as he challenged energy using Energy Force. He had gotten very good at handling the sword after three long years of constant training. Then he griped the sword firmly and held it over his head. “With one hand...?” Mercia asked curiously while princess Venezuela looked amazed. Felix, however, was shocked. He suddenly felt he amount of power Lakshman was about to sue. Quickly, he walked forward and shouted “Lakshman! Wait! That’s too much power!” He was too late to stop Lakshman from swinging the sword down. Lakshman swung the sword so fast, it was a blur. The next moment, the ground began to shake violently as a violent power erupted from the sword and rocketed away. The mighty slicing energy smashed into the barrier and easily smashed through them. The statue was destroyed, but the energy did not stop there. It continued to move on and then, with a great blast, the opposite end of the arena erupted in a massive explosion. Wind, dust and rubble went everywhere as a powerful shockwave was sent in all directions. A few seconds later, everything settled down and the dust slowly cleared. Once it did, Carmila, Venezuela and Mercia were shocked. A deep hole in the ground where the energy cut through and the smashed fragments of the statue, but that was not all. Even the opposite end of the arena was smashed to pieces with rubble lying everywhere. They were not the only ones who were shocked. Every student in their classrooms were shocked to see the massive explosion erupting from the arena. They simply could not believe the kind of power that caused that to happen. Carmila, Venezuela and Mercia continued to remain frozen to the spot when they suddenly heard Lakshman speak. “Oops... I used too much power...! Oh well...” he said and he shrugged his shoulders. Then he looked at the sword in his hand disintegrating and he yelped in surprise. “Aww... That’s a waste, but there’s nothing I can do about that,” Lakshman said with a sigh.
He turned around and walked back to where the principal and the girls stood. With a smile on his face, he handed the crumbling sword over to Mercia by saying “I’m sorry, but the sword couldn’t handle that much power.” Mercia was speechless as she looked at her crumbling sword. Even princess Venezuela was lost for words as she stared at how damaged the sword was. Only the principal was smiling pleasantly. “I see that you’ve been holding back on us!” she said and she grinned at him. Lakshman scratched the back of his head in embarrassment and said “I’m sorry...” She laughed and turned to look at Felix who had his eyes wide open and he mouth gaped open. He could not believe Lakshman did all that and even went against his advice. “I think this settles which class he belongs to, don’t you think?” Carmila asked him. Felix clapped his hand over his face and sighed. Then he nodded and heavily said “Yes...” “Good!” Carmila said in satisfaction and she turned back to smile at Lakshman. She extended her hand out to him and said “Congrats on joining Class A!” “Yes! Thank you!” Lakshman said and he shook her hand with his own. Thus, Lakshman moved to Class A on his second day at school with an explosive display of power.
Phoenix Rising Chapter 188 Types of Lessons After the demonstration of power, they all returned to the principal’s room. Carmila was really pleased with herself while Felix had his head down and looked to be in a depressed state. “I told you my eyes and feelings don’t lie or exaggerate,” Carmila said and she chuckled at seeing the depressed Felix. Felix groaned and muttered “Damn...” Lakshman, Mercia and princess Venezuela were standing silently. Lakshman kept his face as stiff as possible because he was worried Felix might hit him if he dared to smile. Mercia and Venezuela were anxiously looking between Camila and Felix. Camila raised her right hand and placed her forefinger on her temple. Then she said “Connect to Markus Field.” There was a moment of silence. Then she smiled and started speaking as if she spoke to the invisible person named Markus Field. “Markus, I want you to send me the Class A timetable for Lakshman Reddy. Yes, he is here with me. Right. Good job. Disconnect.” With that, the connection was over and she removed her finger from her temple. Lakshman was amazed as he just witnessed the use of Connect and Disconnect. The office ladies told him about them when the Academy Card got absorbed into his body. “You were already prepared for this?” Felix asked in a surprised voice. Carmila smiled and said “I told Lakshman I will do it yesterday and he didn’t complain. So I went ahead and ordered Markus to make the class switch before I faced any interference.” Felix gritted his teeth and looked at Lakshman who quickly looked away. Lakshman did vaguely remember hearing her say about a class switch. Unfortunately, he was a bit weak and sleepy when she told him. Due to that, he totally forgot about it until now.
A moment later, there was a shimmering light that appearing out of thin air. It shimmered for a moment before taking shape of a paper. Carmila took it and quickly breezed through it while nodding her head in satisfaction. “Here’s your timetable for this term, Lakshman,” Carmila said and she handed him the sheet. “Thank you very much,” Lakshman said and he took the sheet of paper from her. He realised he was looking at the back side. Chuckling, he flipped it over and read through the kind of lessons he will have. He was surprised to see three top headings; Magic, Weapon, Energy. It seems the lessons are based around Magic Force, Weapon Force and Energy Force which are the three basic types of Force. For each of them, there seemed to be a Theory Lesson and Practice Lesson. There also seems to be a Joint Lesson at the end of week. “Um... What is this Theory Lesson, Practice Lesson and Joint Lesson?” Lakshman asked curiously and Carmila explained. “Theory Lesson. In this lesson, the students will learn about the theoretical knowledge about that subject. This included performing quiz test, guess and check, identification by question and various other activates,” Carmila told him. Lakshman nodded and said “I see. So it’s like learning from a textbook and then applying the knowledge.” “Exactly. Now to Practice Lesson. This lesson is pure lesson on practice. Students can use their leant knowledge and perform it. The lesson will involve students to do practice battles, perform various techniques, skills and other types of knowledge in practice.” “So Theory to Practice. Nice,” Lakshman said happily. Then he asked “What about this Joint Lesson? Is it like a lesson done with all the classes together or something?” Carmila chuckled and turned to look at Mercia. Then she asked “Mercia, why don’t you inform our new student.” Mercia sighed and said “All of this was explained during the entrance ceremony. Where were you at that time?” When they looked at him, Lakshman became a little flustered and he glanced at Felix. He was saddened when he saw Felix mouthing the words “Don’t refer to me. Don’t!”
“I... I was late coming to the capital,” Lakshman said and he tried to laugh. Mercia looked at him closely and asked “You say you’re late, but when did you come from?” “I came from a small village a few days out of the capital of Rodfox.” “Ah. Now it makes sense,” Mercia said and Lakshman breathed in relief. Mercia cleared her throat and said “A Joint Lesson is also known as the Competition Battle!” Lakshman raised an eyebrow and asked “Joint Lesson is... a Competition Battle?” Mercia placed her hands on her hips looking haughty and said “Listen, newbie! At the end of every week, two teams battle it out and get scored individually. That individual score gets added towards our overall team score!” “O-Oh...!” Lakshman said and he was a little surprised by the tone of her voice. Then he asked “Then what team would I be in?” Mercia suddenly smiled at him and said “Since you’re the only boy in the academy, you’ll be acting the role of a mediator.” “A-A mediator?” Lakshman asked uncertainly. “It’s a role which will grant you extra privileges like no curfew at night, can use the baths anytime and skip out of classes,” Carmila told him with a smile on her face. “S-Skip out of class...?” Lakshman asked with wide eyes. He suddenly had the idea of skipping all the Theory Lessons and showing up for only the Practice Lessons. Carmila cleared her throat and it brought him back to the present. Then she said “You won’t freely skip classes. You’ll only skip a class if there happens to be a problem and you need to quickly go there to sort it out.” “Oh... Then why put me in charge? Wouldn’t girls better prepared to handle girl problems?” “There are around two-hundred female students in the academy. It’s only natural that the only male will be put into that role. All the females will be in high tension and, sometimes, things can get out of control,” Carmila explained.
“Eh...?” Lakshman said as he was surprised by how problematic his role became. Seeing the worried expression on his face, Carmila winked at him and said “You will be fine. With your power and might, the female students will have no choice, but to listen to you. If they don’t, you can ask for the support of the Disciplinary Council.” “The Disciplinary Council? Who are they?” Lakshman asked curiously. At that moment, Mercia coughed and said “The Disciplinary Council are a group of students going around and setting order right. If the mediator was unable to handle the job alone, then the Disciplinary Council comes in.” “Oh, I see,” Lakshman said and he nodded in understanding. Then Mercia continued to glare at him as she said “I’m the Disciplinary Council President and if you put one foot out of line, I’ll send you packing!” Her threat was strong, but it did not phase Lakshman at all. Instead, he said “Oh? Is that you you’re full of hot air, Mercia?” Mercia went bright red in the face and stuttered “W-W-What did you just... say?!” Lakshman shrugged her shoulders and looked at the princess. She looked a little flustered when he looked at her which surprised him. “Are you also part of the Disciplinary Council, princess?” Venezuela shook her head and said “I’m the Student Council President whose role is to prepare for the Joint Lesson at the end of every week.” “Ah...” As Lakshman continued to stare at her, Venezuela became more flustered and Mercia got in front of her. “Eyes off the princess, you perverted leach!” Mercia told him in an angry voice. Lakshman groaned and said “Mercia... I wasn’t peeping or anything.” At that moment, Felix finally found the energy and he came to Lakshman’s rescue.
“That’s right. He felt the disturbance in the energy and came to your rescue and never imagined you were taking the Holy Bath. Then he panicked when you girls started calling him those names, but he still stayed around. After realising the enemy had fired that Electron Burst Cannon at you girls, he chose to save you and took the force of the attack.” Then Felix looked towards Lakshman and asked “Isn’t that right, Lakshman?” “T-That’s right. You’re right, Felix,” Lakshman said and he nodded at him. It was true except that it Lakshman did not about the attackers until the Decisive Player told him. Lakshman was happy the Decisive Player was paying attention so he resolved to start paying attention to things coolly from then on. Venezuela and Mercia looked really surprised. Then the princess said “If the Phoenix Emperor says so, the new apologise for mistrusting you. Also, thank you for saving our lives. If it were not for you, I and my friends would not be here right now.” Then she and Mercia bowed deeply while looking unhappy. Lakshman waved his hands frantically and said “Oh please! It was nothing. Please straighten up.” As they straightened up, they heard some sort of bell ringing from outside the room. “Ah. It’s time to go to class,” Mercia said and she and the princess began to leave. “Uh...! What class am I going to?” Lakshman asked hurriedly. Mercia stopped and asked him “Are you a first year or second year?” “Um... First year.” Mercia sighed and said “Then you’re in our class. Follow us then!” “Ah! Hey! Wait up!” Lakshman said and he ran after them as they opened the door and left. Lakshman walked out of the door and closed it behind him. This left Camila and Felix together and the room in silence. “So tell me... Lakshman is the Phoenix Titan, right?” Camila asked Felix with a knowing smile on her face.
“Uh... I don’t know what you’re talking about! Why would the Phoenix Titan be here of all places?! There’s no way Lakshman is him!” Felix said in a fluster. As Carmila grinned, he calmed down and said “Anyway, my work’s done here so I will take my leave.” When he got to his feet, he suddenly groaned. In a frustrated voice, he said “I wish I could use Phoenix Portal inside here!” Camila chuckled and said “You know you can’t. There is an anti-teleportation barrier erected around the academy.” Felix sighed and said “Goo security, but it’s a pain to walk on foot.” “Go get some exercise, lazy bones!” Camila said and she laughed. “Oh whatever! Anyway... I’ll see you later,” Felix said he waved a goodbye at her. Felix reached the door, opened it and left with a shut. He did it so fast, he looked like a blur. Once he left, Camila leaned back in her chair and looked up at the ceiling. “Looks like this year will be very interesting...!” she said to the ceiling above. She grinned cheerfully and went back to going through the pile of papers sitting on her desk.
Phoenix Rising Chapter 189 First Lesson “Ah! Hey, wait up!” Lakshman called to them as they kept walking ahead. “What?” Marcia asked without glancing around at him. “Y-You’re walking too fast!” Lakshman told her while trying to walk at the same pace. “If you have a problem keeping up, then walk faster!” Mercia said coldly. “Ah!” Lakshman said and he looked a bit hurt. Venezuela looked at him and smiled which caused his heart to flutter. Looking up close, had to admit she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. If her beauty was compared with Ondine’s, he would have trouble giving a strong verdict. Venezuela suddenly leaned closer to him and he flinched reflexively. Then he heard her whisper “Please don’t mind her. Mercia is my guard and is always on high alert.” “Oh, I see. Now it makes sense,” Lakshman said and he nodded in understanding. He remembered back to yesterday when she was trying to defend the princess. Despite having trouble holding her towel right, she still persevered to protect the princess. He admired her courageous actions, but disliked her unwomanly behaviour. “I have a feeling she’s more like a man than a woman…” he said in a low voice. Mercia suddenly came to a full stop and turned to glare at him. “What did you say?!” she demanded menacingly. Lakshman quickly brought his hands up in front of him and quickly said “I didn’t say anything! I didn’t say anything at all! You heard nothing!” She glared at him for a moment before making an “Hmph!” sound and continuing to walk on. Lakshman breathed out in relief and walked after her.
“I think it’s best if I be quiet from here on,” Lakshman muttered and it caused Venezuela to chuckle. Lakshman followed them down the stairs and walk along the first floor. As they passed, he saw rooms that looked empty which were full of chairs, tables and other instruments he had never seen before. “We’re here,” Venezuela said as they came to stop outside a door. Mercia slid the door open and entered. She was followed in by Venezuela and Lakshman. When he entered, he immediately turned and saw around sixteen students sitting behind desks. They were all girls and they were talking to each other with happy expressions on their faces. At that moment, the girls noticed them enter. In an instant, there was a cry of “Princess!” The girls began squealing in their girlish manner that it made Lakshman’s head hurt. Then the teacher, who was also a woman, loudly said “Quiet!” Venezuela bid him goodbye and walked to her desk, Mercia walked to her desk without saying anything to him. He nodded his thanks and walked over to the teacher’s desk and felt all eyes on him. With the deepened concentration, he could hear them whispering behind his back “It’s him…” “Yeah...” “The pervert…” “But didn’t he save the princess?” “Really?” “Yeah. The princess was very worried.” “Oh yeah. She was when they took him away.” “Does that mean he’s not a pervert?” “Maybe…?” “Maybe?”
Hearing all that, Lakshman thought “Ugh…” “What is it?” the teacher asked him when she noticed him standing in front of her desk. “Um… I don’t know where to sit,” he asked nervously. “Just go sit at the back, why don’t you?” the teacher suggested. Lakshman straightened up and looked around. He looked around the room for an empty seat, but all he could see were curious looks directed at him. Then he saw an empty desk at the back and picked it the spot to sit at. “So many girls…” Lakshman thought in awe as he passed girl after girl when he walked up to the back of the room and sat down. The room were full of girls. There were girls on his left, there were girls on his right and there were girls in front of him. Fortunately, there’s nothing behind him because there was a wall there. In his short life, Lakshman only had to content with four girls which increased by two with the birth of his sisters. He had never had the chance to mix with too many girls and it made him feel a bit nervous. Lakshman could see the girls glancing back at him curiously. He tried his best to avoid their gazes by staring at the desk. It was a solid metallic desk with nothing interesting about it and he quickly got bored staring at it. Just then, their teacher said “Now I’m going to call out your name. Either say ‘here’ or ‘present’ and be polite about it!” She looked around at them and silence fell quickly. Then she nodded in satisfaction and, looking down at the sheet with the list of their names, she began calling out their names. “Penusala.” “Here!” “Samana.” “Here!”
“Semrida.” “Present!” One by one, the teacher called out the student’s names and the students replied with a loud “Here” or “Present.” Finally, as if he was dead last, Lakshman’s name finally got called with difficulty. “Lak… Las… Uh… How do you pronounce your name, boy at the back?” “Eh?” Lakshman said and he stood up much to the surprise of everyone. As the girls giggled, the teacher asked “How do you pronounce your name?” “Oh. It’s Lakshman. Lakshman Reddy, miss,” he told her clearly. She nodded and said “I see. Laxman Ready then.” Lakshman looked surprised by her pronunciation of his name and he muttered “Its Lakshman Reddy…” He sat back down unhappily, not understanding why the teacher pronounced his name like that. A name is something that identified who they are and he did not like the way she changed how it is pronounced. Once she was done with the paper, she rose to her feet and silence fell again. Then she began to talk to them about her lesson. “This is the Magic Theory and, although it is primarily learning about how it works, I expect you all to understand full well how the Magic Force works. By now you all should have witnessed it in action when your parents or relatives or guardians or people nearby used it.” A few heads nodded at her words and she continued speaking. “But is that it? From what we know, is Magic Force simply executing magic spells and such?” At that moment, someone raised their hand and the teacher pointed at her. “The Magic Force is the release of power in a way that affects the natural substance. It can be physical substance or non-physical substance that could be seen, felt, touched and heard.”
“That’s exactly right! It affects anything and everything around you, but if that’s the case, why do you need to use chants? Magic words? Why couldn’t we just use Voiceless Incantations?” Another student, sitting near Lakshman, said “It’s because it requires a wild concentrated mind and a strong visualisation of what you what the magic to do and how it will perform.” “That’s exactly right! Yes… Most magicians below the rank of Sage often find it very difficult to focus their minds. So they often rely on long winded Magic Words to execute their Magic Spells. Although it strengthens the spell, it can be slow and often easily countered.” Like that, the lesson went on for another one hour. The students just sat there and listened while occasionally answering her questions. It looked like the teacher was testing the knowledge his students already know or that was how Lakshman thought her manner of lesson was. Then the bell rang which indicated the end of lesson. “Is it that time already? Well…! I expect all of you to bring in your books from tomorrow if you haven’t today! Class dismissed!” the teacher said and the girls cheered. The teacher left after closing her folder and slinging a carrying bag over her shoulders. Lifting their bags from under their chairs, the students followed her out of the door. Lakshman was surprised to see the bags and suddenly realised he does not have any books or writing utensils with him. That also reminded him to go and see Ondine, Tetra, Emilia and Cantia. Deciding to go see them, he rose to his feet and headed for the door. “Lakshman. I would like to have a word with you please,” Venezuela suddenly told him. “Oh… What is it, princess?” Lakshman asked when he stopped and turned to look at her. “Um… I deeply apologise for the treatment our fellow classmates and our teacher showed you today. I will do my utmost to tell them about the misunderstanding,” she told him earnestly. Lakshman looked flustered and said “Ah. No. It’s okay. I’m sure it’ll die down soon enough. You don’t have to waste your time going around to convince people.” “No! I’m the Student Council President and it’s my duty to correct the mistakes of the students! Now please excuse me as I have work to be done,” she said and then she bowed before leaving through the door.
Lakshman watched her go with a surprised expression on his face. Then he jumped when he suddenly felt the presence of someone behind him. Turning around, he was startled to see Mercia standing there. “W-What do you want with me, Mercia?” he asked instantly in a nervous voice. She looked at him seriously and said “Please don’t cause trouble for the princess, alright? She is the one who will take over the throne of Floria Kingdom in the future! The princess doesn’t need a lousy fool like you causing trouble for her!” “U-Um…? I really wouldn’t do anything to harm her…” Lakshman said nervously. “Seriously! If something happens, I will skin you alive, I will skin you alive! You got that?!” she said and she glared menacingly at him. “Nope! I won’t do anything! I sweat I won’t!” Lakshman said with his hands raised in surrender. She nodded at him and left through the open door. Lakshman stared after her and breathed out in relief. He suddenly realised he felt really tired even though he did not do much that day. Then he shook his head to clear away recent encounter and decided to go look for Ondine, Tetra, Emilia and Camila. Lakshman left the room and, a few minutes later, exited the building. He looked into the distance and saw the boy’s dormitory, but was not where he wants to go. Then he started looked around for a sign of where he could find the girl’s dormitory. Just then, he noticed a guard walking by. Thinking he might know where it is, he ran up to speak with him. “Sir. Do you know where the girl’s dormitory is?” Lakshman asked the guard. The guard instantly became suspicious and asked him “Why do you want to go there?” Lakshman suddenly realised his actions might seem suspicious and he hoped the guard will believe him. “I want to see four girls, but I don’t know where they are right now.” “Then why don’t you just use the Telepathically Communication System?” “Eh?”
“Are you aware of the Connect and Disconnect?” “Y-Yes.” “Well… Just use ‘Connect to’ and then whoever you wish to speak to, but make sure to say their name right. Otherwise, you might end up connecting to the wrong person,” the guard warned him. “Ah! Alright then. I guess I’ll just contact them and get in touch with them like that. Thanks, mister!” Lakshman said brightly. Then he said “Warp” before disappearing in a whirl of colours. The guard saw him disappear and shook his head in wonder. “Kids these days sure are energetic,” he muttered before continuing his walk.
Phoenix Rising Chapter 190 Comfort of Companions Lakshman warped into his room and groaned. He still has not gotten used to the sensation of warping in and out of places. Then he straightened up and looked around. “Hmm?” He was surprised to find that his room door was open. Quickly walking over, he swung it open and looked out. The corroder in the boy’s dormitory was empty. He was the only male student within the academy and the only boy to occupy one of the many rooms. “Ah!” he suddenly said when he remembered. Yesterday, he was eager to test out how the Warp system inside the academy worked. Because of that, he had forgotten to lock the door before warping out. So his room door had been left open for almost a day. He quickly closed the door and walked over to the cupboards. Swinging them open, he began checking his clothes and belongings. It took him a few minutes, but he finally breathed a sigh of relief. “Everything’s in place…” he muttered and he walked over to his bed. As he fell on it, he heard the clutter of books from nearby. He sat up and looked around to see a pile of books, pens and several other stationary equipment. “Wow…!” Lakshman exclaimed in astonishment. He went through each of them and was amazed that they had everything he needed for his education. The text book Magic Theory, Sword Specialist and the Energy Controller. He quickly breezed through each of them and was As he put them away, he noticed a letter lying underneath all of it. He picked it up and straightened the letter before reading it. “Dear Lucky,
Please forgive my lapse of memory, but it seems I have forgotten to give you your equipment. The textbooks, the writing utensils and some other things you might need. I had received a report stating the equipment were given to Ondine, Tetra, Emilia and Cantia. It made me wonder why you were not in the report. As it turned out, I had completely forgotten to give the order to get you your stuff. I give you my deepest apologies so do not hate me. I have been very busy with reports coming in concerning things happening down at Mardana Kingdom, but do not concern yourself over it. As the Phoenix Emperor and the ruler of the Phoenix Clan, it is my duty to get to the bottom of this. Additionally, I was called by Carmila Chaikin. She is Astral Academy’s principal which means that she is your principal. She also happens to a King ranked magician. On top of being highly ranked magician, she is also skilled in the art of sword, but not the physical sword. She wields the Magic Sword because she believes warrior swords are for men only and loathes to wield one. So I will most likely be seeing you tomorrow and see how you are liking Astral Academy. See if I can show you around if my busy schedule does not hamper me down. Maybe I could get you to join the security guards a few times to start earning money. You are growing up and you cannot always rely on other people for help. Try standing up on your own two feet and you will shine brightly. I might get you to go on a mission soon, but I have to sort out this Mardana Kingdom issue. Sincerely, Felix, Phoenix Emperor” Lakshman reached the end of the letter and he softly said “Felix…” He smiled fondly at the letter and was full of respect and empathy for Felix. Just from the letter, Lakshman could tell how busy Felix had been. It explains why the equipment arrived when he was hospitalised because, by then, he had left for the forest through the use of Warp. “Maybe they came a while after I left. Felix might’ve received news about me being attacked later in the day. Mmm… Makes sense,” Lakshman muttered to himself and nodded in satisfaction.
Lakshman began to separate the books and their equipment into categories; Magic, Weapon and Energy. Then he carried them over to the cupboard and stacked them neatly and shut the door again. Then he pulled out the timetable and placed it on the bed side table. Finally, with nothing left to do, he fell back into bed and sighed heavily. His body was finally beginning to act the way he wanted it to. Occasionally, his fingers often twitched or moved inaccurately. He found this out during that day’s lesson. While he was resting his chin on his hand, he yawned while covering mouth to hide it. He did not want to anger the teacher, but his arm suddenly twitched and it suddenly lost strength and he almost hit the desk with his face. Sighing heavily from the memory, he closed his eyes and lay in bed in silence. The silence stretched for a moment as sleep began to cover him like a moody cloud. “Hold on! This isn’t the time to sleep!” he exclaimed and he sat upright. Then he looked at the cocked “I wonder if this is a good time to use Connect to talk with Ondine, Tetra, Emilia and Cantia… Hmm…” He pondered for a moment, but he was feeling impatient and worried. So far, the treat of the female students has been very severe towards him. He did not know what he should do and wanted to consult the girls. The reason he chose to talk to the girls first instead of the Decisive Player was because he was asleep. During class, he closed his eyes and entered the deep part of his mind. There he found the Decisive Player floating around with his eyes closed. “Hey, Decisive Player! Can you help me out? Decisive Player?” he asked him constantly. Then he heard the sound of snoring coming from the Decisive Player. Walking around, he was startled to find the Decisive Player fast asleep while snoring smoothly. “No way! You’re sleeping at a time like this?! Unbelievable!” Felix exclaimed in a shocked voice. With no alternatives, he decided his best choice of contact and comfort are his companions. So he faced the problem of whether he should call now or later. Then he wondered if they will be busy or not to want to talk to him. The biggest thing worrying him was what their treatment will be towards him. “Ah! I’m not getting anywhere by worrying!” he burst out in an extremely frustrated voice.
Lakshman finally made up his mind and placed his forefinger on his temple. He was just about to use the command when he suddenly realised that he did not know whom he should talk to first. At that moment, he wanted to talk to all of his companions, but wondered how that was achievable. At that moment, a sudden voice said “Where there is will, there is a way.” “Huh?” Lakshman said and he reacted in surprised while looking around. There was no one and his Elemental Sense did not show anyone inside or near his room. Then he wondered if it was the Decisive Player giving him advice without waking up, but that was unlikely since he was fast asleep. Whatever it was, it certainly gave him a sudden idea which he used without hesitation. “Group Connect to Ondine, Tetra, Emilia and Cantia,” he said clearly. At that moment, he suddenly felt pain in his mind and he instantly clutched his head. The pain lasted a few seconds before fading away. Then he began to hear the familiar voices of his companions. He was surprised by what they were thinking. “I wonder what master is doing…” “I hope he is doing fine…” “I didn’t get to see him when he left the hospital…” “I wonder if I could probably go and see him at the boy’s dorm…” Lakshman felt a rush of affection towards his companions. They were worriedly thinking about his wellbeing and he was worrying they were taking in the stuff the females were passing each other. He cursed himself for ever thinking like that in the first place. Suddenly, he heard them panic suddenly when they heard voices in their heads. It must have freaked them out, but Lakshman did not hear their exclaimed shouts which did not transmit through their minds. “W-Wow! All these voices…!” “W-Why the hell are there voices in my head? Am I finally going insane?!” “Eh? That voice…!”
“Huh?! This voice is?” “Hey! These voices!” “Wow! Don’t tell me…!” “Tetra? Is that you?” “This voice… Ondine?” “Ondine and Tetra! Wow! I can hear you two!” “Cantia, don’t be stupid. We can hear each other thinking… somehow…” “Come on, Emilia! This is amazing!” Lakshman chuckled at how surprised Ondine, Tetra, Emilia and Cantia were. He found it amusing he wanted to listen for a while, but he had something to ask them. “Girls…” At that moment, he heard them gasp and instantly heard a loud scream of “MASTER!!!” It was so loud, it caused Lakshman to jump violently and clutch his head. Then he began hearing them speak to him in rushed voices. “How are you? “Are you feeling better?” “Are you doing okay?” “Is there anything we can help you with?” Lakshman sighed and said in his mind “I’m fine so stop bombarding me with questions, haha.” “Seriously, master! You’re a real worry! You know that?” Hearing Emilia’s words made Lakshman laugh out loud. He always knew Emilia was the only one who worried about him more than anything. Her feelings were honest and she always got worried whenever he got into trouble. Even the times when he got sick, she was the one who always stayed with him to help him through the pain of sickness.
Then he heard “How did you manage to contact all of us?” “Oh yeah! I thought it was for only one person…” “Master, did you do pull some sort of crazy stunt to speak to us all?” Lakshman laughed and thought “I guess you could say that, but I have some things to discuss with you girls and I need your help with it.” At his words, the girls went silent. Lakshman wondered if he lost his telepathically communication with when he heard Tetra’s voice. “Is this concerning about yesterday’s incident?” Lakshman was surprised by her words. Then he chuckled as he realised how sharp Tetra was. “Yes. It’s about the thing where all the girls in school are saying I’m a pervert, a leach and stuff like that. Do you believe it?” There was a moment of silence as he waited for a response. Then he heard them all tell him in loud voices. “There’s no way I would believe that rubbish!” Ondine said firmly. “Master wouldn’t do such a thing!” Emilia said firmly. “If master wanted to, he’d have asked us first!” Cantia said which made Lakshman groan. “Cantia… Seriously…!” Tetra said in an annoyed voice. Then she sighed and said “You might not remember this, master, but we were there when you fought those two attacks.” “Eh? You girls were there?” “Yes, we were. I think we were on our way to see you at the boy’s dormitory. Isn’t that right, girls?” “That’s right, master! We were on our way when we saw you about to be killed by those two bloodthirsty brutes!”
“I panicked when I saw master was about to be killed and I transformed into my humanoid form!” “Still… We reflexively screamed at you, master. I think you heard us and then you took them out with a cool show of strength!” “Yeah! Master was amazing! The doctor said master was shocked pretty badly.” “That’s right. The doctor was impressed you managed to use your strength to fight in that shocked up condition.” Lakshman laughed and thought “I… I was feeling really weak and thought I had no strength. Then I think I heard someone screaming. Looking in that direction, I vaguely remember seeing you there. That’s when I felt this sudden urge to live and not die like that! I want to fulfil my promise to protect you before I die!” At his passionate words, the girls were left speechless. Their brain functions got halted from hearing his words. He had no idea that, at that moment, Ondine, Tetra, Emilia and Cantia were blushing brightly. “Anyway, I have a problem that I want your help in, girls. Will you help me?” he asked them politely. “Ask away, master! Ask away! I’ll always be available to help you whether it be as your strength or as your weapon!” Ondine told him confidently. “I’ll do my best to help in whatever you ask for, master!” Emilia said tentatively, but she sounded firm. “What help do you need, master? I’ll do my best to be of useful to you!” Cantia told him brightly. Lakshman smiled and asked “The girls all around, including in my class, are treating me like I’m some sort of pervert. Right now, the opinions are clashing due to the princess’s efforts, but I feel I need to do something, but I’m clueless. Can you girls think of what I can do to make them think better of me?” At that moment, Ondine confidently said “Just ignore them and move on, master! Why should you care what they think about you?” Lakshman was surprised by her words and so were the other girls.
Tetra moaned sadly and said “Ondine… Why do you suggest that?” “Everyone in my Water Spirit Tribe tend to look down on me because I couldn’t use water magic as easily they could. I just ignored everything they told me and concentrated on perfecting the sword! Now I’m a lot more powerful than what my clan spirits would ever be!” Ondine said proudly. “Ondine… Although that is wonderful for you, I don’t believe it will help master at all…” Emilia said in a reasonable voice. “What?!” Ondine exclaimed in a thunderstruck voice. There was a short silence which was broken when Emilia said “I think you need to prove them wrong, master.” “Eh? Prove them wrong?” Lakshman asked in a surprised voice. “That’s right and you do this by simply showing them how good you can be. How you treat them, how you act around them and so on.” “Emilia is right, master. Girls of our age usually like boys who are confident, cool, handsome, nice and always try their best,” Tetra told him. “Um…” Lakshman said hesitantly as he was not sure how to behave in such a way. Then he heard Tetra laughed as she said “Don’t worry, master. Just behave the way you always do around us. I’m sure the girls will soon start understanding you and will change their opinion of you for the better.” “Eh?” Lakshman said and he was surprised by her words. “R-Really?” “That’s right, master. We didn’t love you because of your power.” “No, we didn’t! I didn’t love you because of the money you earned by your achievements!” Emilia told him. “Yes. I didn’t love you because I was destined to be with you,” Cantia said happily. “And I certainly love you because you because you defeated me,” Ondine said. “Eh? Um… What are you getting at?” Lakshman asked in confusion.
“You see, master… We love you, not because you are the Phoenix Titan or the soon to be strongest warrior in the world! We love you because of who you are,” Tetra said in a happy voice. Then she said “We love Lakshman Reddy, not the Phoenix Titan or the Voice of the Phoenix. We… love… you!” Lakshman could not believe what he just heard from the girls. His eyes widened in shock and he began to grin uncontrollably. Then he started to laugh while waving his arms above him energetically. He had just found out the reason why they truly love him and it made him so happy, he could no longer contain it. “So master!” Tetra told him and Lakshman struggled to calm down as he listened to her. “Be yourself and act like yourself. Girls hate boys who pretend to be someone they are not and utterly despise them if they dare to trick them in any way!” “Make sure you show them that you are not a harmful bug or anything! You are Lakshman Reddy and the future Phoenix Titan!” Ondine told him bracingly. “Thanks, girls…! I really appreciate your wisdom!” Lakshman thought happily He was glad they were with him and were able to cheer him up. Now he knew what he has to do and he reflexively clenched his fists with renewed energy. At that moment, he heard Tetra say “Master… I, Ondine, Cantia and Emilia won’t mind if you get more lovers, but… If you go looking for them… We will seriously get angry at you.” Lakshman’s eyes widened in shock when he heard her cold voice and the seriousness of her words. Then Ondine said “Seriously, master. If you ever come to do that, I will personally see to it that you receive the hand of justice!” Lakshman widened his eyes in horror and he thought “Seriously calm down, you two! There’s no way I’m planning on doing that! Honestly!” “We know, but it doesn’t hurt to give you a fair warning in case you breach that line…” Ondine said ominously. Her words made his hair stand on end and he jerked his head violently due to shock. Then he gulped nervously as sweat began to form on his face. “Um… I have to go eat now. So I’ll see you girls later… I guess.”
“Sure, master! Please take care!” Emilia told him. “Be well, master!” Cantia wished him brightly. Lakshman sighed and said “Disconnect.” There was a moment pause as he remembered Ondine’s and Tetra’s warning. He shuddered in shock and fear. “I think its best I tread cautiously from here on…” he muttered and he nodded his head in agreement. Just then, his stomach grumbled and he smiled. He rose to his feet and quickly walked over to the door. As he walked out, he threw one glance at the room behind him. Then, just before he closed the door, he said “I’ll be back later.” For a few seconds, the room continued to remain lit. Then the energy crystals began to flicker and soon went out which caused the room to go dark. Then, all of a sudden, white glowing eyes materialised in the dark and looked towards the closed door. “See you later,” the voice of a girl said before chuckling darkly.
Phoenix Rising Chapter 191 Energy Theory [Part I] The next day, early in the morning, Lakshman had Energy Theory lesson. So he quickly got up and checked the Crystal Clock on the bed side table. It read six-twenty-five and he knew he had one hour before classes would begin. “Brush, brush, brush!” Lakshman said hurriedly. He hurried over the bathroom where he brushed his teeth with a toothpaste and brush. Then, once he rinsed it all, he jumped into the shower and had a quick bath. For the cold morning, his body was pretty warm, but it always has been due to his high resistance to normal weather. Like always, regardless of how cold or hot it was, he bathed in fifty percent cold and fifty percent hot. This gave him a warm bath and he enjoyed it with a sigh. Almost ten minutes later, he finally got out and quickly changed into new clothes. Then he opened his bag and began to mutter as he stuffed the books and stuff into it. “Right. Textbook… check! Stationary… check! Classroom… Hmm? What classroom am I in?” He pulled up the sheet with the timetable. On it, he read what he had for today; Energy Theory and Magic Theory. Then he checked the times they were they were on that day. “Hmm… Energy Theory is in classroom 3SB. Magic Theory is in classroom 2MB, but I don’t have to worry about it just yet. It’s in the evening and I got time to spend freely in the meantime.” With a bright smile on his face, he pocketed the timetable. Then he grabbed the bag and clung it over his shoulders. “Warp 3SB!” he said aloud. In an instant, he was sucked until he disappeared from the room. Moments later, he reappeared in a building. He swayed a little as he slowly recovered from the warping effect. He looked up at the room and there, in bold letters, were the letters “3SB” etched onto the plat. He looked around and realised he was the only one there. It looked like he arrived a bit early so he decided to patiently wait. Minutes went by in silence as he quietly waited for his class.
Thirty-minutes almost went by before he heard the sound of footsteps. He looked towards the right and saw someone appear at the top of the stairs. “Ah. Looks like you are here already, Lakshman,” princess Venezuela said with a smile on her face. Princess Venezuela just arrived after climbing the stairs and was followed close behind by Mercia. At seeing the princess, he waved and called “Hello princess,” but when he saw Mercia, he made a frown face and said “and Mercia…” Mercia scowled and walked up to glare right in his face. “What? What’s with that reaction when you saw me? Hah?” Mercia demanded. Lakshman looked surprised, but he looked away and said “Nothing really… I just dislike your foul attitude, that’s all.” “W-Why you…!” Mercia said indignantly and her face turned red. “Now, now. Calm down, you two,” Venezuela said peacefully. “By the way, what does 3SB stand for?” he asked curiously. “3SB? Well it simply means Level 3, Science Building, Room B,” she explained to him. Lakshman looked surprised and he said “Wow!” Then she looked around and said “Isn’t anyone here yet?” Lakshman shook his head and said “No, princess. It’s been like this for a while.” She looked at him in surprise and asked “When did you get here?” “I got here around six-thirty...” Lakshman said as he vaguely remembering seeing the time on the Crystal Clock. “Six-thirty?! That’s early! What the heck were you doing wake up that early?” Mercia asked in a surprised voice.
Lakshman shrugged his shoulders and said “I thought I will be late and I didn’t know where to train in the morning.” “Do you train every day?” Venezuela asked him. Lakshman nodded his head and said “Every day, I would wake up early in the morning and train for half-an-hour. Then I start doing things for the day.” “Wow. Do you train with the sword or just the usual body exercise?” “I do both. It helps maintain my energy and strength up every day. Additionally, I get stronger by constantly using these Gravity Rings.” “That’s amazing! You possess the few rare items that cannot be made or forged. It would require high class manufacturer to make such an item.” Lakshman shrugged and said “A friend lend me his and then I found a few while exploring a Dungeon Tower.” “Ah! Now it makes sense,” Venezuela said and she nodded as if she understood something. “What is it, princess?” he asked curiously. “With your power and strength, I wondered if you had live combat experience. If you experienced and survived a Dungeon Tower, it makes perfect sense at how strong you are,” she said as she praised him. As Lakshman scratched his head while looking embarrassed, Mercia looked unimpressed. “So what gravity did you put those Gravity Rings at?” she asked him flatly. “Well…” Lakshman said and he pulled his sleeves to reveal five rings on his arms. “I have five on my arms and five on my legs so that’s ten in total. I set each of them to hundred times gravity so that would be-!” “Ten times hundred… that’s…. thousand!” Mercia exclaimed and she looked shocked with wide eyes. Venezuela looked at him shock and asked “It’s not really… right?” He looked confused as he said “It all adds up to thousand times gravity.”
The two girls were stunned into silence. They could not believe there was someone capable of such a feet. Lakshman looked at them with a puzzled expression on his face. He did not know yet that anyone, capable of training at such intense gravity, are ranked higher than King. At that moment, people began warping into the corridor they were in. Then the door to their classroom opened by a stout lady. She was strongly built with strong muscles, but not as strong as Lakshman’s. Lakshman was amazed by her size and strong she appeared to be. He also noticed the several scars on her face which she assumed she received in combat. So he decided to keep his mouth shut as the lady fully opened the door and stepped out. “Now, before we get start, I would like to check that everyone here came to the right lesson. Class 1A for Energy Theory?” she asked and Lakshman was astonished how gentle her voice was for such a strongly built body. When everyone nodded, she smiled and said “Alright then! Let’s all go in and get seated.” She stepped away from the door and the class filed in. Lakshman hung bag to let all the ladies go in and, yet again, he saw them, glance curiously at him. He inwardly sighed and wondered when it will die down, but he was determined to prove his worth. Once they all went in, he walked into the classroom with his bang slung over his shoulder. Just as he walked into the room, he suddenly twitched in surprise as his teacher began examining him. “Hmm… So you’re Lakshman,” she said while examining his body. “Y-Yes, ma’am.” “You’ve got a nice body. Strong muscles, well trained legs… Hmm… Ten Gravity Rings! Impressive!” “T-Thank you, ma’am,” he said nervously. Hearing her words, the girls began whispering to each other, but Lakshman was not listening. He was preoccupied by the full examination he was going through by his teacher. Finally, she stepped back and nodded at him in satisfaction. “All good. You can go and sit down, class is about to start,” she told him.
“R-Right…” Lakshman said hastily He quickly walked to the back of the room and sat down. Unslinging his bag, he placed it underneath the table while breathing a little quickly. He was surprised by her actions from earlier when she examined his body by touching and poking. The teacher sat down on her desk and said “Hello, class! My name is Belinha McKowen and welcome to Energy Theory. Now, for most classes, teachers would mark the role by calling out their names. Instead, I will mark the attendance by knowing each and every one of you person.” At her words, the students looked at each other in wonder. Then they faced the front as she continued speaking. “But before we got into it, are you all aware of Power Up and Elemental Glow?” she asked the class at large. When they nodded, she said “Good! So tell me… What are they?” A tentative hand rose into the hand and Lakshman saw it was the girl sitting in front of him. When Belinha gestured towards her, the student nervously said “Power Up is the release of energy and… Elemental Glow is… um… your glow, I think.” Belinha nodded at her and said “Good! That’s very good! Is there anyone want to take at answering?” She looked around at the class, but there was no reply. Lakshman decided not to answer because he did not want to get wrong and that seemed to be the case for most of them. She nodded at them and smiled knowingly. Then she grinned and said "The fact is…um… What’s your name, young lady who just spoke?” “S-Sarmila Mueller,” the girl said clearly. “Yes. Sarmila is right in saying what the Power Up is! It’s an energy that comes bursting forward from within you. Then it gets released in a surge of power and that’s when you surge with power! Now… That is also when Elemental Glow activates.” When the students nodded their heads at her in understanding, she said “Again, Sarmila is correct in saying that Elemental Glow is how you glow with power, but is that it? Elemental Glow is just a glow of energy? You shine like the stars at night? You might as well say ‘I’m a Super Star!’”
At her words, the girls chuckled and Lakshman smiled. He had a feeling that would be something his friend, Stuart, might say. At that moment, far away, Stuart sneezed and wondered whether someone thought of him. Once the chuckling died down, Belinha smiled and said “Elemental Glow is more than just a simple glow of light. It displays the nature of your power, your strength and beliefs. You can tell just by looking at the colour of their Elemental Glow. Take out your notebooks and copy these down.” With instructions given, the students bent down and took out their books and stationary equipment from their bags. Then they began taking down the notes that Belinha was writing on the black board with her finger. As he finger moves, writing magically began appearing on the black board. Red: Power To be the strongest Blue: Impatient Always strong, brave and reckless Green: Freedom Righteous beliefs and mind Gold: Justice Fights to protect and keep order Purple: Violent Constantly fighting, destroying and feeling negatively Once she finished writing them down, she turned around and looked at the student. Everyone was copying down the notes into their books in a manner of looking at the board, then write them down, then back at the board before turning back to their book. “There are more types of Elemental Glows, but we will only look at these basic ones. These are also the most commonly encountered Elemental Glow you will see,” she told them. Then she stopped talking and began to walk amongst them while looking at what they were writing down. She corrected a few mistakes in spelling and such, but she just observed her students while they took down the notes.
It took the students almost five minutes to note down what was written on the board. By then, Belinha had returned to the front of the desk. She clapped her hands energetically as the students put down their pens and looked at her expectantly. “Now we will do a quick demonstration of Power up and see the kind of Elemental Glow each of us will get,” she told them and the students became excited to get started. As the students eagerly waited to see what her next plan would be, she brought his hands up. She curled them into fists and tightened them as her expression became serious. Then, with a surge of power, she was surrounded by a blue aura. “As you can see, my Elemental Glow is blue because I’m a bit impatient and a bit quick to act,” Belinha said with a smile. The students watched with wide eyes as the fast wind caused their hairs to flow behind them. “Now it’s your turn to display your mighty Power Up and to see what kind of colour your Elemental Glow will be,” she said with a smile and the students nodded eagerly to do it.
Phoenix Rising Chapter 192 Energy Theory [Part II] “Now it’s your turn to use Power Up and see the kind of Elemental Glow that will appear for you,” their teacher, Belinha McKowen, said once she powered down and her glowing aura disappeared. All the female students got excited and only them. Being the male student and sitting at the back, Lakshman was not. He is happy to do it, but he was worried what might happen if he did. No one knew that he was a Phoenix Titan and, on top of that, they want him to do Power Up. “I think I might act sick and get out of here…” he muttered under his breath. He suddenly heard the Decisive Player tell him in his mind “Why?” “Decisive Player… I don’t think I can do this. The teacher’s asking me to do Power Up so we know what our individual Elemental Glow would be.” “You didn’t need to explain everything. Did you forget I’m always watching or that we were one and the same?” “No, I didn’t, but I’m worried doing it might hurt them.” “Then don’t go overboard like usual. Just doing it like you normally do when you spar with Stuart. It’s as easy as that.” “Ah! Okay. Now that I’m okay with doing.” Lakshman nodded his head in acceptance. Now he was okay with doing Power Up, but he still felt he should hold back a little. He did not want to do it fully in a way it will hurt the girls in the classroom. At that moment, their teacher was speaking and he concentrated on listening to what she said. “Before I get you to do it, I want you to write down what sort of colour you believe your aura will be. Whether it is red, blue, green, gold or purple… Just state what colour you would expect it to be.”
A student raised her hand and she asked “What if we expect more than one colour? Is that also possible?” Belinha nodded at her and said “It is possible. There have been many occurrences around the world of the Elemental Glow of people being more than one colour. Take Phoenix Titan for example… His aura is red and gold because of his pure power and sense of justice.” Lakshman was caught off guard by her words and accidentally gulped. This caused him to start coughing while clutching his chest. “Are you okay?” Belinha asked him and the girls turned to stare at him. “I-I’m fine!” Lakshman said firmly while looking nervously around at the girls. “That’s good. Now I’m going to walk around and I should see you written down what sort of Elemental Glow you would expect. I’m giving you… one minute! One minute should be more than enough to set your choice. Now start!” With the instructions given, the students began thinking. There were those that looked at the types of colours and tried to match it with their personalities and beliefs. A few had their eyes closed as they tried visualising what colour their aura will be. Other simply took a wild guess and wrote it down. Belinha walked around and checked what they had written. She stopped a few times and asked them what they think and then consulted with the people sitting around. It looked like she was getting them to think seriously about the kind of aura colour they should expect. Lakshman had already written down his colour on his page. He had written the colour red which he knows since he had used Power Up so many times in his short life, he was used to seeing the colour of his aura. However, it made him curious why he only had one aura colour while he had two whenever he transformed into the Phoenix Titan. “The Phoenix Titan is the entity of both power and justice and that is why your aura is red and gold,” the Decisive Player told Lakshman in his mind. “Then my red aura is mainly due to…?” “Come on… Do I have to do everything for you?” Lakshman chuckled and thought “My desire to be strong is mainly why it’s red, but for the Phoenix Titan, it’s more than just power… Responsibility!”
He heard the Decisive Player clapping in his mind as he said “Well done! You’ve finally graduated from being a person with a kid’s brain to a teenager’s brain!” “Knock that off, Decisive Player. I’m just a bit confused about the Elemental Glow. That’s all.” “Well my dear Innocent Player… It took the first Phoenix Titan less time to realise it than it took you to finally recognise the fact that you were the Phoenix Titan all along…” “Seriously… Are you planning on arguing with me about that now?” At that, the Decisive Player laughed. Lakshman shook his head, but he smiled anyway. The Decisive Player kept reminding him of the time that it took Lakshman to realise his powers and know his destiny. “Anyway, thanks for the advice. I know what I have to do.” To that, the Decisive Player only laughed happily. Just then, Belinha reached the back row where he sat. He was the only one who sat at the back row as she walked over to him. When she bent her head down to read the colour of the aura he predicted, she was amazed. “You believe your aura will be red?” she asked him curiously. He nodded and said “I am confident it is because I want to be the strongest I could possibly be, ma’am.” She nodded in understanding and, with a smile, said “Good goal.” Then she straightened up and walked back to the front to address all the students. It looked like the one minute was finally up and she has decided it was time. The students noticed her standing at the front with her arms crossed while looking at them. They took this as a sign that she wanted their attention. After facing the front and going quiet, Belinha smiled and said “I’ve gone around and saw many people have put down different things. There were even some that had options from one to five and, I must say, that is quite interesting.” At her words, the girls chuckled while a few smiled in embarrassment. Then Belinha laughed and said “Anyway! Now I will start by selecting students, one by one, from left to right of each row. I want you to come up here and stand where I am, right here. Then introduce yourself so we know who you are and then you can do Power Up. Do you agree?”
“Yes!” the students said in resounding voices. It looked like they were quite happy with the plan Belinha came up with. “Okay! Without further ado, let’s get the first person up to the front,” she said and she indicated towards the girl sitting in the first row to the left. The girl appeared to be surprised and she smiled grinned as she rose to her feet. Belinha walked over to the side to sit down as the girl walked to stand at the front of the room. The girl was nervous at having so many eyes staring at her, but she smiled nevertheless. Belinha took up a seating position at the side on a chair and said “Don’t be nervous. Just talk easily and introduce yourself; who are you and what colour you expect your aura to be.” “Y-Yes,” the girl said and she nodded at her teacher. Then she faced her classmates and said “My name is Stacy Markwell and I think my aura colour will be blue.” “Good,” Belinha said in satisfaction while nodding her head. Then she said “Go for it.” Stacy nodded at Belinha and she closed her eyes. For a moment, nothing happened as everyone looked at her. She was clenching his fists tightly while shaking slightly. Then her eyes flashed open and she suddenly began to surge with power and a fast wind was sent in all directions. Everyone were able to quickly recover from the initial shock of the strong wind hitting them. They turned to face the front and were surprised to see Stacy surrounded by a blue aura. It was glowing as energy flowed around her while the wind blew strongly in the classroom. “Wow! You were right on! You really are radiating in blue aura!” Belinha said before she and the class clapped their approval at her correct choice of the colour. Then Belinha asked “Why did you choose blue would be it? What was your reasoning behind it?” Stacy looked towards her and said “My parents would often say that I’m cute and nice, but often impact when things don’t get done quickly. Additionally, I believe I did a few silly things and I keep on doing them which makes it look like I’m reckless.” As everyone chuckled, Belinha smiled and said “Everyone has gone through that growing phase in their lives and that also includes our parents. So don’t feel ashamed of the past. Embrace it and you will keep getting better!” “Thank you, miss,” Stacy said with a smile.
Stacy then began to breathe easily and she powered down. Once the glowing light disappeared, she breathed a sigh of relief. Then she walked over to her desk and sat down while breathing quickly to catch her breath. This was because of her nervousness and the sudden loss of energy. “Alright! Next!” Belinha said and she selected the next student to come up. Like a repeating cycle, Belinha would select the next student sitting beside the just finished student. When they reached the end of row, she would return her gaze back to the left. Then she would continue the cycle from the next row onward. Lakshman watched the girls go up and sit down to demonstrate their Power Up. Some of the girls were quite strong and would cause the entire room to get buffeted by really strong winds. This caused many to desperately lean against their desks and put their heads down to defend themselves. Everyone was having a go at the demonstration which was taking a slow progress. He was not complaining one bit about it because he got to see the kind of auras his classmates had. Most of them radiated in blue or green aura while a few radiated in red aura. Then it was princess Venezuela’s turn and everyone was eager to see her Elemental Glow. They were marvelled by how beautiful she appeared as golden aura surrounded her. Due to her beauty, she looked like an angel descended from the skies above to most people. “I am princess Venezuela Sargold of the Floria Kingdom. I am uncertain, but I believe my aura will be gold.” With that, she activated Power Up and instantly the wind blew even faster than before. The surge of power around her was immense as compared with those that came before her. Then she began to radiate with energy and she was surrounded by a golden aura. Looking at her, the girls were stunned into silence. They stared at her with wide eyes and their mouths hanging. Then they began to whisper the same thing amongst each other. “A-An angel… has come…” “An angel is standing in front of us…” “Look at her… She’s an angel…” “An angel…”
“Angel…” Lakshman heard the girls whispering in awe at the sight of Venezuela surrounded by golden aura. He looked closer and that was when he noticed how the glowing light was casting winged shapes around her. “Mmm… Looks like an angel to me…” he muttered in a wondering voice. “What are you thinking? The aura of Angels is white,” he heard the Decisive Player tell him in his mind. “Really? Why’s that?” “It’s because the Angel race are the so called Messengers of God and are often referred to purity due to how pure their powers are. You can say the same for their wings since it shows us the kind of Angel they are.” “Wow…! I wonder if I will get to meet an Angel in the future…” Lakshman thought wishfully. “Don’t worry. You will meet them when the time is right.” Lakshman smiled and looked at the princess. He had to admit she really appeared to be an angel due to the golden aura surrounding her. The streaming going out looked like energy wings, but he knew she was not part of the Angel race. Nearly half-an-hour later, it was finally his turn. The girl sitting at the far end of the row in front of him just returned. Sensing the gaze of his teacher, he looked at her and she smiled at him. “The last and final, the only boy to make his last entrance. If you could come to the front please,” Belinha asked him politely. “Uh…” Lakshman moaned as he rose to his feet. He wondered if the Decisive Player will help, but he no longer sensed him. It looked like he had returned to his deepest part of Lakshman’s mind to watch while resting. This made Lakshman feel a little lonely and an object to be stared at. While walking to the front, he looked around and noticed all the girls looking at him. Just then, he noticed princess Venezuela smile at him. Then she mouthed the words “Go for it,” before showing him a thumps-up gesture with both of her hands.
Although he was momentarily surprised, he smiled back and nodded in thanks. If her intention was to make him feel confident, then it certainly worked. Lakshman suddenly felt a surge of strong feeling in his hands and legs as he walked to the front of the room. Once he reached the front and turned around, Belinha smiled at him. Even from sitting there, she could see how strong he appeared beneath the clothes that he wore. Astral Academy did not force students to wear uniforms nor did it give them any. So he was wearing the usual clothes he wore which his mother enlarged due to her Magical Knitting skills. As all the girls looked at him, Belinha said “Now it’s time to see what the only boy in the class will do. Show us, boy.” Lakshman found it funny how she called him ‘boy’ even though he understood she used that term because she did not know his name. He looked at her and nodded before saying “Yes, ma’am.” He turned to the face his class. The eyes of all girls were on him and they waited expectantly. Many of them still were cautious of him and their thoughts will be confirmed by the colour of his Elemental Glow. Lakshman smiled confidently and said “Hi, all. My name is Lakshman Reddy and I am confident my aura will be red with power!”
Phoenix Rising Chapter 193 Energy Theory [End] “Before I begin, I’d like to say that I’m not boastful, prideful or arrogant. Additionally, I am no loser that many of you might be thinking of me right now. So please… Give me a break, okay.” The class was stunned by his words and he could see it. Lakshman saw their eyes widen slightly in surprise in reaction to his words. He spoke the truth, but it was also something he wanted the class to know; he was not a pushover. Belinha looked impressed by his speech. Then she chuckled and said “Alright. You made your point, but can prove it?” “Excuse me?” Lakshman asked when he turned to face her. “I don’t know if you realise, but many of the girls here are waiting for you. They will make up their minds by what they see. If you are a lecherous sort of person, your aura will be purple because that is negative thoughts. If you are like that, you never convince them with no amount of words you come up with.” She gestured towards the class of girls facing the front. Lakshman looked and he saw narrowed eyes and suspicious expressions on their faces. Then he sighed and resolved to the one thing he knew will blow all that away. “Okay then. I will prove myself with my Power Up and Elemental Glow!” Lakshman said fiercely. In an instant, he curled his hands into fists and clenched them tightly. As he exerted his power, he gritted his teeth as the wind blew faster and faster around the room. Very soon, the wind was blowing wildly and the students had to desperately hold onto their desks. As he exerted his power, Lakshman screamed “AAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!” The entire classroom full of students were shocked by the power Lakshman was unleashing. It was much strong and more powerful than princess Venezuela. Even their teacher was staring at him with eyes of disbelief. Belinha widened her eyes and muttered “No way…!”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!” Lakshman screamed with raging power from within. Suddenly, there was a burst of energy which caused the wind to blow hard. The girls screamed as they felt themselves pushed to the back of the room by the sheer force of the wind and energy. Next thing they knew, the windows began to rattle before smashing into pieces. The walls began to crack and rubble began to fall to the ground. This created more noise along with the screams of the students. Far away, in the principal’s office room, Carmela Chaikin was busily working on a pile of paper. She had her hand on her forehead with a dull expression on her face. It looked like she was not enjoying the paper work any better than sitting there all day in front of her desk. She put away a paper to the side and just about to pick another when she suddenly felt something. There was a sudden surge of energy from somewhere. It was a powerful energy that she had never felt before and it caused her to worry. “I don’t remember feeling this kind of power before,” she muttered when she ruled out the possibility of it being teachers. Then something clicked into her mind. On his second day, he had demonstrated how powerful he was by destroying ten King ranked Barrier Spells, a heavy replica statue and the side of an arena. She wondered if this strong power source was coming from him. “Only one way to check,” she muttered and she closed her eyes to feel the location of the energy source. Then she nodded her head and said “Okay. Warp 3SB!” In an instant, she was warped out of the seat she was sitting out. Moments later, she warped directly outside the classroom. Her eyes widened at the sudden shock of feeling the strong power. Gritting her teeth and with a determined expression on her face, she walked forward and slid the door open. When she stepped in, she was startled to see there was dust inside the room. It slowly settled and revealed chairs and desks in disarray. There were students slowly getting up while coughing because of the dust. She was also alarmed to see that the windows were smashed and the glass lying on the ground. “W-What the hell happened here?!” she demanded in a loud voice.
Just then, the dust cleared at the front and the view became clearer. There was a tall person standing there radiating in red aura with a firm expression on his face. She looked at him and thought “As I thought…! It was you!” Lakshman radiated in pure red aura which was glowing around him. Then he noticed the principal standing near the entrance and he smiled at her. “Hello, principal. It’s good to see you,” he said brightly. “Don’t hello me! Explain yourself!” Carmela said in an annoyed voice. She gestured at the mess and asked “What happened here? Did you attack the class or something?” “Eh?! No, no! Not at all!” Lakshman said and he quickly waved his hands defensively. Then he gestured towards them and said “I just used Power Up to activate my Elemental Glow and… yeah. Looks like things got messy because I went a little overboard by mistake.” “A little overboard by mistake? This is no mistake…!” Carmela said and she pointed at the wrecked classroom. Then she walked towards the students and asked “Is everyone alright? Does anyone need medication attention?” “Not really, no. We are fine thanks to how the desks seemed to land directly in front of us. It was as if the desks were trying to shield us against Lakshman’s mighty power surge!” Belinha said as she rose to her feet and dusted her clothes. Then she looked at Lakshman and said “I didn’t expect you to be so strong!” Lakshman shrugged his shoulders and said “I did tell you I’m not one who is boastful, prideful or arrogant. At the same time, I think I did a little too much damage… hmm… Let me fix it up.” “Huh? What are you talking about?” Carmila asked him quizzically. “I caused the mess so I should clean it up,” Lakshman told her and his energy surged forth. “Seriously? Don’t say you can fix this level of damage! The wall’s cracked, the windows smashed and the desks are broken. Along with that, there are a lot of girls with wounds not quick enough to escape.” Lakshman did not say anything. Instead, he just smiled as his energy began to surge around him. Then he stretched his arms out to both ends of the room and said “Reparus.” In an instant, the broken shards of glass glowed brightly. Then they magically lifted into the air and began to reattach themselves to the window frames. The cracks in the walls began to
mend themselves. Even the desks got lifted into the air and flew back to where they stood previously. Once all was done, the room looked like it was back to normal. He turned his attention to the girls who were wounded. He stretched his right hand out and said “Healing Harmony.” In an instant, a strange sort of wind began to breeze through the wind. It was smooth, soft and felt nice as it touched the people within the room. As the wind touched the skin where the students were bleeding from, the skin began to mend itself. It regrew the torn skin until there was no blood and the skin looked unharmed. “There you go. No more injuries,” Lakshman said with a smile on his as he dropped his hands to his side. He was right. All the damage done was repaired in a matter of seconds. Even the injures the students sustained appeared to have healed without a scar at all. They were astonished by how easily he handled everything and made it look easy. While they remained silent, Carmila walked up to him. She was looking at him with narrowed eyes full of suspicion. He, on the other hand, was smiling back, but was curious why she was standing so close to him. “W-Who are you?” she asked him finally. Lakshman looked surprised by her question. Then his smile widened as he said “I’m a King ranked magician and King ranked swordsman.” “What?!” The entire class, full of girls, exclaimed in shock. They could not believe he was a King ranked warrior when they were mostly Sage ranked. The students were aware of the difficult track leading to the King ranked and knew it cannot be achieved through easy means. “Are you serious?” a student asked him in a voice full of disbelief. He turned his head to look at her and smiled as he said “I am serious.” “Then what’s your proof?” she demanded quickly. “Well… Let’s see. I was trained to master the North Sword Style and Water Sword Style by the Sword King, Darian Ronald. Then I was trained in the hand-to-hand combat by the Money King,
Rumb- I mean, Hanuman Monkaggy. On top of that, I was also trained to use various different kinds of skills by the Phoenix Emperor, Felix Phorn and the Death Titan, Sevedant.” Everyone in the room became silent while staring at him with wide eyes. They could hardly believe that he was trained by the Sword King, Monkey King and the Phoenix Emperor. If that was not enough, the knowledge that the Death Titan, who was ranked the fifth strongest within the Nine Pillars of Power, trained him was utterly shocking. “The Sword King… The Monkey King… The Phoenix Emperor… And… The Death Titan? What?!” Carmila exclaimed in a voice full of shock. “If you’re trained by them and are already that strong, then why bother coming here?” Belinha asked curiously. Lakshman shrugged his shoulders and said “They believed my combat training has finished and it’s time I start my mental training. That’s why Felix got me to join Astra Academy to learn knowledge and various other things.” “D-Did you just call the Phoenix Emperor b-by his name…?” a student asked and Lakshman nodded at her. They could not believe it. Everyone around the world referred to Felix Phoron by his rank which also happens to be his title. They did not dare try to get close to him due to how he handles people when they tried to trick him. It was also because of his incredible power that caused people to begin to fear him and began calling him respectfully by his name. As the silence stretched on, Carmila looked at Lakshman and asked “Wait… Does that mean you’re…?” Whatever it was she was about to ask got drowned by a loud ringing of bell from outside. It was the bell signalling the end of lesson and Lakshman was quite glad to hear it. He gestured towards the sound and said “Ah. It’s the bell which means the lesson has ended! See you all in the evening when we have Magic Theory lesson!” Then he pushed past them and reached the back of the room. Then he slung his bag over his shoulders. Before anyone could say a word, he said “Warp!” Lakshman waved at them as farewell and he was warped out of the classroom. He left sixteen students in silence, a teacher who was looking impressed and a principal with a suspicious expression on her face.
Later, word spread quickly about the fact that Lakshman was a King ranked warrior. The entire academy was ringing buzzing with excitement as they conversed with each other about it. “Did you hear?” “About what?” “About Lakshman?” “Oh yeah! He’s a King ranked warrior, right?” “That’s right! They say he got trained under the Sword King, the Monkey King, the Phoenix Emperor and the Death Titan!” “Seriously?!” “Really?!” “That’s amazing!” “Ah! It’s that kid whom we thought was a lecherous pervert!” “Oh him? What happened?” “I heard he demolished an entire classroom!” “Seriously?!” “Did he destroy it utterly?” “I don’t think so, but guess what? He repaired it using King ranked magic techniques!” “Wow! He’s really amazing!” “Yeah… I want to meet him…” “They say he looks pretty handsome and lives alone at the boy’s dormitory.” “You know we can’t go there… Can we?” “Who knows, but we should go to see him later.”
“Yeah, later! I really want to know about him!” “Let’s find out about him!” “Let’s do it!” Since then, Lakshman kept running into girls wanting to talk to him. At first, he was okay with it, but soon it became tiresome and he escaped to the shelter of his dormitory. Due to the same barrier applied over his dormitory, the girls stayed away. Although he was relieved, it still made him feel partially sad because it meant Ondine, Tetra, Emilia and Cantia would cannot visit him. One time he slept fitfully while dreaming strange and vibrant colours swirling around him. The images of Ondine, Tetra, Emilia and Cantia kept appearing in his mind and they always appeared to be in trouble. He would wake up to find that he was still in his room and realise it was just a bad dream. Lakshman was not alone in the night. When all the energy crystals go out, the room became dark. That was when a shadowy figure would come out and continuously gaze at the sleeping form of Lakshman. This figure would watch Lakshman silently through white glowing eyes in the dark. Even while asleep, Lakshman felt its presence, but he always thought it was his imagination. However, one day, he decided to pretend to be asleep so that he can catch whoever it was. So he went to bed in the night three days after struggling to escape from the nonstop questioning girls. That night, he felt the presence of the figure appear. He knew it was no human because he could not hear the sound of footsteps. Whatever it was, it hovered over him and silently watched him sleeping. It did not know yet that he was pretending to be asleep. He was waiting for the right timing to capture whatever it was. Then he suddenly wondered if it was just the wind breezing through the windows in the night. He ruled out that possibility because he could not feel the wind in the room at all. Just then, he felt something touch his cheek. He thought it was the touch of a hand, but it was cold and it caused him to shiver slightly. Then he heard the voice of a girl sadly say “So young… So handsome… Makes me sad…”
Lakshman was surprised to know that it could speak and was referring to him sadly. Then something watery hit his face and he realised the girl was silently crying while looking at him. He suddenly felt a rush of annoyance because someone was crying while silently looking at him. He quickly raised his left hand and grabbed the girl’s arm tightly. “Kyaa!” The girl, shocked by him suddenly grabbing her arm, let out a girly cry. Lakshman quickly opened his eyes and stared up. He was surprised to find himself staring at the glowing of two dots. It confused him because he certainly could feel the girl’s arm that he tightly gripped. The next moment, there was blinding flash of light from above. He quickly covered his eyes, but he still tried to look up. Then both of his eyes widened in awe as the light slowly surrounded something above him. Then, as if something was blooming, the light disintegrated into tiny specs and revealed a sliver haired cute looking woman floating above him. Lakshman stared up at the girl that glowed brightly in the room full of darkness. The girl looked down at him and was as equally amazed as him. Then Lakshman found his voice and he tentatively asked “W-Who are you…?” The girl blinked in surprise at his question. She could not believe that he could see her or the fact that she had appeared in her human form. It did not make sense and it made her very curious. She looked down at Lakshman who had an expression of amazement mixed with awe. Then she remembered him asking her a question. So she gestured at herself with her other hand in response to his question. “Me?” she asked him. When he nodded his head at her, she smiled and said “I’m Spectra. I’m a ghost.”
Phoenix Rising Chapter 194 Ghost Story Lakshman looked up at the girl hovering over him. She was glowing in the darkness that covered the rest of his room. He had just captured her when she was crying, caressing his face and hovering him all the time. He narrowed his eyes at the introduction the girl gave him. She called herself Spectra and stated that she was a ghost. He understood her name part, but was confused about her being a ghost. “Did you say… you’re a ghost?” he asked to make sure he really did hear it correctly. Spectra nodded and said “I sure am. Do you doubt me?” “Uh… It’s nothing to doubt, but… hmm…” Lakshman said and faltered while thinking. He widened his eyes and thought about something. In an instant, he sat up in bed and this caused Spectra to float out of the way. Then she followed him as he looked at the book underneath the Crystal Clock. He took a quick glance it and was surprised to see that it was just one-ten in the morning. Even though it was so early, he felt wide awake, but he smiled because he did not sleep in the first place. The reason for him not falling asleep was to catch the person that was keeping him company in the dark which turned out to be the ghost girl. Concentrating on the book he took from the bed side table, he read the title aloud. “Encyclopaedia, a Discovery!” “That’s a strange title,” Spectra commented as he opened the book as she floated to look at it. He did not think of turning the energy crystals back on to lighten the room as he swept through the pages. It was because of how bright the girl was. The light emitting from her glowing was bright enough to let him look at the book and read its contents properly. “Ghost, ghost, ghost, ghost… Ah!” he said finally when he finally found the page he was looking for.
He just turned into a page with the title Ghosts on it. He skimmed through the page and skipped a few content that he felt were unnecessary; discovery, history and locations. “Here we go!” he said and his gaze came to a stop. Then he said “How to react when you meet a ghost?” He looked through the content and read aloud “When you see a ghost, scream like a little girl and run away as fast as your legs can carry…?” Lakshman looked at the book with a surprised expression on his face. Then he slammed the book shut and angrily said “What a crap load of rubbish! I can’t do that! It’s embarrassing!” Seeing him getting angry and hearing such words made Spectra laugh. She clutched her stomach and laughed really hard. He looked up at her with his eyebrows raised. “What’s so funny?” he asked her curiously. “Uh… Uh… Embarrassment… That’s quite funny…!” she managed to say while clutching her stomach as she tried to contain her laughter. “It is! I’m a boy and if I scream like a little girl, it’s… it’s… it’s… d-disgraceful! ” Finally managing to calm down, Spectra floated around and said “Oh I’m sure you’ll be surprised by how many ‘little girls’ exist inside man.” Lakshman shook his head and asked “Why would they be afraid of ghosts? I mean, look at me! I’m not afraid!” Spectra chuckled and said “Let me guess… You never met a ghost besides me, correct?” When he slowly nodded, she smiled widely and said “Ah! That makes sense.” “So what makes ghosts so scary?” “Well, you see… Ghosts are… scary!” In an instant, she rushed at him at high speed and made a scary face. It normally would have made anyone to freak out, but Lakshman kept his cool. In fact, he only blinked in surprise as he stared into her scary face. “Um… I’m not scared…” he said slowly.
She sighed and hovered as she said “I can see that and you’re not the only one. There are those that are really strong in the heart and rarely weaver at all. You’re not one of those types, but your heart is really strong against surprises, whether good or nasty.” “I’m not sure. I’ve been surprised many times, but just not at things like these,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders and he put the book away. Spectra laughed and said “You’re a funny one. In fact, you are the first person whom I ever spoken to while in this room.” “Really? How come? Don’t you have anyone to talk to?” She shook her head and said “I never did, not since I died here.” At those words, Lakshman’s eyes widened in surprise. He slowly pointed around at the room and asked “You don’t mean…?” She nodded at him and said “That’s right. I died in this very room.” Lakshman gasped in surprise and sadly said “I’m sorry for your loss…” Spectra shrugged her shoulders and said “That was over hundred years ago and I’m sure I’m forgotten by now!” Lakshman looked at her in surprise. Then his eyes narrowed suspiciously and he asked “Don’t tell me… The reason boys don’t attend Astra Academy was… because of you?” Spectra had been gliding around the room when she suddenly did a ridiculous flip in the air when she heard his words. It looked like he had hit the mark as she quickly recovered before hovering again. “I-I don’t know what y-you’re talking about! Why would I b-bother scaring boys away?” she asked while looking really nervous. It was a bad act and it certainly did not work on Lakshman. Looking at her fidgeting with her fingers while floating around nervously, he realised why she had done it. Spectra had spent a long time in this place and all alone so she wanted to play, but the visitors got scared instead. Because of it, no men dared to enter Astral Academy due to the fear of the ghost haunting the boy’s dormitory. So she got unintentionally got rid of the boys and felt lonely with no one to play with.
Thinking in those lines, Lakshman looked up at Spectra. She was flying around the room while glowing brightly. Seeing her happy expression, he wondered how old she was. Just then, a question popped up in his mind and he asked her about it. “Why did you die here when this is the boy’s dormitory?” Spectra stopped gliding around and floated down to look at him. She wore a sad expression on her face as she said “Yes, it is, but I definitely would be here because… I was killed here.” Lakshman’s eyes widened in shock and he spluttered “Y-Y-You were k-killed?! Wait! That means you were murdered!” Spectra nodded her head dully and said “That’s right. I was killed in this room a hundred years ago. Authorities tried to investigate the culprit, but it was no good. They could not see me or hear me and, because of that, people though the mansion was haunted whenever I used my powers to try and talk to them.” “M-Must’ve been awful…” Lakshman said sadly and she nodded her head in agreement. Silence fell between them and it stretched into minutes. Spectra floated into the air and began to slowly glide around the room. He watched her gliding around smoothly in the air and he smiled. It was broken when Lakshman, out of curiosity, asked “How were you killed? Do you remember?” Spectra looked at him with a surprised expression on her face. Then she asked “A-Are you sure you want to listen? Don’t you have school tomorrow?” Lakshman said “Pft! Screw school! I want to listen to your ghost story!” Surprised at his desire to hear her story than attend school tomorrow, she smiled and said “You really are a strange one.” Spectra took a deep breath and began to retell her story in a monologue style. “A hundred years ago, I was known as Spectra Palamore. I was a Phintex Raja from the Phoenix Clan at that time. Back then, strange occurrences were happening around here at the boy’s dormitory. Boys were disappearing randomly and, out of the blue, suddenly reappear a week later with no memory.” Lakshman had widened in his eyes in shock as he listened to her continue retelling her story.
“The Phoenix Emperor, Felix Phoron, got worried and ordered a few of the Phintex Rajas to investigate. So we did under his orders and arrived at this academy on a day it was closed. We began our investigation by searching through the entire school. None of my group members found any leads to the problem.” “Unlike my comrades, I had a special sword; it was a Sacred Spirit!” she said and Lakshman was amazed. She smiled and said “It was a powerful sword which I believe is equally as powerful as the Phoenix Blade.” “Oh wow…! That’s amazing!” “It is. So I used my sword and activated it to feel the flow of the twistedness. It’s the darkness that has been corrupted by a force we don’t know or understand,” she explained to him. Lakshman nodded in understanding. He had faced such a thing before when Felix was being corrupted and the corrupted darkness when the Demon Emperor attacked them. “So by following the senses, I arrived at this building… alone.” “Huh?! You came alone?!” Lakshman exclaimed incredulously. When she looked embarrassed, he asked “What were you thinking coming alone like that?” She shrugged her shoulders and said “I was pretty confident with my fighting skills. On top of that, I had my Sacred Spirit with me to help me out.” “Unbelievable…” Lakshman said quietly as he shook his head in disbelief. Spectra coughed and said “A-Anyway…! After coming here, I looked around the building. I admired how beautifully it was constructed and all, but there was nothing more to it. Then I began searching the ground floor and I eventually came to this floor.” “While going around, I felt a strange aura drifting from this room. So I entered to check it out. It was pretty dark so I used my used Flash Balls to cover the room in light. The room looked just like today, although a bit older due to how it was decorated so long ago.” Lakshman nodded at her words. He understood since he was not even born a hundred years ago. “I began using Mind Space to feel the vibrations of the room and felt something nasty. It was indeed twisted darkness emanating from within the room…” she said and hesitated. Then she
shrugged her shoulders and said “Well… It was coming from under the bed. So I shifted the bed and, to my surprise, I found a Teleportation Circle etched on the floor.” “Eh? A Teleportation Magic Circle? Beneath my bed?” Lakshman asked and he looked at his bed. “It’s not there anymore, but it was there at that time. It had a strange design to it, but it was releasing a dark aura that made me feel cold,” she said and she suddenly shuddered for a moment. There was silence for a few seconds before Lakshman asked “Then what happened?” Spectra looked at him and said “Then everything went black.” “What?” “I couldn’t see anymore and I couldn’t feel anything. It was a strange feeling as if I was going away, far away from here… The next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground. I thought I had fallen asleep until I noticed my body lying next to me.” Her expression became dark and her face became serious as she said “My body was brutally stabbed to death. That’s when I realised I was killed and I had been turned into a ghost.” “N-No way…! To attack from behind… No! To actually kill a woman is… ugh…!” Lakshman said and he was very angry as he punched his bed. Spectra shrugged her shoulders and said “It couldn’t be helped. My own foolish pride in my strength got me killed. It even caused my Sacred Spirit to blame herself because of that incident.” “Eh? It blamed itself? Why?” Lakshman asked in a surprised voice. “She blamed herself in thinking it was her fault that I had died. Blaming herself continuously for not being alert enough, she dung herself deep underground and sealed herself there.” “Eh?! She’s underground!?” Lakshman exclaimed in shock. When Spectra nodded, he looked at the ground and muttered “That’s basically like digging your way to the bottom of the ground.” He looked at her and asked “How deep did she dig herself down to?”
Spectra shrugged her shoulders and said “When I used my Zoom Eyes… Eyes that allows the wielder to see further ahead than what you can see through normal eyes,” she explained at seeing Lakshman’s puzzled expression. When he nodded in understanding, she continue and said “When I zoomed my eyes into the ground, I saw that she was stabbed into a ground that she turned into some sort of home. A sort of temple if you want to call it.” “Ah!” Lakshman said and he nodded at her. With that, he finally understood Spectra’s tragic death. He also understood something else that Spectra did not mention. “Since then, you’ve been trying to find a new master for your Sacred Spirit, right?” he asked and he smiled knowingly. Spectra raised both of her eyebrows in amazement. Then she chuckled and said “I was. After my death, the incident stopped occurring and boys began to return to Astral Academy. I had hoped to try and get them to listen to me, but I was unable to because of being a ghost. Soon after, boys stopped coming and the dormitory became known as a place haunted by a ghost.” She looked sad and disappointed at how things turned out to be. Lakshman looked at her without an expression on his face. He knew that ghosts only stay attached to their world so long as they continue to have regrets. Without the desire of revenge, all Spectra regretted was for her sword to seal herself below the ground because of her death. At that moment, Lakshman suddenly heard the Decisive Player tell him in his mind “Help her out. I’m sure it will please her and make you feel happy as well.” “You sure? She is a ghost and if she’s trapped here then… she won’t be able to leave the room at all…!” “So what? You’re the Phoenix Titan! The laws of nature will bend to your will if you try! Go ahead and make her happy so that she can finally pass onto the next realm.” “If you’re so sure about it, I’m not going to hesitate either!” Lakshman looked at the sad looking Spectra and said “Don’t worry! I’ll help out!” “Eh?” Spectra said and she blinked at him in surprise. Then she asked “How do you think you will help? I can’t leave this room at all and you don’t know the kind of person can acquire the Sacred Spirit.”
Lakshman grinned at her and said “Leave it to me! I’ll find way!” “By how? Guessing?” she asked and he laughed at hearing those words. Just then, he yawned as he felt drowsy. It looked like the ghost story and talking for so long finally made him feel sleepy. So he decided he will deal with this the next morning after waking up early for his morning training. “Anyway, I-I-I’ll see you tomorrow m-m-morning, Spectra,” he said while yawning. “Alright then. I’ll see you in the morning,” she said and she winked at him. She slowly rose into the air and flew off towards the cupboard. He was surprised to see her pass through the doors and disappear inside. It looked like she had taken residence there which caused Lakshman to chuckle. Lakshman was just about to sleep when he suddenly remembered something. He sat up and asked “Hey, Spectra?” Spectra poked her head out and asked “What is it?” “You still haven’t told me the name of your Sacred Spirit.” Spectra looked surprised and said “Oh.” Then she smiled and said “She is known as the Sacred Spirit to be as powerful as the Phoenix Blade wielded by the Phoenix Titan. She is known as the Demon Slayer by the name Zemitra Nagety Sekegez Zema Foridos.”
Phoenix Rising Chapter 195 Morning Clarification On the thirty-five of the month of Aporos, eight-thousand-and-ninety-seven PX, Lakshman woke up in the morning. He felt bleary eyed and really tired while yawning a lot. This was due to him waking up at five-twenty in the morning. Just last night, he had discovered the existence of a ghost called Spectra. She was apparently killed in that room and, since then, became trapped there. Spectra was unable to pass onto the next realm because of her regret about her Sacred Spirit, the Demon Slayer sword, seal itself beneath the school grounds. So she had been attempting to find a new master for the Sacred Spirit, but people got scared and never came back due to her being a ghost. “It still makes me wonder how I can see her in her true form unlike so many others,” Lakshman muttered as he got out of bed. He walked into the bathroom and brushed his teeth cleanly. As per his raising, he brushed his teeth for two minutes before rinsing his mouth. Then he walked out of the bathroom and saw Spectra floating around with a sleepy expression on her face. “Good morning!” he greeted her brightly. “Yes, morning,” she replied in a dull voice. He chuckled and said “You need to cheer up! It’s pretty early in the morning to sound so dull!” She shrugged her shoulders and said “I’m a ghost. No matter what time it is, it’ll be the same thing for me.” Shaking his head at her, he walked over to the cupboard. He took out his training clothes and thought about changing into them. It had been more than three days since he trained and he was worried. He was told to constantly train, otherwise he will lose his edge. So it worried him that he might have become weaker since three days of not training. At that moment, there was a knock on his door and he said “Open.”
His room door automatically opened and a woman was found standing outside. She was the receptionist from down below who looked after the building. The woman walked in while looking around before smiling when she looked at him. “I’ve come for the laundry,” she said and he immediately understood. Every three days, the ladies come to each room to pick up laundry. Then they safely deliver it to the owner’s room safely. Lakshman actually had no idea about this until yesterday when he went down for dinner the ladies informed him. He was also not sure how they deliver it when the door is closed, but he guessed they would have some other way of doing it. The woman walked to the basket inside the bathroom that Lakshman indicated. After taking the basket full of laundry, she bid him goodbye and left the room. “The services here are really good!” Lakshman said happily. Then he turned to see Spectra looking at the door. Curious, he asked “What’s up?” She looked at him and said “She didn’t even notice me just now. It looked like I wasn’t even in the room!” Lakshman wore a puzzled expression on his face as he said “What’s wrong about that? Isn’t that a good thing that she didn’t notice you and then run screaming out of here?” Spectra chuckled and said “Although that sounds bad, I’ll accept it as a good thing for now.” “Right. Anyway, I need to change and I need light. Lights On!” With the command said aloud, the energy crystals magically began to shine around the room. Very soon, the darkness in the room lifted and it was lit as bright as day. Lakshman was just about to take off his shirt when he noticed something odd. “Um… Aren’t you supposed to be transparent?” he asked when he saw that Spectra was solid looking, even with all the light. “Huh? What do you mean?” she asked him with a confused expression on her face. “You know… Ghosts are transparent… right?” “That’s true, but… I have the form of my body and, on top of that, I look solid like real human. So yeah… I have no explanations for why.” “Mmm… Let’s see if he knows…” he muttered to himself.
In his mind, he said “Decisive Player? Decisive Player? Are you there?” Lakshman felt the presence of the Decisive Player, but he was not responding. He knew there was only one reason why he would not be responding to him right now. “He’s asleep…” he said with a sigh. “Who’s asleep?” Spectra asked him curiously. “Ah. Never mind. Anyway, I need to change into my training clothes,” he told her. She nodded and said “Right, got it. I’ll hide until you finished changing.” She flew into the other door of the cupboard and disappeared. Lakshman chuckled and quickly changed into his training clothes. These were clothes Lakshman normally would not wear, but it was something Felix had given him for his birthday. It came along with the books and stuff that Felix had his people deliver to Lakshman on the day he was hospitalised. “Mmm…! Nice fit. Okay! All done!” Spectra slowly poked her head out of the cupboard door. Seeing him in those clothes, she smiled and said “Very interesting design.” Lakshman, who had walked over to put his School ID Card into his pocket, turned around and smiled at her. “Thanks! Now let’s go do training,” he said energetically. “Alright. Have a good one,” she wished him with a smile. He was about to warp out when he looked at her in surprise. Then he said “What are you doing? You’re coming too!” She looked surprised and asked “Huh? What are you talking about?” “You should train with me. Come on! It’ll be fun!” “Look… uh… Lakshman, was it? I don’t think I, a ghost, can even like this. Also, please don’t forget that I’m trapped in this room. There’s no way I can get out!”
“That’s no problem,” Lakshman said and he grabbed her hand. He smiled at her and said “Hold on tight because this teleportation technique is stupid.” “W-What are you…?” Spectra asked as she tried to break free. At that moment, he said “Warp to arena.” With a feeling of being sucked into something, they warped out of the room. The next moment, they appeared in a place with a huge building in front of them. They were standing in front of the arena where they usually do training exercises. He liked how big and strong it looked even though it was not as big and glorious looking as the colosseum located outside of the capital. “T-This is… the wind… This is the open air… This is the sunlight… Wow… Wow…! I’m outside… I’m outside! Wow!” Spectra was really happy as she looked around at the outside world. She had been trapped in that room for a hundred years and never saw the outside world again. That was until now and she was so happy, she began soaring through the air while laughing happily. Lakshman smiled at how happy she appeared. Then he walked towards the arena which had four guards blocking the entrance. “Identify yourself,” they told him with their spears barring his way. Lakshman took out his Student ID Card out and showed them. The guards checked the card and then Lakshman before nodding their approval. “You can proceed,” they said and Lakshman nodded at them before going inside. “The area sure is big,” Lakshman said as he walked through and arrived at the open. Then he noticed the opposite arena wall and laughed. “They sure repaired that wall in three days!” Lakshman said as he chuckled. “What’s so funny?” Spectra asked him as she hovered near him. He pointed to the wall and said “Three days ago, when I was getting judged to see which class I join, I accidentally destroyed that wall. I was only supposed to break ten layered King ranked Barrier Magic Spells and a stupid statue, but I went overboard with my power.”
She looked impressed and said “Really? That’s amazing to be able to destroy ten King ranked Barrier Spells and smash that wall into pieces!” Smiling happily, he walked down to the arena ground and Spectra followed by hovering above his head. “What are you planning on doing?” she asked him curiously. “I don’t have a sword with me to train, but I still have my Gravity Rings. So I’ll just use them and run laps around.” “Alright. I’ll just sit here and watch,” she said and he nodded at her. Lakshman walked out onto the arena ground and got ready. He took a running stance and waited a few seconds. Then, with a burst of power, he began running which caused dust to rise into the air. He was running so fast, he went around the arena and came back in less than four seconds. “Wow…! He’s really, really fast!” Spectra exclaimed in a shocked voice as she saw him running around while looking like a blur. Then she noticed the rising dust and thought something bad might happen if he kept running at that pace. “Lakshman! Turn it down a notch!” she yelled at the top of her voice. Hearing her voice and the words she yelled at him, Lakshman slowed down until he finally came to a stop. His body was heaving and he was breathing quickly as beads of sweat covered his face and body. “Ha… Ha… Wha? Turn it down a notch? Why?” he asked as his breathing returning to normal. “Look around you. You’re causing a lot of dust to rise into the air. If you keep it up, you might create a dust tornado because of your running!” she told him severely. Lakshman looked amazed and said “Oh… I see. Alright then. I’ll go a little slower.” He smiled at her and began running around the arena again. He was indeed slower, but it was still fast. “You call that going ‘a little bit slower’…?” she asked before sighing. At that moment, she heard Lakshman call “By the way, I got some questions I want to clarify with you!”
Spectra flew into the air and soared towards him. She held onto his shoulder and began to soar as fast he ran. Then she asked “About what?” While running, he asked “Why is her name like that?” “Who’s name?” “You know… um… That Demon Slayer Sacred Spirit… Why is she named… uh… Zemitra name thingy?” “I don’t know…” “What? You don’t know? You’re supposed to be contracted partners and you don’t know?” “It’s not like I didn’t bother to know why she was called that. It’s just she doesn’t know either who gave her name or who she really was.” “Oh man… A memory loss…” “That’s right. I found her abandoned in a ruined mine down near Ashtra region. At first, she was very hostile towards strangers, but after spending a few months with me, she really began to open up. I was pretty surprised when she told me her name and that was it. The poor Sacred Spirit had no idea who she really was, where she came from or why she was doing there in the first place.” “That sucks! It must’ve be very hard for her to not know about herself!” “It sure was…” “If that’s the case, why didn’t you rename her then? That name sounds pretty evil to me.” “Huh? How do you know about that?” “Uh… I read somewhere that the masters of Contracted Spirits have the authority to rename their partnered spirit.” Lakshman was lying when he said he read it somewhere. The truth was that he did not read about it at all nor was it covered in books. It was Tetra who had informed him about the Contract Owner’s ability to rename a Contracted Spirit when he wanted to know how the spirits are named.
“I did think about it, but… I decided not. That was the name she remembers and I have no right to take it away from her.” Hearing Spectra’s sentimental words, Lakshman understood. If he was a Sacred Spirit and all he remembered was his name, he would not like it to have his name changed. His name gave him a belief that there was someone out there who will know him and want to see him in the future. “Still… The person who named her like that must be really evil or something…!” Lakshman said angrily and Spectra silently agreed. After doing more than twenty laps around the arena, he came to a stop. While breathing quickly and his body heaving, Lakshman walked over to the benches and sat down to rest. Spectra hovered in front of him while smiling as she saw him breathing quickly. “You did a good run,” she told him. “Thanks, but I feel I’ve gotten a little weaker. I need to get back into my form again!” he said firmly. Spectra chuckled and said “Really? A little weaker? To me, it felt like you were incredibly powerful! You ran as fast as the wind and even almost created a dust tornado.” “Yes, but I can’t stop just yet! I want to become stronger and stronger until I reach my final limit!” he told her with a happy expression on his face. She shook her head and said “You’re incredible,” and it caused him to laugh happily. For a few minutes, they remained silent as Lakshman’s breathing slowly returned. He sat there with his eyes closed and thought about the events of the past two days. As he remembered the events of last night, there was something he suddenly noticed that he failed to pick up last night. “Spectra, about your story from last night…” “Yeah? What about it?” “Who was this Felix you were referring to?” “Hmm? Felix?”
“You know the one that ordered your small group of Phintex Rajas to investigate a hundred years ago. I was wondering if it was the same Felix as I know. I didn’t think Felix lived a hundred years ago or was he reborn or something?” Finally realising what he was asking her, Spectra laughed and said “No, silly. Felix was the nickname of the Phoenix Emperor from a hundred years ago. His actual name is Feliaxtor Phoron, but we called him Felix for short” “Oh…!” Lakshman as he finally understood. He nodded his head and said “Now it makes sense! He is a relative to the current Felix Phoron. They share the same family name after all.” She shrugged her shoulders and said “I wouldn’t know because I never met this Felt you are referring to. However, I suspect Feliaxtor a hundred years ago is something like a grandfather to the current Phoenix Emperor.” “Interesting! Now I got something else to ask Felix,” Lakshman said and he grinned at her. “About what?” “It’s something about the Death Titan. I’ve been curious about it for all these three years, but Felix kept escaping the subject. It’s like he didn’t want to talk about it and even told me to ask the Death Titan in person rather than bombard him about it.” “By Death Titan… Do you mean the fifth strongest of the world renowned Nine Pillars of Power?” “Yes, him. I wanted to speak to Sevedant about something that bugged in these last three years.” Spectra saw that he looked annoyed. Then she looked at something behind Lakshman and said “Do you mean the person sitting behind you?” “Huh?” Lakshman asked and he turned around. There was a person sitting there with a black cloak covering them. The person’s face was covered by a white mask with a red smile drawn on it. He also had gleaming red eyes through the two eye holes of the mask. The Death Titan, Sevedant, looked at him and said “Hello.” Lakshman was frozen stiff with shock. Then, realising the person sitting in front of him was really the Death Titan, he exclaimed loudly “S-S-S-Sevedant?!”
With shock, he jerked backward and began to topple. He flailed his arms wildly in front of him as he slowly fell backwards. Just then, his had was grabbed by a hand that was made up of bones. Gripping his hand firmly, Sevedant pulled him back into a sitting position. “T-T-Thanks!” Lakshman said in relief while breathing quickly. As his breathing eased up, he looked at Sevedant and said “Where the hell did you come from?!” “I flew,” Sevedant said simply. “You… flew?” Sevedant nodded and said “Returned from Demon Continent. Met Felix. Informed me. Teleportation failed. Had to fly here.” In his own manner, Sevedant spoke in broken words which most people would not understand. Lakshman, however, made full sense of it with a sigh. “So you returned from the Demon Continent and met Felix. When you asked him about me, he told you I was here. You tried to teleport here, but it failed and that’s why you flew here.” Sevedant nodded at him in agreement while Spectra was looking at him with her eyebrows raised. “Why did you just explain what we already understood?” she asked him with a puzzled expression on her face. Lakshman shrugged his shoulders and said “My brain is taking time recovering from the shock of seeing him here! Seriously… Sevedant, you didn’t make any noise when you came here!” Sevedant shrugged his shoulders and said “You were training. Did want to disturb. Used Soundless Barrier Magic Spell.” “Oh… Well you sure did scare the crap out of me!” Lakshman said in an annoyed voice. Sevedant chuckled and said “Now listen. I must tell you.” Lakshman quickly shook his head and waved his hands in front of him. Looking angry, he said “No, no, no! You listen to me! I’ve waited three damn long years to ask you this damn question!” Sevedant remained silent for a moment. Then he simply said “Go ahead.”
Lakshman took a deep breath and asked “Where the hell were you three years ago when I was fighting the Demon Emperor?!” The Death Titan, Sevedant, looked at him and then up at Spectra hovering above Lakshman. She was also curious about what happened at that time even though she knew nothing about it. “Very well… I will reveal the past,” Sevedant said and his eyes gleamed brightly.
Phoenix Rising Chapter 196 Deathly Disappearance (Start) Three years ago, Floria Kingdom came under attack by an invading Demon Army. On that day, the Phoenix Titan was awakened and he defeated the Demon Emperor with astonishing power. Grobula Demon Clan were the ones invading and they brought spears. These were the replicas of the Legendary Spear of Darkness wielded by the Demon Emperor. The Grobula Demon Clan are virtually a clan that stays in the Demon Continent, but they went on a rampage due to losing control of the power of the spears. Even before all that, the Floria Kingdom was holding a tournament. It was a tournament called the Battle of Prematria and as held to give away the Legendary Sword of Justice to the strongest warrior. It was a Legendary Weapon originally wielded by the Phoenix Emperor, Felix, but was taken away due to being labelled a traitor by the Phoenix Clan. The Death Titan had come to watch the battle. No one knew he had used a very powerful Barrier Magic Technique to hide his presence and power. This helped him be able to move around unseen and undetected. The line was big and large as people pushed each other to try and get to the front. Sevedant, who was standing near the trees, watched as the crowd jostled each other. The crowd finally calmed down when the men arrived to give out tickets. There were also no choice when a few Phintex Rajas made their appearance. They told one man to get in line and stop pushing. The man unnecessarily took offense at the Phintex Raja’s words and attacked him. It was a foolish move because he was easily ground with a simple tap on the man’s forehead. Then he was take away while Sevedant chuckled due to how funny it was. “So glad. I’m safe,” Sevedant said as he watched the man get take away by the Phintex Rajas. Nevertheless, this made Sevedant think “It was the right choice not to get into them.” At that moment, he sensed something soaring through the air towards them. From sensing whom it was, he looked up at the sky. A few seconds later, some appeared as it soared down before landing on its two feet. It was Lakshman appearing as the Sacred Armoured Phoenix Titan.
“Mmm! Impressive,” Sevedant said quietly as he watched him. Lakshman was an impressive sight with his armour gleaming in the sunlight. Unfortunately, no one noticed his arrival due to how busily they were trying to buy tickets. “Stupid humans…” Sevedant muttered with his fists clenched. Sevedant was frustrated at the how stupid the people were. They were more curious about buying the ticket than paying attention to things around them. It made him really want to walk out there and give them a piece of his mind. At that moment, the Sacred Armoured Phoenix Titan raised his hand and held it in a vertical position. Then he release a slicing energy that soared towards the people and pushed them aside. The people went down like rocks from the sheer force of the energy he had released. “Wha?!” Sevedant exclaimed in astonishment when he witnessed that. As the Sacred Armoured Phoenix Titan walked through the crowd, Sevedant was nodding his head at him. He was really impressed at how far Lakshman had come in controlling his powers and suspected him to be close to breaking the second last seal. He watched as the people withdrew in awe as the Sacred Armoured Phoenix Titan walked through the crowd. Sevedant was quite glad at him for doing what he did. It managed to calm the crowd and make them take notice of his presence. “Calm… Strong… Good!” Sevedant said as he was happy that Lakshman was not feeling nervous. It took more than an hour for the crowd to finally allow them to enter the colosseum. Sevedant noticed Darian, Marian Ondine, Tetra and Emilia. He was happy to see them there to cheer on Lakshman, but he also saw someone that stunned him. At first glance, he could not tell who it was. The person had a cloak draped over their body with red eyes through the uncovered eye space. Sevedant also felt the energy the person was releasing and instantly figured out who he was. “What the…? Felix? What are you doing? Why are you even here…?” Sevedant muttered in a worried voice.
Without a care in the world, Felix was talking and laughing with Darian. Sevedant wanted to walk over and slap some sense into him, but he resisted. Soon, everyone had gone into the colosseum and this signalled his next move. Sevedant soared high into the air and hovered the colosseum. It was a large colosseum with the seats crowded with people roaring and cheering. The noise was deafening as Sevedant hovered over colosseum to watch as the tournament got underway. He was not paying attention to what the announcer was saying because he felt something strange. It was a familiar feeling, but he could not place it right. So he decided to be on guard as he watched the battle get underway. The people were going wild as the three-hundred warriors began attacking each other. They were making bets and passing gold to one another, but the Death Titan did not care about that. He was closely monitoring only one person among the three-hundred warriors. “Contyes Lakshman Reddy,” Sevedant murmured as he looked at the fighting warriors. His vision quickly attached itself on the Sacred Armoured Phoenix Titan. This enabled him to set his eyesight on the specified person and watch them for some time. In his case, Sevedant’s eyesight was focused on Lakshman who appeared as the Sacred Armoured Phoenix Titan to public. Lakshman was fighting many warriors with great skill and techniques. It looked like most of them had gone after him in an effort to use numbers to overpower the Sacred Armoured Phoenix Titan. Unfortunately, the term ‘strength in numbers’ proved false and they were all knocked out of the ring. Sevedant saw a person covered in a cloak and flying around as she attacked him. It looked like the energy balls she was releasing continued to chase Lakshman around the ring. Unable to deal with them from the ground, Lakshman took to the skies and flew around while attempting to destroy them. “Nice!” Sevedant said and he wounded impressed when he witnessed Lakshman perform an Infinity Step in mid-air. Just then, Sevedant felt a savage power from nearby. This savage power was strong and threateningly wild. He deactivated Contyes and turned to look at the source of that wild power. He was astonished to see who it was; Zenahart.
Zenahart fought and defeated many of the warriors that attempted to take him out. It seemed the warriors were divided in taking out the strongest. In the end, all were thrown from the ring which only left the Sacred Armoured Phoenix Titan and Zenahart. The two warriors faced off each other for a moment before charging at each other. They banged into each other and were blown back and they tried again with their swords only to get blown away again. Sevedant chuckled and said “Morons…” Getting frustrated, the two smashed into each other before fighting at incredible speeds. The speed of their footwork, manoeuvring ability and the release of powers was truly amazing. “Come on… Win…!” Sevedant said with clenched fists as the two slashed at each other and fired energy techniques at one another. A while later, just as the Sacred Armoured Phoenix Titan delivered a powerful blow to Zenahart, Sevedant felt something strange. He looked over his shoulders and look toward the capital of the kingdom. There, in the sky, was a large magic circle glowing in purple light. It was glowing brightly as it lit the sky and then slowly move downward. Sevedant instantly recognised what it and exclaimed “No way… Isn’t that-?!” At that moment, the crowd suddenly gasped and he turned his attention back to the battle. Sevedant was shocked to see that Lakshman was stabbed by a cowardly act of a defeated Zenahart. He sensed the sudden increase in Zenahart’s power and correctly guessed that he had used Power Charge. His increase of speed was something Lakshman could not follow and it resulted in him getting stabbed form behind. “Damn bastard…” Sevedant muttered angrily. He could clearly see that Zenahart was enjoying the moment as he held the sword stabbing through Lakshman. It seemed that his increase in power also allowed him to bypass the protective barrier around the Phoenix Armour and stab right through him. “L-Lakshman…” Sevedant said as he saw Lakshman couch and groan painfully. Then he got angry and said “Kill him, Lakshman. Kill him! He’s a waste of life!”
Lakshman did not hear him nor did he respond to those words. He just stood there and groaned painfully with a sword pierced through his armour and body. Sevedant got really frustrated and when Lakshman’s next actions stopped him. The Sacred Armoured Phoenix Titan pulled out his sword in a flash and cut Zenahart’s blade of where it was stabbing into him. Then he slowly swung around and with great force, cut Zenahart right at the shoulder and diagonally across his body. Blood spurted out as Zenahart fell back with his broken sword. “Good,” Sevedant said in satisfaction. He watched Lakshman painfully pull the remaining shard from his body and throw it aside. Then he began to heal himself using Healing Force while Zenahart lay on the ground with his mortally wounded body. At that moment, Sevedant felt a wicked power soar past him. He was stunned because he did not sense it at all. The person was wearing a cloak covering their entire body as they soared past him. It looked like the cloaked figure did not notice that Sevedant was even there. The cloaked figure soared through the air landed on top of the central tower without anyone knowing. Everyone, except Sevedant, were focused on the platform where the Sacred Armoured Phoenix Titan stood over the defeated Zenahart. Even the guards missed the strange cloaked figure that randomly appeared standing atop the central tower where the king, queen and princess were sitting under. Sevedant saw the cloaked figure suddenly smiled as he said “You did well, Zenahart! Be happy your sacrifice was not in vain!” Then he raised his staff and muttered “Ancient Monster of Destruction, Zoremar, arise!” His staff began to brightly glow and Sevedant noticed that blue shaped orbs appeared out of the bodies of the knocked out warriors. They soared high into the sky and were absorbed by the staff. The finally blue orb came from Zenahart and it got absorbed into the staff. Watching the blue orbs fly towards the staff, Sevedant realised what the cloaked figure did. “T-That’s… Soul Absorption! Which means he is absorbing the souls of the people knocked out!” Sevedant muttered in a shocked voice. He clenched his skeleton hands and angrily said “Dammit! How could I miss this?!”
The final orb got absorbed by the staff and it glowed very brightly. Then the ground began to tremor which soon began to shake violently. Sevedant looked at the ground as he finally realised what the cloaked figure was after. “So it was to awaken the slumbering giant after all…” he muttered unhappily. The crowd were getting restless as panic ensued. They were confused and the increase in shaking was causing them to fight to find a way to escape to live. Just then, the Phintex Rajas appeared and began coordinating the people to escape. “Good. Felix made his move,” Sevedant said with a nod of satisfaction. At that moment, Sevedant suddenly sensed the presence of death from behind him. He turned around and looked at the capital only to find smoke rising in the distance. There was so much death and destruction that he could feel all the way from here that shocked him. “Who…? Who is doing this?!” he demanded in a voice of disbelief. He could feel an ominous energy surging through the capital. The power, the released energy and how it was being used caused great destruction to the capital. “What power…! This is… something only a Legendary Weapon would possess, but how…? How do they have a Legendary Weapon or even a replica?” Sevedant asked as he began to speak like everyone else due to shock. Just then, the ground erupted and something large began appearing. Sevedant quickly turned around and saw that the cloaked figure was still standing at the central tower. His staff had turned to glow in purple light as the monster emerged. “I know I cannot stop it, but I’ll at least stop him from doing anything more!” Sevedant said in a firm voice. He rocketed forward and soared straight towards the cloaked figure. The man, behind the cloak covering him, did not notice Sevedant until the last moment. Just as Sevedant reached him, the man widened his eyes in shock. He tried to use his staff, but he did not make it in time. “Palm Force!” Sevedant shouted when he reached the cloaked man.
In an instant, he grabbed the cloaked man’s face. Then, with incredible force, they shot away into the distance and well away from the colosseum. The man was grunting with pain from the strong grip on his face and the sheer force Sevedant was pushing him back with. A few seconds later, they soared towards the ground and crashed with heavy impact. This caused both warriors to roll on the ground several times before coming to a stop. Then they slowly rose to their feet while grunting slightly. Sevedant glared at the cloaked figure and said “You won’t hurt anyone anymore!” The cloaked man froze when he looked at Sevedant who thought his appearance had caused fear to erupt within that man. Then he was puzzled as the cloaked man began to laugh hysterically. Sevedant was confused as the man continued to laugh hysterically. “You said the same thing last time, but I’m still here,” the cloaked man said and, for some reason, he sounded cheerful. In that instant, Sevedant became shocked. He had heard this voice many, many years ago. It was the time when he was chosen to became the Death Titan. He had met this man who was seeking power of the Sacred Spirit, the Death Sword. “No way…! You… You can’t be…!” Sevedant whispered in a shocked voice. The cloaked man chuckled and finally removed the cloak off his head to reveal his face. Sevedant was shocked when he looked at who it was. It was the man whom he thought he had killed a long time ago, a man that had nearly come close to killing Sevedant. The man smiled and said “Long time no see, Sevedant or should I call you Death Titan now?” Sevedant, in a shocked voice, exclaimed “Demon Dragon King, Razzel!”
Phoenix Rising Chapter 197 Deathly Disappearance (End) Sevedant, in a shocked voice, exclaimed “Demon Dragon King, Razzel!” The man called Razzel, was smiling at he stared at Sevedant. He had a bald head with a slim body. There were two visible scars running down both side of the man’s eyes. Sevedant could not believe this man was standing in front of him right there. “Why are you here? Why are you even alive?! I killed you!” Sevedant shouted at him. Razzel nodded with a smile and said “Yes, yes. Twenty years ago, I was traveller the world to become really powerful until… I was killed by you!” Razzel put heavy emphasis on his finishing words and looked very angry. Sevedant clenched his skeleton hands tightly and said “You… kill my entire clan and even tried to kill me!” Razzel nodded and said “That’s true. You’re clansmen were annoying me, so I obliterated them. Then you were annoying me so I tried to kill you as well.” Then he sighed and said “But then, that stupid Death Sword came and stabbed into me! Then you activated it and destroyed me!” Razzel pointed at him and asked “Do you have any idea how painful it was to be killed like that?!” Sevedant shook his head and said “I don’t know and I don’t care because you deserve what you got! You tried to forcibly take what is not yours and you paid for it with your life!” Razzel let out a cackle of laughter before he said “Yes, yes, but I’m here and I still want to be powerful!” Sevedant shook his head sadly and said “Why… Why is it that you, one of the five Dragon Kings that served the Dragon Emperor, would become a demon?!” “Five Dragon Kings that served the Dragon Emperor? Ha!” Razzel said and he spat on the ground. Then he said “Fire Dragon, Water Dragon, Wind Dragon, Earth Dragon and Darkness
Dragon. Out of all of them, I was chosen to become the Darkness Dragon even though I am stronger than the emperor!” Sevedant looked at him in shock and asked “What?” “You heard me! I was stronger than the Dragon Emperor, but he was chosen by the Dragon Sword and everyone believed him to be a better person than me! Seriously and that’s why I chose to hunt down and obtain weapons that make his weapon look puny!” “Because of that selfish reason, you abandoned your role as a Dragon King and walk the path of darkness? Is that why you became a demon with a limitless hunger for power?” Sevedant demanded. “Oh, believe me. Even before I left the Dragon Clan, I tried to obtain the Dragon Slayer. I thought I could obtain it since the Dragon titan doesn’t really care, but it looked like the sword itself disliked me!” Razzel said and he gritted his teeth in frustration. “How could you do that?! Why would you try to steal such sacred weapons from really strong warriors?! Where has your pride as a Dragon Warrior gone?! What happened to the proud and might clan that are the Dragon Clan disappeared?” At those words, Razzel started laughing and said “Oh, believe me. Pride? Warriors? Sacred? What a load of crap! Every time a Dragon Titan is chosen, we send them off into our ruined world so we don’t have to see him! Even though he was the one who saved us, we hate him because we blame him for not saving us in time!” “So you want me to respect my clan which doesn’t even respect the Dragon Titan?” Razzel shouted at him. Sevedant could only look at him silently. Then he shook his head and said “You are beyond reason…” At that moment, there was a violent shock that shook the ground. “What?!” Sevedant exclaimed and he looked around. Stumbling slightly, he looked towards the colosseum and saw a giant monster standing. “Z-Zoremar!” Sevedant exclaimed when he recognised the monster. Then he said “I better take care of it!”
He began quickly walked forward to kick off the ground at it. Then he suddenly hit something invisible and solid. He backed away and walked forward again, but hit the same invisible wall. “What? A barrier?” “That’s right. I’m not letting you go out until I collect my data.” Sevedant looked at Razzel, who was smiling brightly. Then he turned back to see the monster let out a very loud roar. “You think you’re barrier will stop me, the Death Titan, from leaving?” Razzel held his hands up and said “If you want to leave, feel free to break free.” “Fine!” Sevedant said and he turned back face the invisible wall. He raised his skeleton hand and drew it back. Just as he brought it forward, he shouted “Death Fist!” In an instant, a powerful energy got released from his hand as it slammed into the barrier. For a few seconds, his energised fist clashed with the barrier keeping him there. Then there was a bang and Sevedant was suddenly blasted backward before he crashed on the ground. “What?!” Sevedant exclaimed as he sat up again. Razzel chuckled and said “You should’ve realised by now… I’m stronger than I was previously.” Sevedant quickly got to his feet and faced Razzel before shouting “Let me out!” Razzel spread his arms out and said “If you’re truly the Death Titan, then defeat me. I’m sure it’ll be an easy task because you’re the Death Titan, right?” “Fine!” Sevedant shouted and he began to surge with great power while radiating in purple aura. Razzel laughed and he also began surging with power while radiating in purple aura. Then he pointed at Sevedant and said “My original plan didn’t involve dealing with you, but I’ll be glad to destroy you here and now!” “In your dreams!” Sevedant yelled at him. The two warriors squared off each other with intense staring. Then there was a flash of light from behind and that signalled the start of their battle. Sevedant and Razzel rushed at each
other before their fists collided. Then they began to fight really fast with fists flying, energy raging and power radiating. Razzel took an opening and punched Sevedant into the face and sent him flying back. He followed up by firing rapid energy blasts at him. Sevedant quickly recovered and started diverting the energy blasts with his hands. Once that was over, he put his hands together and fired an energy beam cannon at Razzel. He dodged the beam of energy and released his own at Sevedant. Like that, the two of them kept firing several energy blasts and beam cannons at each other. The colliding energy attacks caused great clouds of dust to rise into the air, but neither of them cared. They were fighting real hard to kill each other. Sevedant dodged a beam cannon and rocketed forward. Razzel was surprised as Sevedant delivered a powerful punch to his face, but Razzel quickly grabbed Sevedant and flipped him onto the ground. Sevednat crashed onto the ground, but he still held onto Razzel’s body and he threw him away with a lick to the chest. Razzel crashed before he quickly recovered to stand straight. Sevedant also jumped to his feet and turned around to face him. Both of them were breathing quickly, but were certainly not done fighting. “Not bad. You’ve certainly improved from twenty years ago! Last I remember, you were grovelling at my feet!” Razzel shouted before laughing loudly. Sevedant snorted and said “You’re a fool think I would remain the same! I’m Death Titan, fifth strongest of the Nine Pillars of Power! There is no way you can win against me!” As if to prove his point, he clapped his hands together and shouted “Hell Fire!” In an instant, the whole area began to go up in purple flames. The flames erupted out of the ground and surrounded everything. Razzel was shocked as the flames caught him and began to burn him severely. Sevedant, however, was fine as he stood tall and firm. “Gah…! Not this stupid nonsense again!” Razzel exclaimed loudly as he tried to put out the fire, but it was no good. “You know the fire won’t go out, even if you pour water on it! It’s Hell Fire! It’ll burn until it burns you to death!” Sevedant informed him.
“I know! I don’t need you to inform me as if I’m new to this!” Razzel yelled and he glared at him fiercely. Sevedant chuckled, but his red eyes began to gleam brightly as he said “Palm Strike.” At that moment, his hands also began to glow brightly which surprised Razzel. “What are you doing?” “Watch and learn!” As soon as he finished speaking, he charged straight towards him. Razzel was about to use a technique when the Hell Fire sudden caused him to flinch and distracted him. Sevedant quickly reached him, but Razzel still managed to move his hands to hit him. Sevedant skilfully used both of his hands to push his hands away. Time seemed to move slowly as Sevedant slowly brought the palm of his skeleton right hand to Razzel’s chest. He began to deliver eighteen superfast blows by hitting Razzel’s body with the palm of his hand. Then he landed the last blow to the centre of Razzel’s body. For a moment, nothing happened and Razzel thought that was the end of it. Then his eyes widened in shock as he felt a powerful surgical force coursing through his body and the energy erupted out of his back. “Gah…! Ah…!” Razzel groaned as he backed away. He spat blood out which was coming out of his wounded body from the previous impact. Then he glared fiercely at Sevedant. “W-What was that…?” “I call it the Palm Strike. How did it feel?” “Yeah… It was good. So tell me… How did it feel for you?” “Huh?” Sevedant said and he sounded surprised. The next thing he knew, he felt something painful hit him. He was shocked as he slowly sank to the ground. Then he realised it was the very same attack he had used on Razzel, but he was confused. He used on him so it did not make sense how it had affected him as well. Razzel laughed and said “Dragon Reflection! The damage taken by the user is doubled and returned to the attacker!”
“I see…” Sevedant said as he understood that his own attack was sent back at him by doubling its power. At that moment, both of them were shocked when they felt something. It was a sudden release of energy and it was so massive, it caused the clouds above to change shape. “T-This power…? What is it?” Razzel demanded in a shocked voice with wide eyes. Sevedant did not speak, but he had a hunch. This power was familiar after feeling it over and over so many times. It made him realise, in satisfaction, that the second seal of the Phoenix Titan was broken. This meant that Lakshman had awakened fifty percent of the full might of the Phoenix Titan. Just then, they heard a loud painful roar from the monster fighting several kilometres behind them. The two warriors saw Zoremar get sent flying into the air. Then a huge Gada flew high into the air and pierced straight through the monster’s body. Then a large wave of energy was released and it obliterated the body of the monster in mid-air. “Take that, you stupid monster!” Sevedant said brightly. Then he saw the large form of Rumble walking towards the capital and nodded in satisfaction. “Well, well, well…! Looks like that thing’s been done for!” Razzel said without the slightest bit of sadness in his voice. Sevedant turned around and looked at Razzel. For some reason, he did not seem all that sad about the death of a monster he just released. “Don’t you care about it after releasing it from collecting countless souls?!” Razzel shrugged his shoulders and said “Like I said, it’s only for my research.” “What research? What are you trying to do? What requires you to kill so many lives to achieve?” Razzel laughed and said “You’ll know soon enough. For now, I will take my leave.” Sevedant was shocked and, at that moment, he felt the presence of the Demon Emperor. It looked like he was fighting against a familiar force which he knew belonged to Felix. Then he sensed that an even more powerful force was headed their way.
Razzel pointed into the distance and said “Can’t you feel that enormous force? It’s more powerful than the two of us combined! If I stick around, I’ll wind up getting killed unnecessarily!” “You aren’t going to assist the Demon Emperor?” Razzel chuckled and said “Why should I? I’m not his comrade and he’s certainly not my comrade. We’re just partners in my great scheme to achieve something great!” “So you think you’ll get away after killing countless lives, reviving an ancient monster with that power and then bringing a demon army to invade the capital?!” Razzel suddenly smiled and he clapped his hands at Sevedant as if he did something great. “Well done! Full marks on figuring it out! Yes… I did indeed do that and even sued the mass teleportation spell, Portalisation, to summon all of them here at the same time! After all, the Teleportation Zones are constantly monitored and this would’ve all failed!” “Damn you… Treating life as if it’s expandable… I can’t believe you’ve sunk so lo-!” “Yeah, yeah! Say whatever you want, I don’t care!” Razzel said as he cut across Sevedant’s speech. Then he smiled and said “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must leave. I got a lot of things to do now.” “I’m not letting you escape!” Sevedant shouted and he lunged at him. Razzel smiled as he coolly put his hand into his pocket and produced a crystal. Sevedant did not know what that crystal was which was glowing in green light. The next thing he knew, he stopped in mid-flight. He suddenly found himself unable to move his arms or legs. Even his mouth was frozen in place except for his eyes as he stared at Razzel. Razzel held the crystal near Sevedant’s face and said “This here… is a Time Crystal! It’s been pretty handy in stopping time for about thirty seconds. So you’re totally outmatched by the power of a single crystal. How lame…!” Razzel was just about to walk away, but he stopped and turned around. He walked to look Sevedant in the face with a serious expression on his face. Then he raised his hand and slapped Sevedant fifteen times across the face on both sides. Once he was done slapping, Razzel sighed and said “I could’ve killed you right now, but there’s no fun in it. So I’ll settle to slapping you fifteen times. Now so long, Idiot Titan!”
With a laughter, Razzel waved at Sevedant. Next thing, he was surrounded by a white ball of light. It soared into the air and shot off into the distance. As soon as he was gone, the time freeze was lifted and Sevedant landed on the ground. He was on his knees with his arms shaking. The slaps delivered to his face hurt and it caused him great anger and humiliation. “GODAMMIT!!!� Sevedant screamed at the top of his lungs. He raised his clenched fists into the air and slammed them hard onto the ground. There was a sudden flash of light which was followed by a great explosion of power that erupted from where he was. It grew bigger and bigger until it covered the entire forest before destroying everything as a wild force of wind and shock was sent in all directions.
Phoenix Rising Chapter 198 Discovery of Plan “Wow…! You were attacked by the Demon Dragon King, Razzel.” Lakshman said in awe once Sevedant finished telling him what had happened. Sevedant nodded and then he sighed before saying “Tried to stop. Was no use. Got time frozen.” “Yeah, but you couldn’t help it when you suddenly used a Time Crystal on you like that. Anyway, he’s probably discarded that crystal already since it’s used up by now.” “Not necessarily…” Sevedant said slowly. “Eh?” Lakshman said and he looked surprised. At that moment, Spectra coughed which caused him to look at her. She had been quiet as Sevedant revealed the past. Now she finally found the good reason to use her mouth again. “A Time Crystal has the power to time freeze everything around for thirty seconds. They can only be used numerous of times before getting destroyed. Along with that, they permanently remove a portion of the user’s energy force.” Lakshman was stunned by her words. He looked at her with wide eyes and asked “A Time Crystal removes a portion of your energy permanent? Then how was he able to be as strong as Sevedant when he is the Death Titan?!” Spectra shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. She did not know and could not answer his question. He turned to look at Sevedant and wondered if he would know. Then he changed his way of thinking when he saw the depressed expression on his face. “So, after that, you went directly to the Demon Continent to find out about things?” he asked finally. Sevedant shook his head and said “Not directly. First assisted. You were unconscious. Escorted demon army back. Left things to Felix. Departed for Demon Continent.” “Okay, but did you find anything while you were there?”
“Yes.” “Really? What is it?” “Razzel restores removed energy. Uses souls of the dead.” Lakshman’s eyes widened in shock and he said “What?! He uses the energy of dead souls to… to… restore his removed power?!” “Despicable…!” Spectra said in a sickened voice. “Sevedant! How is he doing it?” Lakshman asked him quickly. “Same as me,” Sevedant said and it confused him. “Huh? Same as you? What do you mean?” “My Death Sword, Devastrator. Used technique called Soul Devour. Near the Forest of Fog.” “Mmm…! Sorry, Sevedant, but my memory’s failing me. It’s been over three years ago so I don’t think I would remember about it.” Sevedant sighed and said “Soul Devour. Razzel used similar. Soul Absorption. Sucks out the souls.” Lakshman finally understood and he nodded his head in understanding. So it was basically the soul of the living or the dead was extracted out of the body and sucked into the staff Razzel used. That explained why Lakshman saw blue orbs of light coming out of the bodies of the people. “Is there a way to stop this?” Lakshman asked, but Sevedant shook his head instead. “King ranked Magic Spell. Very hard to stop or repel. Souls will get sucked,” Sevedant said sadly. Lakshman became frustrated and he said “Great…! Just great! We know what technique he uses, but we don’t have any means of stopping it! Damn…!” For a moment, they went silent as each of them thought about it separately. Lakshman was frustrated that there was no way of stopping that spell from taking souls of the people. He sighed and asked “At least, did you find out what he’s planning to do?”
To that, Sevedant nodded and said “Yes.” “What is it?” Lakshman asked instantly. “Capture Demon Slayer,” Sevedant said in three small words. For a moment, Lakshman did not quite understand what Sevedant meant by that. Spectra, however, understood and was the first to react in shock. “You mean… He plans to acquire the Demon Slayer?!” she exclaimed and Sevedant nodded at her. Seeing his nod, she raised her hands and muttered “Oh no…!” Lakshman, who was still confused, asked “What are you two talking about? Is there something I’m missing that the two of you understand?” Spectra looked at him impatiently and asked “Lakshman! What is the one thing that rings a bell when you hear the word ‘Demon Slayer’?” “Eh?” Lakshman said in a surprised voice. Then he said “Let’s see… Demon Slayer… Hmm…” At that moment, it finally hit him like a hammer. It was so obvious, but he missed it amazed him. “The two of you are referring to the Sacred Spirit known as the Demon Slayer that’s buried deep beneath the boy’s dormitory?” he asked them finally. Spectra nodded and said “Naturally! In this world, there is only one word a Demon Slayer would associate with and that’s the Sacred Spirit. For those who hunt down demons and such, they are called the Demon Hunters or Hunters with a respective name at the front.” “Oh...” Lakshman said and he looked surprised at that. Then he turned to look at Sevedant as he asked “How did you come to know about this?” “Entered the World of the Demons, Demagrad. Went into the laboratories. Discovered documents on Sacred Spirits. Documents mostly about Demon Slayer and Phoenix Blade.” “I see. So they were comparing the powers of the two Sacred Spirits from ancient records. That’s how they came to recognise the potential power of the Demon Slayer. Right?” “Correct.”
“I see. It’s good we know what they are after.” Lakshman was pleased, but Spectra looked worried. In a worried voice, she said “I find it strange that they just left such important documents so openly like that.” Then she looked at Sevedant and asked “Couldn’t this could be a guise to divert our attention from something else?” Sevedant firmly shook his head and said “Unlikely. Razzel goes after strongest. Never interested in second-rate.” “Hey! Are you calling Phoenix Blade a second-rate Sacred Spirit?” Lakshman asked indignantly. “No, but think… He goes only after strongest. Never considers the worth. Never cares for something weaker.” “So what you’re saying is he’s just a mad scientist bent on obtaining the strongest Sacred Spirit in the world? Why? What does he gain from going to such lengths to do illegal things to obtain that?” Lakshman asked and he sounded totally lost. Sevedant shrugged his shoulders with no idea, but Spectra had an expression as if she knew what it might be. “Maybe he’s just desiring a strong Sacred Spirit to show his clan that they were mistaken about him?” she asked hopefully. “Eh?” Lakshman said with a puzzled expression on his face. Spectra took a deep breath and said “Within the Dragon Clan, they have five Dragon Kings along with the Dragon Emperor. Take note that they are not the ranks that we are all used to. The Dragon King and Dragon Emperor are titles. I’m sure many of the Dragon Clan are around King ranked.” “Just what are you getting at, Spectra?” Lakshman asked curiously. “When the new Dragon Emperor was being selected, I’m sure he was expecting himself to be chosen. Instead, someone else was chosen because they could wield the Dragon Sword which is also a Sacred Spirit. Instead of getting what he wanted, he was given the title of the Dragon King of Darkness.” “Oh… So he got infuriated about his people choosing someone because of possessing a powerful Sacred Spirit. From that and his boiling hatred towards his clansmen finally made him cross the line and go after strong Sacred Spirits all around the world.”
“Exactly and that lust for power turned him into the Demon Dragon King. He is still part of the Dragon Clan regardless of whether he is related to them or not. Being once part of the Dragon Kings, he should contain vast amount of knowledge of the techniques only taught to those at that rank.” “So we should expect an extremely powerful warrior that could be on par with the Phoenix Emperor… Dang…” Lakshman said and he sounded unhappy. At that moment, Sevedant looked at him and said “Include yourself.” “Eh?! Why me?” “You should. After all, you are…” Sevedant said without finishing the sentence. Spectra looked confused, but Lakshman understood what Sevedant was implying. “Yes, but that’s only with the title. In a contest of power and strength, I’m superior to Felix, but I’m no match when it comes to using skilful techniques. Like how you used that Palm Strike or how Razzel used Dragon Reflection. I’m not as skilful enough to compare with those guys just yet.” “Honesty. Well thought out,” Sevedant said and he sounded satisfied with Lakshman’s honesty. Lakshman shrugged his shoulders and said “Earlier, Spectra told me to slow down because she got worried I might start a dust tornado because of how fast I was running. That I’m good at, but in a test of knowledge and wisdom, I will fail miserably. So it is better I don’t lie to myself and then face the painful consequences of making such a foolish decision.” Sevedant nodded and said “That is true. I understand.” “Well said,” Spectra said and she winked at him. Lakshman chuckled at her and said “Thank you.” Then he turned to Sevedant and asked “Did you tell Felix yet?” “Not yet. Decided to inform you first,” Sevedant instantly replied. “Oh. That’s okay, but what do you want us to do now? Should I start finding a way to dig ourselves to the bottom level to where the Demon Slayer sealed herself at?”
Spectra looked unhappy and she asked “Why don’t you call her by the name she’s currently got?” Lakshman quickly looked at her and she was startled to see him looking annoyed. “No! I don’t want to call her by that ridiculous freaky name! I’m not some sort of evil numbskull that would name a Sacred Spirit Zemitra… uh… whatever the rest of her name is! I’ll just call her Demon Slayer!” he said in a firm voice. Spectra sighed and said “Alright, alright. So what now?” Sevedant looked at the two of them and said “For now, act normal. Do not slip. However, be wary. Demon infiltration is possible.” “Are you saying there might be demons masquerading as humans and it could be someone we already met or know?!” Lakshman asked and he looked shocked. “Possibly. In any case, be careful. I will be around. Contact immediately if trouble strikes.” “Contact you? How? I don’t know how to use Amplify Magic Spell to use speak telepathically with anyone.” “Then learn!” Sevedant said forcefully. “Okay…” Lakshman said sadly with a sigh. At that moment, they heard the sound of voices coming from inside of the arena. It looked like someone else has come to perform their morning training at the arena. Sevedant rose to his feet and said “Be watchful and be careful.” “Sure,” Lakshman said and he smiled at him. With a single nod at him, Sevedant kicked off the ground and soared into the air. Lakshman watched him fly into the air and then turn before soaring in that direction. He soon disappeared as a pair of clouds covered his path of flight.
Phoenix Rising Chapter 199 Joint Lesson “Ah… Such a morning… A perfect morning for the competition!” the principal, Carmela Chaikin, said while smoothly breathing in the fresh air. “You say so, but I feel a lot of tension in the air…” Lakshman said as he looked down at the arena. “Indeed. The students are fired up! Their teams are seriously pumped up with fighting energy!” “Which makes me wonder if that’s a good thing.” Three days passed since Lakshman met with Sevedant and it was time for the competition. It was the one named Joint Lesson which was written on the timetable. Today was the day two teams with girls will be fighting each other to determine the best of them. “Seven days of school and four days of break, yet we have to do this right before that break…” Lakshman muttered unhappily. Carmila laughed and said “Why are you feeling so down? Are you sick or something?” “No, but… looking at the stares the girls are giving each other, I’m not feeling happy at all…” Lakshman said and he gulped nervously. The two teams were called Surds and Raids. Each of the two teams had evenly placed students which were selected the previous day. Lakshman had been present when the principal had gathered all of them at the hall and called out each name representing a team. It had alarmed him that Ondine and Emilia ended up in team Surds while Tetra and Cantia joined the Raids. He was worried what the girls would do, but he was confident they will fight as part of their teams. “Do you remember what I told you yesterday?” Carmila asked him curiously. Lakshman nodded at her and said “Yes, I remember. Each teams have a king to represent them. A team can only win if that king is either defeated or if they are the last ones standing.
Players that take damage beyond their limit will automatically transported out of the field to appear here. Is there anything else I missed?” “No. You got it right,” Carmila said and she smiled at him. “Right, but I think they should be named queens since they are all females.” “Did you say something?” Carmila asked with a glint in her eyes which made him change topics quickly. “Anyway, I’m very impressed you were able to use the Emperor ranked Barrier Magic Spell called Damegeton.” Carmila chuckled and said “Actually, I couldn’t. I wanted Felix to help, but he appeared to be busy. So I worked together with the other teachers to use it.” She gestured towards the teachers sitting next to them. Lakshman nodded his head at them in recognition and they nodded back. “This is going to be fun!” said a familiar voice from next to him. Lakshman turned and looked at Spectra sitting next to him. She was grinning broadly while fidgeting with her hands. “Easy for you to say. I’m the one who’s stuck with job of having to take care of things if they get out of control!” he said in an annoyed voice. “Don’t worry! I’m confident you can handle it. After all, the Death Titan has confidence in you…” Spectra said and she smiled at him. “Ugh… Whatever,” Lakshman said with a sigh. Just then, the referee stood up and spoke. Her voice could be heard loud and clear throughout the entire stadium. “Now the first week is about to end which is the time for the very first competition of the year!” The students and teachers clapped. She gestured towards each team and said “To our left, we have the team Surds and their king, princess Venezuela Sargold!”
When their team name was called out, the students let out a resounding cheer and the other team glared at them. Then they suddenly looked really happy when princess Venezuela smiled at them. “To our right, we have the team Raids and their king, Sammy Lagram!” It was the other team’s turn to cheer at being called out and their opponents glared at them. Their king, Sammy Lagram winked at them while waving around. “And now, let us have a word from our principal!” Motioned by the referee, Carmila stood up. She cleared her throat and said “To all of my students! Today is a brilliant day to show off what you’ve learnt in this week! Make your best efforts and may the best team win!” As she finished, there were claps and cheers. Both students and teachers clapped at such amazing words. The referee nodded at her and said “Thank you, principal for such strong words of wisdom! Now in the count of ten, we will begin… 10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5…” “This is going to be insane…” Lakshman muttered and Spectra nodded beside him. “4… 3… 2… 1… Begin!” At the moment the referee called out, there was a violent blast. A fast fired energy ball flew through the air and exploded near the Surds team. “Wow…!” Lakshman said in a shocked voice as he watched the massive explosion occur on the Surds side of the field. He quickly turned to look at the stands on the other side. Sure enough, students kept materialising with a depressed expressions on their faces. He turned to the principle and gestured towards the students that just appeared out of the field. “Principle! More than half the Surds have been take out with that one blast!” “Yes. That’s quite the wonderful quick attack the Raids pulled,” Carmila said with a smile. Lakshman’s mouth hung open as he could not believe what he just heard. Then he asked “You’re okay with it? That firing attack just as the command was given?”
“Of course, it is. It’s the fault of the Surds for not putting up a barrier in case this exact thing happened.” “Uh… This is so wrong…” Lakshman said and he turned back to watching the battle. Both sides were firing energy blasts at each other. With more than half of their numbers gone, the Surds were in a pinch. He could see Emilia constantly casting Healing Magic Spells on the other students who are constantly firing energy attacks to keep their attacks at bay. Then he heard a familiar voice shout “Slicing Cannon!” He turned his head and saw Ondine send a wave of energy towards the attacks. The Raids tried to cut off the attack, but they underestimated Ondine. Being a Sage ranked in the North Sword Style, her attacks are very strong and she easily took our more than a dozen girls. Just then, Tetra shouted “Swords of Infinity!” A circular shifting divide opened in front of her. Then a wave of swords kept pouring out of it and they flew towards Ondine. “Damn, Tetra!” Ondine said as she backed away. As the swords came at her, she began moving at incredible speeds as she dodged and cut at the incoming swords. Then a wave of energy came to her rescue from behind. It destroyed all the swords and caused Tetra to dive out of the way while taking out several other Raids. “Thanks, Stasha!” Ondine said as she fell back to where her friend stood. “You’re welcome, but geez… This is one wild turn of events!” Stasha said as she blasted several more energy attacks at them. Tetra pointed at Ondine and said “You’re going down today, Ondine!” “Oh really? Then bring it!” Ondine said and she held her swords at the ready. Tetra aimed her hand at her and said “Stab Swords!” Daggers were sent flying towards Ondine at high speed. Ondine charged forward and deflected them away from her. Deflecting them away from her, Ondine reached Tetra and they faced off.
“AAAAAAAAH!!” Ondine screamed as she brought her sword down. Tetra suddenly smiled which surprised Ondine. She was even more surprised when two swords suddenly materialised out of thin air. Tetra grabbed the swords and blocked Ondine’s sword strike. As the two began clashing swords, Ondine said “So you can also fight with the sword?” Tetra chuckled and said “I’m usually the blade of my master, but that doesn’t mean I can’t wield the sword!” “You’re so full of surprises!” Ondine said and the two of them began laughing as they fought fiercely. Their clashes were sending shockwaves everywhere and bursts of lighting kept erupting. The girls screamed as they got buffeted by the wild wind and the energy the two of them released. “Damn! What are those two thinking?!” Lakshman exclaimed when he watched them fiercely attacking each other. “This is getting so exciting!” Spectra said as she floated around in excitement. “Wow…! Those two really are going at it!” “Really interesting!” “Um… Is it just me or do they have some sort of grudge against one another?” “No. I think it’s most likely rivalry.” “Whatever it is, it’s good! Turn it up!” Lakshman looked amazed at how energetic all the teachers were. Even the referee forgot her role and kept encouraging the students. He sighed and turned back to watch the action. The king of Raids, Sammy Lagram, was annoyed as she watched Ondine and Tetra fight each other with immense power. Because of their battle, they are taking heavy losses. On the other hand, the Surds are finally getting their momentum on attacking them. “Those two are the cause of all this…!” she said in a frustrated voice.
“Yes, but what should we do? Tetra is on our side, but it looks as if she is helping them!” her nearest attendant said angrily. “Yes, she is. Let’s destroy her along with everyone else we don’t need! “Prepare to fire the Mega Cannon!” Sammy ordered them. “Yes!” her followers said in unison. One of them immediately clapped their hands together and said “Dust Veil!” In an instant, dust covered the entire field and made it difficult for everyone to see what was ahead. This caused the Surds to back retreat back to their side. “Wow! Where did the dust come in?” Lakshman asked of nobody as it covered the field. “I don’t know, but it’s annoying! Now I can’t see what’s going on!” Spectra complained unhappily. Noticing the large clouds of dust floating around, Ondine and Tetra decided to stop their battle. They landed on the ground and looked around. Everything around them surrounded by dust, but strangely it did not hurt their eyes. “Maybe this is illusion spell someone used,” Ondine said while looking around. “Yes, but I doubt anyone will make any moves until it disappears,” Tetra said in agreement with Ondine. Just then, Cantia reached them and said “You two are insane! What were you thinking, fighting like that all of a sudden?!” “Ah… Well you see… It’s been a while since we fought so we… uh… got carried away…” Tetra said slowly which caused Ondine to chuckle. “It’s not funny, Tetra! The two of you attacking each other was causing us, the Raids, to lose our numbers! Even our king was upset about it!” Cantia said in an annoyed voice. “Yeah… Sorry about that…” Tetra said and she looked sad. “Right! Anyway, where did everyone go?” Cantia asked and she looked around.
At that moment, the clouds of dust began to clear when they suddenly felt something. It was a powerful surge of energy coming from the Raids side of the field. Ondine widened her eyes when she felt how dangerously powerful it was. “What are your side doing?!” Ondine demanded with a shocked expression on her face. “I-I don’t know! Do you, Cantia?” Tetra asked. Cantia instantly shook her head and said “No! I have no clue!” Back at the stands and watching the clouded field, Lakshman’s eyes widened slightly. He also felt the surge of power coming from the Raids side of the field. He did not know what it was, but it was dangerously powerful. Then, just like that, the dust vanished as if it was just an illusion. Everyone turned to look in at the side of the Raids field. They were stunned to see almost all the members gathered there as they prepared to fire a very large energy cannon. “Preparations complete!” one of the Raids said and the king nodded. “Good. Now fire! Show them hell!” the king ordered them in a loud voice. With a great surge of power, the energy cannon was unleashed. It dug a groove as it rocketed towards them while destroying everything in its path. Ondine, Tetra and Cantia were the first to get swallowed by the large energy attack and soon followed by the remaining Surds. Princess Venezuela saw the attack soaring straight towards them and felt it was all over. At that moment, her attendants gathered around and created powerful barriers to protect their king. “Stop it… It’s no use…” princess Venezuela said in a sad voice. At that moment, Emilia suddenly appeared in front of her and said “No, princess… I mean, our king! We’re not giving up no matter what! I swore to my master I will fight to the very end and I will keep the promise!” With that, she gripped her staff firmly with her hands. It was the staff that Lakshman’s magic tutor, Sumara Manjuvad, had given him as a parting gift. After mastering the use of Voiceless Incantations, he had found he no longer needed it, but he did not want to throw it away. So he gave it to Emilia who needed it because of her inability to use Voiceless Incantations. Emilia raised her staff into the air and chanted a Barrier Magic Spell.
“Spirits of the wind, gather and form a protective shield with the last of my power! Hurricane Wall!” In an instant, a powerful wall of wind formed around and rose into the air. It kept rotating round and round to protect the occupants inside it. Emilia, however, stayed outside and smiled as the wave of energy reached them. She was satisfied with doing her best at protecting their king as her final act of courage. There was a violent explosion which caused dust and wind to fly in all directions. For a few seconds, everything got foggy due to the amount of dust floating around. Then they soon settled and brought the view back to normal. “Did we get them?” Sammy, the king of the Raids, asked. At that moment, the dust cleared and they could see the field again. They were stunned to see a rising wall of wind on the side of the Surds. Then the wall of wind dissipated and revealed their king and a handful of members still remaining. “Damn! Destroy them!” Sammy ordered the girls around and they moved forward to take them down. Lakshman had watched Ondine, Tetra, Cantia and Emilia get take out by that energy blast. He had already seen them appear at that seats with annoyed expressions on their faces. They were fine and unhurt, but that was not what made him feel so angry. The Raids had sacrificed some of their own members to take down the majority of the Surds. “No…!” Lakshman said quietly. He remembered Emilia’s last valiant effort to protect her comrades. She had put so much effort into healing her comrades and providing support fire only to go out while defending her comrades. That was when he finally realised he had influenced her greatly because of the way he fought. That was when he made up his mind and decided to act. He turned to the principal and asked “Principal! Please let me enter!” Carmila looked surprised as she looked at him. Then she asked “You know that this is a battle between women, right?”
“Yes, but my comrades were taken out unnecessarily! Additionally, I feel the Surds are at a vast disadvantage. Their numbers are little compared to the numbers the Raids got. So please… Let me help them.” Carmila looked at him intently for a moment in silence. Then she asked “Can one man make the difference?” Lakshman looked directly at her and fiercely said “One man can make a difference!” One of her eyebrows got lifted by his response. She took note of the determination in his eyes and the firmness in his expression. There was no other way around it and she also wanted to see what else he could do other than release massive amounts of energy and restore destroyed equipment. She finally nodded her head at him and said “Very well. I’ll allow you to join the Surds.” Lakshman smiled in happiness and bowed deeply before he said “Thank you very much!” When he straightened up, Spectra said “Good luck!” Lakshman chuckled and said “I don’t luck because my nickname is Lucky!” With a cheerful wave, he ran off towards where the referee was standing so that she will send him into the field.
Phoenix Rising Chapter 200 Total Comeback Lakshman rushed over to the referee and saw the Raids heading for the Surds. Then he finally arrived near the referee who was eagerly watching the battle. “Madam! I need you to let me enter the field!” Lakshman asked her quickly. She did not immediately respond nor did she shown any sign of hearing him. It looked like she did not hear him at all as she continued to watch the battle. Feeling annoyed, Lakshman leaned in and bellowed “Madam!” Shocked by the loud yell from near her, she jumped in panic. Then she turned around and was surprised to see him standing there. “Please send me into the field, quickly!” he told her hurriedly. “No can do!” the referee said flatly. “The principal has given her consent!” Lakshman said and he gestured towards where she sat. The referee turned and did see the principal nod at her. This surprised her, but she had to obey since it was her orders. “Fine. Stand here so I can send you in.” “Right!” Lakshman stood at that point she indicated him to stand at. Then she tried to place a hand on his head, but suddenly realised he was much taller than her. “Bend down…!” she said irritably and he bend down so she can place her hand on his head. The referee closed her eyes and said “Enter Sanctuary.” In an instant, Lakshman’s body began to glow brightly. Then it turning into a ball of light which floated in mid-air. The referee straightened up and, with might force, hit the ball of light
towards the field. The ball of light flew through the air and a ripple appeared where it passed through the barrier. The Raids, who reached the Surds, were shouting loudly as they fired their energy attacks. “Get them!” “Take them out!” “Show no mercy!” The Surds, who were backed up against the arena wall, could only block or put a barrier against their attacks. The handful of their members finally dwindled down to only four due to their inability to retaliate against the horde of attacks. At that moment, Mercia stepped forward to deal with the incoming Raids. “Prin- I mean, our king! Stay behind! You two, defend her while I take care of these rabble!” Mercia shouted the orders. The two remaining Surds stepped back and stood to defend princess Venezuela. Mercia moved forward to intercept the attackers who were firing wildly at them. Mercia aimed her hand at the incoming attackers and shouted “Blaze Cannon!” A fiery beam cannon erupted from her hand and soared at the line of attackers. The beam cut through the line of them which took out more than a dozen of the Raids, but more kept coming. In a flowing movement, Mercia swung the energy beam cannon this way and that way. The Raids were shocked at the swinging beam and more were defeated due to their carelessness. This caused them to stop their assault and keep their distance from the attack of Mercia. Just then, the king of the Raids, Sammy Lagram, came behind the line of numbers and shouted “What are you doing? Fire back!” Acting on the orders of their king, the people charged up their energy attacks and released the mat her. Mercia quickly reacted and immediately stretched he hands out while creating a barrier. The attacks exploded upon contact and this caused her to get pushed back with her feet getting dragged. “Damn… Is there no end to this?!” she muttered as the attacks kept coming towards her.
She had noticed that the two girls behind created a barriers, but she knew it would not work. Mercia was using a Sage ranked barrier while theirs were Saint ranked. She was aware if she got out of the way or dropped the barrier, things will be over. Sammy also realised this fact and made her comrades to clear a way. With the way cleared, she began gathering energy for her own specialised attack. “Electron Cannon!” she shouted and she brought her hand forward. With bursting lightning, she unleashed a beam energy that was pulsing with lightning. The attack soared through and destroyed the people in its way before it smashed into Mercia’s barrier. The attack was blocked, but the lightning passed through it and shocked Mercia by the lightning. She screamed and was blasted backwards by the force of impact. Mercia soared through the air and came to a crashing stop near the two remaining members and their king. “Mercia!” Venezuela shouted as her friend crashed to a stop near her feet. “Well, well, well! Look how the might have fallen! It seems you really are weak, princess Venezuela! I even have to question whether you truly belong in the Class A!” Sammy shouted before laughing loudly. Her comrades did not laugh because they liked the princess. Even so, they were determined to make their team win because their family prestige was on the line. If they lost this match, their family prestige will fall because of it. Venezuela glared at her and said “You dared to get rid of your own teammates to get a shot at us?! How could you…!” “I could because I could! Besides, there’s more writing on this battle than just a simple scores and records! Our familiar honour is also riding on it!” Sammy said which caused Venezuela to grit her teeth. “Even so, taking out your teammates to take down the enemy is wrong!” Venezuela said angrily. Sammy waved her hand and said “Yeah, yeah. Blab all you want and I don’t care. Now be silenced once and for all! Destroy them!”
Her teammates were clearly unhappy as seen by the expressions on their faces, but they had no choice. They began gathering large amounts of energy into their hands and prepared to fire at the Surds. Venezuela gritted her teeth and began to gather energy into her hands. It looked like she was going to fire back at them the moment the Raids fire at them. Mercia, noticing this, quickly shouted “No! Don’t do it!” At that moment, a ball of light soared towards the ground. It landed right in front of where Venezuela, Mercia and the other two stood. Then it slowly hovered up and remained stationary. For a moment nothing happened which caused everyone to look at it in confusion. There was a suddenly flash of light from the ball of light. It blinded everyone as they were forced to close their eyes and look away. The next moment, the light dimmed and disappeared, enabling them to look once again to look clearly. “What the?!” Many of them exclaimed when they saw something that stunned them. Where the ball of light was moments before, stood a boy. He was wearing a smile on his face as he looked at the stunned expressions on the faces of the Raids. “L-L-L-Lakshman…?” Venezuela asked when she was the first to recover. Lakshman looked over his shoulders and said “Hello princess… ah. I mean, our king! Please stay there and be safe. Mercia, make sure to look after her.” “Don’t speak to me as if we are friends!” Mercia said in an annoyed voice which made him chuckle and smile. Lakshman turned around to face the Raids as they slowly recovered from the initial shock of seeing him. “W-Why is here?” “I don’t know.” “Weird…” “Did he come to help?”
Hearing what the girls were muttering to each other made Lakshman to smile widely. They were really confused and taken aback at suddenly seeing him enter the field. At that moment, they heard the voice of the referee say “With a surprising turn of events, the final player has entered the field and has joined the Surds. Raids, you better get ready because it looks like pain is about to get to you.” When the referee finished speaking, the students on the Surds side clapped and cheered loudly. They were quite glad that he was there and now watched with expectancy to see what he was going to do. The Raids were stunned by the referee’s words, but their king was not. She had quickly recovered the initial shock of finding out that he had joined the Surds team. Just like all the girls around, she was curious about him, but now she treated him like an enemy. “Hey! What are you doing?!” she shouted and arose her teammates from their shock. They looked at her as she pointed at him and said “It’s just one man! Take him down! Go!” The girls looked around and faced Lakshman. Seeing him smiling confidently made them feel nervous, but they did as they were ordered. With great surge of power, they charged forward to attack him. Lakshman put his hands inside his pocket and stared at the incoming Raids. Then he flashed a grin and took his hands out of his pockets. He smiled as he folded his arms on his chest and took a stance. “Time to blow them away!” he said softly. Then he screamed “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!” As he screamed, he unfolded his arms and stretched them to both sides of his body. A heavy force of shock and wind soared away and hit the Raids. They were shocked when they suddenly got lifted into the air and were sent flying back to their end. Once they crashed, the people from the Surd side cheered loudly. “D-Dammit!” “What power!” “He blasted us away with nothing, but his energy!” “This is tough…”
The Raids were losing hope from just that attack. Annoyed at how quickly the team was losing hope, Sammy shouted “Stop that thinking! We can win this! Just go out there and do your stuff! Go! Do it!” Surprised by her urging, they finally rose to their feet and faced Lakshman. He knew they were about to take him seriously and will attempt to take him down. He was, however, not phased since he liked the challenge. The Raids began firing energy blasts at him and soon the sky was full of them. Then they quickly followed up by firing beam cannon at him. Every one of the Surds were shocked to see so many attacks raining down on him. Lakshman looked at them and said “Goodie.” As the blasts began soared down at him, he began moving at incredible speed. Using nothing, but his hands, he began deflecting the energy blasts. One by one, the numerous energy blasts got deflected with nothing, but his hands. Just then, the beams of energy soared straight at him. With a slight adjustment to his body, Lakshman began moving his body around with great aerobics. With his leg, he deflected the beam of energy while continuing to deflect the energy blasts with his hands. Once all was clear, Lakshman smiled and quickly gathered energy into the palm of his hands. Then he began firing them at the Raids without aiming. Because of this, he missed every one of them, but the shock it created caused the Raids to get confused. Just then, he heard someone from the Raids shout “Earth Slam!” The ground began to shake beneath their feet. Then a great deal of dust erupted as a portion of the earth elevated into the air. “Oh my god!” “Oh no!” “The earth’s risen!” “Dammit!” “We’re doomed!”
The Surds were screaming in shock at seeing the earth sudden elevate. Lakshman was looked up at the elevated earth, but he quite the opposite reaction. “Wow! That’s cool!” Lakshman shouted with a grin on his face. Then the earth came down and slammed where he was standing. The impact it caused was so violent, the entire arena shook. Many of the spectators fell out of their seats and hit the ground from the sheer impact of earth hitting earth. The cloud of dust, that erupted when the elevated earth slammed, cleared. Everyone was stunned to see that Lakshman was not standing there. They had thought they had defeated him, but no one saw him appear outside the field. This caused them confusion until someone looked high up at the sky and saw something strange. “He’s up in the sky!” “In the sky?” “What?!” “No way!” All eyes turned to look at the sky. Sure enough, they saw him hovering high up in the sky. They could not believe anyone would be able to fly or even got out of that earth slam in time. Floating high up the sky with his arms folded, Lakshman smiled and said “Infinity Step. You’ve got to love it!” He looked down at the people and said “Hey! I’ve got to admit, using Earth Slam was impressive! I could’ve been in real trouble if I hadn’t used Infinity Step to get up here!” Then there was a noise of shock when they heard what he shouted. “Infinity Step?!” “Seriously?! “No way!” “You mean the King ranked Transport Magic Spell?!” “But how?!”
“Is he King ranked in everything?!” Lakshman heard the shocked voices and laughed. Then he unfolded his arms and raised his right hand. “Time to end this!” he said softly. Then he shouted “Positron Lancer!” In an instant, he erupted in a great surge of power. Then the energy began flowing to his arm and started to form something. It soon began to spark as a thin form of a lance appeared. The energy lance was glowing in blue energy and he aimed it at the Raids. “So sorry I’m not holding back, but I have a promise to keep to a dear friend of mine!” Lakshman said apologetically. With great surge of power, he unleashed the energy lance by throwing it at the spot the Raids were standing. The Raids did not know what he threw at them, but they knew they will not be able to escape it. So they decided to stand their ground and fire the best energy attacks they could against it. The Positron Lancer soared through down and slammed into the ground. For a moment, nothing happened as everyone witnessed what it looked like. Then there was a violent flash of blue light followed by an enormous explosion that rocked the entire stadium. “Oh my god! What power!” Spectra shouted in a shocked voice. Carmila, the Astra Academy Principal, was laughing hysterically as she, the teachers and students desperately held onto their seats. The sheer might of the wind and force unleashed from the impact of Lakshman’s attack was unbelievable. “I thought he was super powerful, but not this overpowered!” she screamed which no one heard. Finally, everything began to settle down. The cloud of dust risen in to the air slowly cleared. Once the dust cleared, everyone could see the field. All the players from the Raids team have disappeared. This only left the Surds. They were surprised to see Lakshman standing in front of the four girls with his hand out. It looked like he had his arm out and created a very powerful barrier that defend himself and his team against such an intense attack.
“Force Wall! Never fails to protect me and my comrades,” Lakshman said cheerfully as he released it. He turned around and asked “Are you all alright?” Mercia glared at him as she got to her feet and said “After enduring an explosive power that could’ve destroyed the entire arena… Yeah! I think I’m okay!” Lakshman chuckled and said “Sorry, but those girls were strong so I went a little overboard with my powers.” “A little? You call that a little?!” she exclaimed when she pointed at the destruction behind him. Just then, the referee spoke loud and clear so that everyone heard her properly. After an exhausting battle, the final victors of the first competition of this week are the Surds!” With the announcement, the members of the Surds let out a roar of cheer and clapping could be heard. The Raids did not join in and were looking disappointed with their defeat. Even their king, Sammy Lagram, was looking glum at being defeated like that. Seeing them looking so sad, Lakshman thought “I’ll have to cheer them up somehow…” As the cheers continued, Lakshman turned around and suddenly found himself facing the princess. Venezuela was smiling at him as she held out her hand for him to shake. “Thank you for your assistance,” she said and she smiled at him. Mesmerised by her smile, Lakshman said “It my pleasure, princess,” and he shook her hand firmly by smiling back at her. Thus, the Surds team won the difficult competition with the timely arrival of Lakshman.
Phoenix Rising Chapter 201 Protocol Annoyance The next morning, Lakshman met up with Ondine, Tetra, Emilia and Cantia. Yesterday night, he contacted them through the use of telepathy and told them to be there. He had some business to do and he wanted to go together with the girls and he was feeling lonely without them. It almost took an hour before they finally arrived. Ondine, Tetra and Emilia were panting when they finally reached him. Cantia was the only one who was very energetic when she saw him. “Master!” she cried and quickly moved forward to hug him. He chuckled and said “Hello, Cantia! It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” “It sure has, master. I missed you!” Cantai said and she looked at him with a sad face. “Aww… There, there…” he said and he patted her which made her smile happily. Finally catching their breath, Ondine, Tetra and Emilia looked unhappy. They were displeased that Cantia took a jump start in getting near master. Lakshman noticed this and, from past experiences, knew how to solve the matter of their glaring at him. “Come here and give me a hug!” he said happily. The girls did just that and they all hugged each other happily. Due to his tallness and arm length, Lakshman managed to hug them all. He felt really happy when he felt the warmth of the girls he had lived with for three years. The guards, who were guarding the entrances to Astral Academy, glared at them. “You five! Take you romance elsewhere! You’re an eyesore to all bachelors!” one guard said irritably. “Oh. Right! Sorry!” All five of them apologised and went on their way. Lakshman walked in the middle with Ondine and Emilia on his left while Tetra and Cantia walked on his. At one point, the girls were bickering about who gets to be next to him and he solved this by simply placed his arms over their shoulders.
“You’re lucky I’m tall,” he said and they laughed. Together, they walked down the streets filled with people. Many glances were thrown in their direction as they were surprised to see a man surrounded by four girls. Many of the men watched with jealousy as Lakshman, Ondine, Emilia, Tetra and Cantai made their way through the crowd filled street. “Everyone is jealous,” Emilia said as she looked around while they walked. “Naturally! Those dumb heads are not as handsome as our master and they know it!” Ondine said happily. “Ondine, that’s rude to talk about strangers like that,” Tetra said sternly. “So what? These people with all their might and strength can only afford one wife while master’s fine with taking care of all of us!” “I’m fine with it, but sometimes I have to wonder what I’ve gotten myself into whenever you start arguing,” Lakshman said which made Cantia laugh. “Master is the best!” Cantia said happily. Lakshman laughed and said “Okay, okay… Geez. Stop praising me so much.” After laughing for a bit, Emilia asked him “You said you had something to talk to with Felix. What is it about, master?” “I’ll get to it, but don’t you think you girls should stop calling me ‘master’ all the time?” Lakshman asked curiously. “Eh? B-But… We’re…” Emilia said uncertainly. “You might be slaves, but officially we’re lovers. If we’re lovers, should’ve we start acting like one? Being constantly called ‘master’ is actually making me feel like we are not lovers at all!” Lakshman said severely. “Oh… Now that you mention it, I guess it sort of became a bad habit to call you like that,” Tetra said as she looked at them. “Okay then! It shall be Lucky then! Right, Lucky?” Cantia asked readily with a grin on her face.
“Good, Cantia. Now why don’t the rest of you follow Cantia’s example?” Lakshman asked the rest of them. “W-Well… Calling you ‘Lucky’ is a bit… Uh…” Emilia said nervously. He looked at her curiously and asked “What? You don’t think I’m lucky?” Then he sighed and said “I’m lucky to have you girls all loving me so much. I’m pretty lucky to be born to two wonderful parents. I’m seriously lucky to even possess the awesome powers of the Phoenix Titan! So yeah… I’m very lucky!” The girls began to chuckle which surprised him and caused him to look at them in confusion. “What’s so funny?” “It’s just how open you are about everything amazes us, ma- I mean, Lucky,” Emilia said with a smile. Lakshman shrugged and said “I don’t like sneaking around things and stuff. Besides, I’m not the bad guy here.” Ondine laughed and said “I think you might be considering you used techniques that possibly could’ve destroyed cities and arenas very easily!” At those words, Lakshman groaned and said “Yeah… Sorry about that.” Emilia quickly realised the topic was heading in a bad direction and decided to change topics. “So ma-Lucky. Why are you going to meet Felix?” she asked him quickly. “I wanted to speak to Felix about a certain matter about that weekly competition.” “Eh?” “Something about it is strange and I want to know about it.” “Strange? In what way, Lucky?” “I… I’m not exactly sure what it is, but I feel I’ll get more answers if I met with Felix and talked with him about it.” Ondine looked at him curiously and asked “Couldn’t you have talked to the principal about it?”
Lakshman nodded at Ondine and said “Of course, I did, but she just told me to speak to Felix about it. That’s why I’m walking all this way to speak with him.” “Oh. I see now,” Ondine said and she nodded in understanding. They walked through the crowded streets, turning corners and changing directions until they finally arrived at their destination; the castle. The last they remembered, Felix was assigned to working there instead of working from the village of the Phoenix Clan. When Lakshman spoke with the guards at the castle entrance, they said “You’re not allowed!” “Huh? Why now? I came out of these castle gates not too long ago and you’re suddenly saying I’m not allowed to enter?!” Lakshman demanded in a frustrated voice. The guard stood firmly and said “I’m sorry, but you must follow protocol if you wish to meet people.” “Like I said, we came here only like seven days ago and you’re saying we’re not allowed to see him?” Lakshman asked in annoyance. The guard shook his head and said “The Phoenix Emperor is a very important person and will not meet any random person.” “R-Random person?!” Cantia exclaimed in disbelief and she glared at him in frustration. “Cool it, Cantia,” Lakshman said quickly when he saw her eyes slowly turning into their beast shapes. Lakshman faced the guard and wanted to try one last time. “Look. I wish to speak with the Phoenix Emperor about something important concerning the Astral Academy Weekly Joint Lessons. Now please let us through because the principal, Carmela Chaikin, has given me permission to meet with him.” The guard suddenly looked annoyed and he said “I’m sorry, but without following proper protocol and making appointments, we are letting you in! Now go away!” Lakshman got annoyed by how stubborn the guard was. He knew he could get in if he used the authority of the Phoenix Titan, but Felix strictly told him to not use it. So he was stuck with no way of meeting Felix with. Along with that, he did not particularly like protocol due to tedious work and effort.
Ondine got very angry with the way the guard was talking to Lakshman. She was always a hot tempered girl who never bothered to control it. Seeing how her beloved person is being denied, caused that anger of hers to rise to the surface. “I think it’s better if you show some respect!” Ondine said in a dangerous voice. Lakshman and Tetra quickly grabbed Ondine by her arms and pulled her back. “Ondine, stop. We’re not here to fight,” Tetra told her firmly. “He’s disrespecting Lucky! I won’t tolerate this!” Ondine told her with a frustrated expression on her face. At that moment, there was the sound of a girl’s voice from behind them. Lakshman looked surprise when he heard the voice and immediately realised who it might be. “What’s going on here?” Then all turned around and saw princess Venezuela standing there. Standing next to her was Mercia and she had her eyes narrowed when she saw Lakshman. It looked like she still did not trust him and he felt it as well. “Ah, princess and Mercia!” the guards said and they bowed to them. As the guards straightened up, Venezuela looked between them, Lakshman’s group and back. She could tell something happening to see the annoyed expressions on their faces. “What’s happening here?” A guard stepped forward and said “You see, princess. This fellow here claims he is here to see the Phoenix Emperor without any show of protocol or appointment.” “Oh,” Venezuela looked surprised. She turned to him and asked “Does Felix know you are going to visit him?” Lakshman gulped and shook his head. “I see…” Venezuela said and she nodded her head in understanding. Then she said “Phintex Raja!” At that moment, a Phintex Raja appeared out of nowhere and was kneeling near the princess.
“Inform the Phoenix Emperor that Lakshman Reddy has come to visit him.” “Yes, princess,” the Phintex Raja said with a woman’s voice. The Phintex Raja warped out of there and disappeared. Then there was silence for a few minutes as they waited for her return. The silence was finally broken when the Phintex Raja appeared and she was not the only one. A black hole suddenly appeared behind the guards and Felix Phoron walked out. Lakshman was surprised to see him wearing an annoyed expression on his face. “Princess Venezuela, it is great to see you!” Felix said when he stopped and bowed before her. “The same goes for me, but Lakshman says he has something to talk to you,” Venezuela said and he indicated towards Lakshman. “I see,” Felix said with a nod and he turned to face Lakshman. Then he asked “Is it private business?” Lakshman opened his mouth and hesitated. Then he simply nodded because he felt his mouth go dry for some strange reason. “I see. Okay then. Just follow me through the portal and we’ll arrive at my office,” Felix said and he indicated the black portal still active. Venezuela turned to look at Lakshman and said “I’ll catch you later, Lakshman.” “Ah. Yes,” Lakshman said simply when he caught the suspicious expression on Mercia’s face. “Thank you for your help, princess,” Emilia said with a bow of her head and the others did the same. “Let’s go,” Felix said as the guards finally stepped aside to let him go through. Felix glanced at the guards who nodded and stepped aside. They wore firm expressions on their faces, but Lakshman could see the guilt in their eyes. The guards never expected that the Phoenix Emperor, including the princess, would help out. Lakshman, Ondine, Tetra, Emilia and Cantia followed after Felix. Once they stepped into the portal and disappeared, it slowly shrunk and vanished into thin air.
Phoenix Rising Chapter 202 Resolving Calendar Ideas Out of the other side of the portal, they arrived inside Felix’s office. They were surprised to find it more cluttered than it was the last time they saw it. Six boxes were stacked near his desk while papers strew across the floor. “This is a mess!” Ondine commented as she and the “Look at all the paper!” Cantia commented while she looked around. Felix chuckled and said “Please don’t mind the paper and boxes. Actually, sit on the boxes. We’re going to recycle them anyway so they aren’t anything important in them.” “You want us to sit on paper made from trees? Seriously, Felix?” Lakshman asked him with both of his eyebrows raised. Felix nodded and said “Good. Anyway, give me a minute while I send all these boxes away.” He ordered several Phintex Rajas and had them take the boxes out of the room. Like following a prearranged chain of commands, the Phintex Rajas proceeded to take all the six boxes out of the room for recycling. As the boxes were taken away, Felix produced four glasses from under his desk. He walked over to the sink and washed them briefly before returning and handing them to the girls. Then he pulled out a juice drink which was labelled “Stylish Mangos.” “Stylish Mangos?” Emilia asked curiously as she look at the bottle. “Yeah! It tastes really good. It’s pretty popular in the market even though it just got released like three days ago!” “Let me guess, Wolfenstine made it,” Lakshman said as with an expression that made it look like he already knew it. Surprisingly, Felix shook his head and said “It’s one of Wolfenstine’s ex-student called Mark Storm. He just got here and started his mango business, but the sales are rocketing! I hear he’s received more than hundred customers and he’s started constructing a drink store for the mangos.”
“Um… Is this like alcohol where people get drunk drinking mango instead of… you know… dangerous drinks?” Lakshman asked curiously which made Felix laugh. “Anyway, you girls have some drink while I and Lucky fix up the floors.” “Hah? Why me?” “Oh, come on! It’s been a week since I last saw you and I want to see how you’re training’s coming along,” Felix said and he smiled at him. Lakshman smiled back and said “I see. So a competition to see who picks up the most papers using Infinity Step. I’m in!” “Okay. Go!” Felix said and the race began. Both Felix and Lakshman zoomed around the room in a flash. To any untrained eyes, they would simply hear the sound of footsteps while not being able to see them. Even trained eyes of Ondine, Tetra, Emilia and Cantia had trouble keeping up with their movement as the boys picked up all the papers off the floor. While they were racing each other, the Stylish Mango floated around and poured a minimum amount into the girls’ drinks. Looking into their glasses, they were surprised to see that the drink were green coloured. They glanced at each other and then shrugged their shoulders before drinking it in one gulp. “Wow! This is really good!” Ondine exclaimed and she smacked her lips in delight. “Tasty…!” Tetra said and she had a look of amazement on her face. “Cool! This drink is so tasty and cool!” Emilia said Cantia, on the other hand, did not say anything. She just closed her eyes and remained silently. As the other three girls turned to look at her, she flashed her eyes open and said “More, more, more! I want more!” The other girls laughed at hearing her response and they went for a second. A few minutes later, both Felix and Lakshman came to a stop. The two of them slammed the heavy load of papers down on the desks as soon as they collected all the papers off the ground. The two of them looked at each other grins on their faces while breathing quickly. “How many did you manage to collect?” Felix asked Lakshman.
“I got nine-hundred-and-eighty,” Lakshman said. Then he smiled and asked “How about you?” Felix groaned and said “Mine add up to nine-hundred-and-seventy-six…!” Lakshman could not believe it and he laughed before saying “Ha! Ha! Lost by four papers! That is funny!” “Give me two so we can make this even!” Felix said, but he was grinning and Lakshman grinned back. Then Felix said “Alright, then. Phintex Rajas! Come and collect more papers for recycling, please.” Four Phintex Rajas appeared and they split the load between them. Then they bowed to Felix and warped out of the room. Once all done, Felix and Lakshman sat down in chairs and breathed quickly. “Not bad, but I think you haven’t gotten any faster than last time,” Felix said to Lakshman. “Yeah, but I’ve been busy with studies. You know the deal; homework, assignments and more to read and learn,” Lakshman said in a tired voice. “Yeah, I know what you mean, but don’t sound so tired. This is only the first week for crying out loud. If you’re tired already, you’ll never make it to the end of term in three months’ time.” “All because there are twelve weeks per term. Then we only have a month of break before we get back to school. Just great. “You need to feel happy. Each week, you’re getting four days of break after six days of school days. You should be glad.” “Yeah, but the break is usually spent on homework and more stuff to study for next week. My Magic, Energy and Weapons teacher gave us so much to do, I’m tired just thinking about it! Don’t you agree with me?” He had turned to ask the girls and they all nodded at him. It seems the work given out for the classes in Class 1C is a bit less than for those in Class 1A. It was making him work so hard every day and in during the free time he got, he did not have time to get together with his lovers. “On top of that, I’m even forgetting what day it is now thanks to how busy I’ve gotten. In fact, if the principal hadn’t called me and informed me about the competition yesterday, I would’ve gone to school yesterday and today, then later wonder why no one showed up for class.”
“Lucky, now that’s just silly. Throughout the years, people have done the same things as you and the rest of your school mates are doing right now. So only you facing this trouble is a bit… you know...”’ Lakshman shrugged his shoulders and said “I know, I know. I’m well aware of it, but I thought there should be a simpler way of knowing what day it is instead of having to keep track of counting the days! I never noticed this because I didn’t have anything real important to do for so long.” Felix chuckled and asked “So how do you suggest we make it easier then?” “Well… I actually didn’t come to speak about it, but… whatever!” Lakshman said and he jerked his shoulder and decided to speak about the main matter later. Then he said “How about we name the ten days of each week?” Felix looked surprised and asked “Eh? Name the days?” “Yeah! Like today is… uh… Barrit. Tomorrow is… um… Tygon and the next day will be Gabit. Because, as we all know, ten days from now, those names will come in the same order; Barrit, Tygon and Gabit. Actually, here’s my full list for the full ten days! Please pass me a paper.” Felix looked surprised, but he took out a spare paper from a drawer and handed it to him. Lakshman took the paper and the pen Felix provided him with. Then he began to list down the names of each day. 1. Mondus 2. Dengum 3. Samen 4. Foden 5. Jeybun 6. Sadet 7. Barrit 8. Tygon 9. Gabit 10.Haket Once he was done writing them, he passed them back to Felix. He looked at the sheet of names for each of the ten days per week. As he did, Lakshman spoke about it.
“Each week contains ten days which means each consists of forty days. With the number of days per month multiplied by the months per year, which is nine, we get the total number of days per year, which is three-sixty days. Just from these mere ten days, we can label the ten days of each week for an entire year!” Felix was nodding his head as he slowly understood the plan Lakshman had in mind. He basically wanted to create a daily labelled system where people know what they it is. This enables anyone to easily recognise when what day it is today, tomorrow or in the near future which also helps in looking back days. Ondine, Tetra, Emilia and Cantia looked amazed at the information Lakshman was proving Felix with. They and everyone around the world relied on the counting of day’s system instead of naming them. Felix looked back at Lakshman and asked “This is a good plan, but how do you plan on implementing it? I mean… I could talk to the court and convince them to accepting this method of day’s system, but… how do you expect the people to keep track of them so easily?” Lakshman smiled and said “Use a Yearly Calendar.” “Use a… what?” Lakshman went to speak and suddenly felt his throat go dry. With a request and a glass, the girls poured him some juice which they also did for Felix. Lakshman slowly drank the juice and really liked the taste, but he was in a serious mood and he quickly set it down to continue speaking. “At home, we own a calendar that shows the year and the day. Like, if I remember correctly, the calendar would be read today as the hundred-and-twelfth of Aporos. Yet, the format of how the year, month and day are used constantly get changed each time I see it in different places like the Adventurers Guild and Hospital.” “So what you’re saying is that you want only one standard format of the date, time and year?” Lakshman nodded and said “Exactly! I’m getting tired of trying to figure out what is this, what is that and that hellish what is what stuff! That’s why I want a calendar system that follows a well formatted and laid out calendar system than the randomness that people come up with!” Felix nodded his head at Lakshman as he understood his plan. Then he said “I see that you’re planning something good and I’m sure many will love it, but hey… remember there are two sides of a gold coin. For every good thing, there is a bad thing. There will be those that will be too stubborn to want to change and will fight against it.”
Lakshman looked shocked as he suddenly realised the problem. If the changes are not accepted, it will lead to a confrontation between the people. Through the history books of the past and novels, he was well aware of the kind of damage that will be done if that were to happen. He looked down at his hands and closed his eyes unhappily. At that moment, Lakshman heard the voice of the Decisive Player speak in his mind. It had been a while since he heard the powerful voice of the one being who holds a great amount of wisdom. “Difficulty occur all the time when changes and made, especially ones that are greatly disliked. This sparks the aggressive confrontation that brings out the old hatred and disputes. The eventuality will lead to a Civil War.” Lakshman opened his eyes and suddenly found himself standing in a space covered in light while everything around was shrouded in darkness. He looked ahead and saw himself standing there, but he knew it was the Decisive Player standing there with his appearance. “A Civil War?! No way! D-Doesn’t that mean… um… uh…” The Decisive Player, who had his arms folded, chuckled and said “It will be repeat of the full scale war between the races that occurred eight-thousand years ago. It took the life of the Phoenix Titan and the summoned World Guardians to finally put an end to the war!” Lakshman looked amazed before he looked confused and asked “You know that I still don’t know who these World Guardians, right?” The Decisive Player smiled and said “The World Guardians are mythological and historical heroes that came and went since ancient times. They were the legendary figures that risked their lives for honour, respect, life and truth. This eventually led them to join the World Guardians that were created by the Mythological Gods of Freedom and Justice.” “I see… So the Phoenix Titan, before me, sacrificed his life in order to summon them. If that happened again… would I be able to do it…? I wonder if I can do it.” The Decisive Player remained silent for a moment. Then he said “The truth of the matter is, the Phoenix Titan had the power to stop the racial wars, but that was it. Something had happened that forced him to resort to that desperate measures. Something that happened eight-thousand years ago which I cannot remember.”
“Oh right. You told me this about you not being able to remember and how we were split because of whatever happened at that time,” Lakshman said. Then he smiled and said “Which is how you became the Decisive Player and I became the Innocent Player.” The Decisive Player chuckled and said “In any case, the Phoenix Titan stands for freedom and justice which also includes the balance of the world. It’s like the sun and the moon which always goes around the world daily. If there was only one without the other, the balance is broken and the world will head towards destruction.” “I know I have to keep the balance, but what about clashing of opinions? What do I do when that happens? Force them? Make them?” The Decisive Player did not immediately reply, but he looked at Lakshman in silence. It looked like he was making up his mind about something. Then he nodded his head as if he made a decision. “Regardless of what people think, feel and act, you are still the Phoenix Titan. Your duty is towards the world and to retain that balance. If the people do not heed your advice and believe you are a stupid moron, then hit them back.” “Eh?” “Over the course of history, many such problems occurred. So much pointless destruction and countless loss of life. Even so, the Phoenix Titan and his allies persisted to push for a peaceful solution. Always keep in mind that a peaceful solution only comes through reasoning and understanding.” “What if words fail and they start raising their fists?” ”If you raise your fist to fight, then you are no better than those wild monkeys that swing off trees and scratch their armpits! Don’t care! Throw them away! The lives of the innocent and the world come first! Remember… Remember… Remember…” The Decisive Player’s voice became distant and distance as the light glowed brighter and brighter. Lakshman finally found an answer to the problem of conflict. He opened his eyes and looked up. Every one of them were looking at him anxiously. “Did you fall asleep or something? Just say it. I’m boring and I’ll happily accept it,” Felix told him with a grin on his face. Lakshman laughed and said “No. I was thinking about it and I finally got my answer.”
“Which is?” Lakshman firmly faced Felix and said “I will face any and all challenges, whether they are big or small, through reasoning and understanding. Even if feelings and emotions outweigh the logical reasons, I will stand firm for what is right no matter what!” “Even if something as simple as this might end up getting as big as turning you into someone the people hate?” Felix asked curiously. “Even so, my answer will not change. I will give you the same answer as I have given today,” Lakshman said firmly. Felix looked at him intently for a few seconds in silence. He could see the strong determination in his eyes and the firmness in his face. Lakshman had resolved himself to it and he was fine with it. “Alright. I’ll get to speak with the rest of the Phoenix Clan. Then we will prepare for the declaration of the new calendar system. Okay?” “Sure!” Lakshman said and he nodded at him. Felix nodded back and he took the piece of paper from him. He took the pen and wrote down the list of what should be done. Then he placed it inside his drawer. “Do you have any more ideas? Any other ideas to benefit the world, society, people and races?” Felix finally asked once he closed the drawer. For a moment, Lakshman pondered about it. They all watched him curiously as if he was going to come up with something else. “I’ll… think about it and let you know when I find think up more,” he said before smiling happily.
Phoenix Rising Chapter 203 Nobility Ranking System “So what did you come to talk to me about?” Felix asked to move the subject onward. “Ah. It’s about the tournament… um… the competition we had yesterday,” Lakshman said vaguely. “You mean the Joint Lesson,” Tetra suggested and he nodded at her. “That’s right! That Joint Lesson, although we didn’t exactly learn stuff except fight so I’m conflicted whether to call it a lesson or just a competition.” “Some call it a competition while others correctly call it the Joint Lesson. You can choose to use whichever terms you’d like, but it doesn’t matter. You are learning by fighting each other and seeing your opponents react with the knowledge of seeing the potential of your classmates,” Felix said helpfully. “I see. I thought something like that was the case, but I feel there are some thing happening behind the scenes that I’m not aware of. Care to explain to me?” Lakshman asked Felix while he watched him intently. “Something behind the scenes? Whatever could you possibly mean by that?” Felix asked and he looked a little confused. “Like… When the Raids team lost to us, the Surds, they looked really unhappy.” “Isn’t that simply because they just lost the match? How can you expect your opponents to start cheering for you right after losing a match?” “I’m aware of that, but throughout the years of experiencing and competing in many of the competitions around my village, I saw the adults always being happy. Even when we lost several of the matches, we still felt happy for the other team. Here, the Raids team members were pretty unhappy and even threw strange glances towards me.” Felix shook his head and said “Lucky, that’s optimistic. You can’t expect every one of your opponent to feel happy like you. Regular people aren’t exceptional with their feelings like the rest of us.”
“You know… I would’ve thought the same thing if it weren’t for the fact that I heard them. Yesterday evening, I was in the library looking up the textbook that explains about how swords are manufactured. Then I saw them, huddled in a corner and muttering to each other,” Lakshman told him. Felix shrugged his shoulders and said “They’re probably there to do some work. Like you said, there’s a lot of homework to get through, right?” “I know, but I felt a dark aura emanating from them and heard some really... um… creepy words.” “Like what?” “Like… ‘Let’s beat them!’ or ‘We’ll come first!’ or ‘Time to do our best!’ or similar ones like that.” Felix chuckled and said “Lucky… They are just being very determined about winning the competition. There’s nothing to feel suspicious about that… Really!” Felix was chuckling as he thought that was funny, but Lakshman did not find it funny. When he was there, he had a strange sense of a weird dark power emanating from them. It reminded him of the time when a Dark Spirit was born in the heart of Emilia before he and the Decisive Player destroyed it. Lakshman couched and said “Yes. I’m sure it’s just them being extremely determined, but why? Why so determined to win a stupid competition? Shouldn’t they be focusing all their energies on passing the exams? Isn’t that the real big deal of the academy or am I missing something here?” For the first time, Felix did not respond and fell silent instead. He stopped smiling and wore a grim expression on his face as he and Lakshman stared at each other. Ondine, Tetra, Emilia and Cantia suddenly felt the atmosphere, in the room, change as they looked between the two. “Felix… Just why do those girls take those competitions so seriously instead of their subjects? It’s only been one week and I can tell something is off about that weekly competition. Even the principal didn’t tell me properly before she told me to speak to you about it.” Felix looked away as he made an irritation sound with his mouth. “Damn Carmila…!” he said in an annoyed voice. Then he turned back to Lakshman and said “Lucky, you don’t worry about the students. They will be fine with the way things are
progressing. I’m glad you won, but you’re sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong. So stop worrying about unnecessary stuff and go back to your studies.” Lakshman breathed a sigh in disbelief. Then he looked Felix firmly in the eyes and said “Seriously? Is this because you think I can’t handle tough stuff? Come on, Felix! You know I’ve been to the top of a Labyrinth Tower which was annoying! I’ve gone alone to the Monster Dungeon boss floor and defeated the boss and now I’m practically rich even though I’m not living it.” “Master, I think you’re mistaken in the sense of what is difficult and what is insane,” Tetra said as she smiled at him. “Yeah! I clearly remember master and his torn up clothes come back with an Item Box full of gold coins!” Cantia said and her eyes were suddenly shining for some reason. “You two, give it a rest. Master just accidentally ended up reaching the Boss Room and defeated that really large Minotaur!” Emilia said as she scowled at Tetra and Cantia. “Oh yeah. It carried that battle axe which carried the Power of Inferno. Additionally, it was also protected by this Divine Protection of the Wind thing. I didn’t even realise why I kept getting blown off my feet until the Decisive Player told me about it!” Lakshman said in an annoyed voice. “Even so, you defeated it and all by yourself!” Odnine said proudly. Then she added “Even though you nearly lost your left arm and Lakshmi got really mad at you for that.” “Yeah… Mum got really angry about that,” he said and laughed. Then he turned back to Felix and said “See, Felix. I managed to do all that and you’re thinking I can’t handle whatever is going on?” Felix, who had started to smile, said “You’re exceptionally good at battles, but suck at theoretical stuff!” “What?!” Lakshman exclaimed in shock. He pointed at the drawer where Felix put the calendar idea away and said “I thought that up and I’m slowly getting a few other ideas as well.” Felix waved his hand and said “This is not as simple as modifying the calendar and its format. This is politics that you’re going to be messing with!” “P-Politics?” Lakshman asked and he suddenly felt uncertainty fill his heart.
“That’s right. It’s known as the Nobility Ranking System which should be self-explanatory.” “It is, but why rank the nobles? I don’t get it. What’s the purpose of using such a system?” “The purpose of this ranking is to allocate the authority one possess. So the higher ranked you are, the more authority you possess. So far, there are around seventy nobles and some others who’ve just recently reached the nobility rank. Now their kids are trying to retain their nobility and even go higher up the rank, but there is a catch.” “Those that are aligned with princess Venezuela will be in a stable position. It’s only those that are opposite them that will have to try really hard to go up the nobility rank.” Lakshman’s eyes widened in shock. He recalled the desperation of the Raids team and its members as they fought for victory. This little information that Felix passed onto him made him realise something else. If he had not joined the battle, they would have won and would certainly have gone up the ranks. “No way… So all of this mess started because of… me? Damn…!” Lakshman exclaimed as he looked and felt very unhappy. “It’s okay and it’s certainly not your fault. You didn’t know and Ondine or the girls wouldn’t have been able to tell you anyway since they didn’t know either. The Nobility Ranking System is a secret system which Floria Kingdom uses, but we’re not alone. Roxfox Kingdom, Mardana Kingdom and Ashtra Kingdom use the same system.” What…? Even them?” Lakshman asked in a surprised voice. Felix nodded and said “Two years ago, after the attack of the Demon Emperor and army, the four kingdoms came together to talk. The talks took place in a secret location and it was hectic. Nobles of all types kept bombarding each other about the recent ruckus in Floria.” “Must have been one hell of a meeting,” Ondine commented in an understanding voice. “It sure was and they were even intending to take on arms to fight each other. Then the king of Mardana, Grom Gramstone, suggested the idea to use Nobility Ranking System to assign powers instead of constantly fighting amongst each other. ‘Have our children do the fighting for us’ was what he said.” “That is nasty! This is insane, but what were you doing at that time? Sleeping?” Lakshman asked irritably.
Felix looked unhappy and said “I was there, yes, but what did you expect me to do? My role, as the Phoenix Emperor, is to stop conflict, solve matters and perform other actions following the protocol. What do you think I could’ve done when the four kingdoms agreed on it?” “But that stupid system is putting unnecessary stress on the children! You’re making them fight desperately for no damn reason! This is literally like a survival of the fittest game! The strongest will survive and the weak will perish! That’s the kind of ideology that inspires this sort of stupidity and you’re okay with that?” Felix looked down and sadly said “I know, I know and I also feel you’re anger. I share your very sentiment, but… I just don’t have the authority to meddle into this politics. That’s why I didn’t want to tell you about it. I knew you will dislike it since your father is the same.” “What’s my dad got to do with this?” Lakshman asked him quickly. Felix looked at him in surprise and asked “You don’t know? Hasn’t he told you yet?” “Told me what? What didn’t he tell me, Felix? Did he know something about this?” Felix shook his head and said “No, but… mmm… I think its best you ask him directly instead of me having to tell you everything. Besides, it’s nearly been a week since you came. I think it’s time you mailed them. I’ll have one of my Phintex Raja to deliver it for you.” Lakshman waved his hand and said “Thanks, but it’s okay. I’ll just use the normal method of mailing letters. Might take weeks or months, but I’m patient. Anyway, I’m going to be really busy with studies and I’m sure I’ll forget about it until the mail returns.” “That’s what happens when you’re so busy that you start losing track of time,” Felix said and he smiled. Lakshman nodded and silence fell within the room once more. For a few seconds, none of them talked and they just sat there as the silence enveloped them. The silence was finally broken by Lakshman returning to the main topic and asking Felix “So there’s nothing you can do about possibly removing this stupid Nobility Ranking System?” “I wish I can, I seriously do, but my authority does not supersede the authority of the king,” Felix said in an annoyed voice. Then he saw Lakshman opening his mouth and guessed what he was about to ask and answered it before him.
“Yes, the Phoenix Clan does officially rule over the Floria Kingdom, but that’s only to keep order and balance. We don’t own the place and all, otherwise we wouldn’t need to live outside in a secure location. Along with that, our authority only supersedes kings when they are doing something wrong.” “So you’re saying this ranking system is not wrong?” Emilia asked curiously. Felix waved his hands above his head and said “It is wrong, but when more than one kingdom agreed to it, there’s nothing I can do, but make sure it proceeds smoothly. Other than that, I can try convincing the king and that’s about it. I can’t force the matter in any way…!” “You are weak, Felix! You’re the Phoenix Emperor! You should just go and take it down like a champ!” Ondine said in an unimpressed voice as she starred at him. “Oh geez… Lucky, you’re girlfriends are turning into your mother and Rasha!” Felix said to Lakshman. Hearing his words made Ondine, Tetra and Emilia to blush deeply. Cantia, however, was smiling happily with a silly expression on her face. “Maybe, but that doesn’t matter right now. You’re saying you can’t do it. So maybe I can do it instead.” Everyone in the room looked surprised and exclaimed “Huh?” “Um… I don’t mean to be rude, but how are you planning on doing it?” Tetra asked hesitantly. “That’s right, Lucky. Although you are a noble, you’re a lower ranked noble right now. No one will pay any attention to what you have to say and might even laugh at you. You should actually be glad no one’s realised who you are.” “I’m sorry, Felix, but I made a promise to a friend that I won’t hold back! There’s no way I can turn back on that promise just because of some silly thing about minding my own business! I’ll have to handle this as the Phoenix Titan!” Felix looked alarmed and said “Lucky, your duty doesn’t-!” He was suddenly cut across by Lakshman as he said “I know very well my duty is towards the world and not the people, but I cannot just stand back and pretend I don’t know what’s happening. Knowing the injustice taking place right in front of me and pretending I know nothing about it is the same as criminal activity!”
Felix’s eyes widened in shock. He had seen this sort of personality switch whenever Lakshman transformed into the Phoenix Titan form. Here, however, he still appeared in his normal form, but it looked like his personality took the strong form whenever he was firm on something. “You know that you’ll expose yourself by doing this, right? People will swarm all over you, try to get your attention and everything. Are you ready for that?” Lakshman shrugged his shoulders and said “If they’re that eager to know about me, I guess I’ll just have to answer them properly. Besides, what’s the point in hiding myself now when I’ve been making it clear just how strong I am?” “Even though you haven’t touched the truest of the Phoenix Titan powers yet?” Felix asked and they laughed. Then Felix sighed and said “Do what you want to do. You have that freedom as dictated by the God of Freedom, Rumagan.” Lakshman got off the chair and said “Thanks, Felix. Well then, I’ll see you later and thanks for notifying me about this. Now it’s time to show my stuff as the Phoenix Titan.” “Yeah, yeah! Just go back to your dormitory and get your work done before thinking of anything else, Mr. Phoenix Titan! Unlike everyone else, you don’t care about your nobility rank, but make sure to pass the exams!” “I got it, I got it…!” Lakshman said as the girls rose to their feet. “See you later, Felix.” “Goodbye, Felix.” “Have a good day, Felix.” “Bye, bye, Felix.” The girls bid their farewell to Felix and he said “See you later,” before waving his hand in goodbye. Lakshman opened the door and walked out. He stepped aside to let Ondine, Tetra, Emilia and Cantia walk out. Then he closed the door shut and walked towards the place to leave the castle from. “I think we should really go and buy that mango juice!” Emilia suggested. “Yes, we should!” Ondine said immediately.
“I don’t mind drinking from it again,” Tetra said. “More for me!” Cantia said happily. “Seriously! Don’t get addicted to it!” “Geez, master. It’s mango juice. It’s really tasty and good for your health!” Emilia said cheerfully. As they walked away, they began laughing together. They were all happy as they exited through the front doors of the castle. At that moment, a person walked out of the wall. They had been hiding behind Felix’s room wall when she heard them coming out. Now she walked into the open and saw Lakshman going out of the castle. “No way…! Phoenix Titan…? What…?” princess Venezuela asked in a hushed voice with a shocked expression on her face.
Phoenix Rising Chapter 204 Identify Danger In a flash, three weeks went by and time passed quickly. It would pass when students do nothing, but study to get all the work done in time. The teachers of Astral Academy had been giving their students work after work every single day that took more than a week to complete. Lakshman was in his room and was busily writing on his notebook with a pen. Books and papers lay littered on the bed with him having to fold his to straight. Every now and then he would pull a book closer to him and push another book away to read. Following his meeting with Felix three weeks ago, Lakshman managed to find some spare time to write a letter. He addressed the letter to his family by simply finding out how they are doing and if they need anything else from Floria. Additionally, he also asked his father, Indra, a question regarding nobility which Felix did not wish to answer. After sending the letter through the usual mail service, he had not received a reply yet. At first, he did not think much of it since he knew it would take time for mail to get delivered, but soon he forgot he wrote a letter. His studies were making him concentrate very hard. “Jewels embedded into a sword does not make it stronger, but makes it heavier. On the other hand, magic crystals have properties to enhance the sword and will be useful,” Lakshman muttered as he wrote the words he spoke. Then he paused to think about what he wrote and nodded in satisfaction. Then he started writing while muttering “Comparing the usability of a sword and a spear, I would recommend!” At that moment, he suddenly heard a click in his mind which made him jump in surprise. Then he was even more surprised to hear the voice of someone familiar. “Um… Is this Lakshman Reddy?” the voice asked nervously in his mind. “Eh? That voice…!” Lakshman said aloud which the voice did not hear. Then he thought “Is that you, princess Venezuela?” “Ah. Thank goodness I managed to reach you. I was worried I might have accidentally connected to somebody else,” Venezuela said and she sounded relieved.
Lakshman chuckled and thought “Its fine. What did you contact me for, princess?” “I… was wondering if it’s possible to borrow some of your time today.” “B-B-Borrow my time?” Lakshman asked aloud in a surprised voice. He did not quite understand why she would contact him and suddenly ask for his company. From how she sounded, the princess was safe and well. So the reason for her contacting him was a mystery he could not understand. “Borrow my time? What for? You certainly don’t need my help with this week’s comparison of swords and spears, right?” he thought before chuckling sarcastically. He heard her chuckle and say “No. It’s a different matter altogether, but I wish to speak with you privately. Is that alright with you?” “Uh… Sure! I don’t see a problem. Where should we meet, princess?” “Tomorrow, early in the morning, I will come by the boy’s dormitory. Then we can walk go train together while talking, okay?” “Sounds good to me, princess! See you in the morning.” “Have a good night, Lakshman.” With that, the connection ended and Lakshman was alone once more. He was quite surprised the princess bothered to contact him so late in the night. He checked the clock which was eleven-thirty in the night. He looked at the unfinished sentence and he decided he will do it later. Just then, he yawned and became aware of how sleepy he actually felt. “I think I should get to bed now or I’ll be pretty tired for tomorrow,” he said with a sigh of tiredness. “Yes, you certainly will be,” said a familiar voice from above him. He looked up and saw Spectra floating there. Looking at her with her lower body like a white ended tail made him shake his head. “It makes me wonder if ghosts ever need sleep.”
“No, we don’t, but that doesn’t matter. You’re a living being so you should sleep. So hurry up and go to bed!” Spectra said to him sternly. “Geez. You sound like my mother telling me to go to bed early.” “Mothers know best,” Spectra said with smile which made him sigh. He closed all the books and stacked them on the bed side table. Then he rolled over in his bed and quickly fell asleep. The lights slowly dimmed and went out. Spectra lingered for a moment and watched him sleeping peacefully before heading into a cupboard. The next morning, he found Venezuela standing at the front of the boy’s dormitory. She was there, as promised, but he was surprised to not see Mercia with her. “Um… Where’s Mercia?” he asked her curiously while looking around as if she was hiding somewhere. “She won’t be interfering between us,” Venezuela told him with a smile. “Oh. So you told her we’ll be meeting then.” To his surprise, Venezuela shook her head and said “No, I didn’t.” Lakshman widened his eyes slightly and said “Huh? You didn’t?” “I came out of the back window. I’m sure she’s realised by now that I’m gone.” she said before grinning at him. “EH?!” Lakshman exclaimed in shock. Elsewhere, in the girl’s dormitory, Mercia was shouting “No! The princess is gone! The princess is gone! I have failed as a guard! Waaaaaahh…!” Meanwhile, Lakshman correctly guessed what Mercia was going through, he smiled slightly as he said “I think she’s crying right about now.” “That’s fine. She never lets me go freely so she deserves some crying time,” Venezuela said with a smiling face. Then she turned around and said “Let’s go.”
Lakshman chuckled to himself, but was really surprised to see this side of the princess. It looked like she disliked Mercia constantly tailing her and wanted some payback. Which made him realise something. “Wait… Isn’t she basically using me to get her payback?” he thought and his eyes widened in shock. Just then, the princess turned around and asked “Come on, Lakshman or you will delay your morning training!” “Ah! Yes! I’m coming!” Lakshman said and he quickly went after her. “The morning is so beautiful and clean, the fresh air and the flowing of the breeze, ah… the freedom,” Venezuela said as they walked towards the arena. Then she turned to him and asked “It’s great to get out and go do whatever you light, right?” “It certainly is, princess,” he said with a nod of his head. “It naturally is and always will be blissful to be free. No constraints, no restraints and certainly no naggers.” Lakshman looked at her in wonder. He did not understand why she was suddenly speaking like that. Most of the time, she would keep quiet and talk about the school and such. Then he noted that this was the first time he ever spoke to her directly while alone so he decided he was overeating. They continued to walk, she asked him “How is your homework coming along?” He chuckled and said “It’s coming along nicely, but I’m having quite the trouble with explaining the compounding effects of magic spells on magic crystals. I know they are connected, but it’s taking me forever to read the textbook from pages one-thirty to one-forty.” “Haha. I see that you are strong with execution, but not analysing. Maybe you’re just slow at understanding the concepts?” “It… takes me a bit of time to get my head around all that craziness. It’s alright though since I’ve managed to grasp the concept of antimatter which is how I came up with my attack techniques.” “Ah. Now it makes sense how you were capable of using a highly specialised attack. I think it was that attack which took on the form of a lance you constantly use. Um… What was it called again?”
“I simply labelled it the Positron Lancer, princess, although I could’ve named it something else.” Venezuela shook her head and said “No. I think it worked fine with the way it operates, but I’m surprised. You leant the difficult subjects ahead of most of Class A students.” When he chuckled and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, she smiled and said “Perhaps this is why you’re girlfriends call you ‘Lucky’ so fondly.” “Eh? Um… That is…” Lakshman said hesitantly while looking nervous. “Am I wrong?” “Uh… No. You’re right.” “I see. Well, there is no law forcing you to only love one person so you’re not doing anything wrong by having four girlfriends.” “T-Thank you for your kind words, princess.” “It’s alright, but really it comes as no surprise. Everyone has been treating you with high regard and respect. I mean, there aren’t that many who are as strong as you at your current age. So I’m not surprised you got yourself a couple of lovers.” “Oh, you exaggerate. I’m not as strong as everyone makes me out to be.” “Yes, but you did not participate in the battles for the past three weeks. Is there any particular reason for you not playing?” “I was fine with the first one, but thinking about it made me realise I’m too strong. The whole game becomes unfair if I start playing and that’s why I decided to not interfere in a game full of girls.” Venezuela looked surprised by his words and she laughed heartily. After recovering, she smiled at him as she said “Yes… I understand what you mean. You certainly are an overpowering power… Phoenix Titan.” “Eh?” Lakshman came to a stop with a surprised expression on his face. Venezuela came to a stop as well and turned to look at him. She was still smiling even though he no longer smiled.
“Um… I’m sorry, princess, but I believe I misheard you just now. Could you repeat your last line?” he asked her politely with a dreadful feeling in the pit of his stomach. “You certainly are someone with overpowering power, Phoenix Titan,” she told him. He was shocked by her words and the title she had used. Seeing his expression, her smile widened as she said “I am well aware that you are the Phoenix Titan, Lakshman.” Thinking quickly, he decided he will pretend she had mistaken him for somebody else. “Um… I’m sorry, princess, but I think you’re sorely mistaken. I am really strong and powerful, but there’s no way I could be that legendary figure! Besides, I hear that he lives somewhere in Rodfox region right now.” Venezuela shook her head while she continued to smile. Then she said “I heard you and Felix talking three weeks ago about the Nobility Ranking System.” “N-No way…!” Lakshman said in a hushed voice as she stared, wide eyed, at her. “After that, I stayed quiet because I wanted to make sure. Since then, I kept an eye on you and watched you constantly even if you missed it. I recognised the resemblance of the Phoenix Titan from three years ago which also enabled me to finally remember his actual name. Lakshman! You and he have the same name and even your family names are the same!” Lakshman knew he was done for. He had no idea the princess had been covertly observing him and taking notes while studying as well. She even went as far as to research about his background and finally learned the truth. Venezuela walked closer to him and she was no longer smiling. Instead, she had a firm serious expression on her as she stared at him. “Tell me… Why did you hide your title? Were you too afraid to appear in public? Explain!” Lakshman gulped and hesitated for a few seconds. Then he sighed and told her everything about how it was Felix’s plan to keep him under wraps. He went to great lengths to how he initially wanted to follow it, but a promise made to a friend did not let him go easy or hold back. “So a promise to a friend finally did you in…” she said finally once he finished speaking. “Yes, but I’m not regretting. I was planning on revealing my identity in the future when I tackle that Nobility Ranking System. I mean, it’s as stupid as hell while making students fight over
each other! It’s like only the strongest shall survive and the weak will perish! Ridiculous!” he said angrily. He was angry at how things were being run. The principal and even the Phoenix Emperor disliked it, but due to the agreement between the nobles, they had no choice, but to see it through. Being part of the royalty, he was not sure how she will react to what he just said. Surprisingly, Venezuela remained calm and said “Yes. I understand where you are coming from. It is truly a detestable system to make students fight each other instead of having fun together.” Lakshman started to smile, but his hopes were dashed when she sighed and said “Unfortunately, my father, the king, is strict and will not agree to remove it.” “Damn…! So he won’t listen, even if the princess tells him to stop it,” he said unhappily. Venezuela nodded and turned away before saying “The idea originated from the king of Mardana. The Mardana Kingdom has assisted us greatly after the arrival of the demon army invasion. Due to that, my father is not willing to do anything that will make Mardana Kingdom be unhappy with our kingdom.” “I see. So with them playing the role of puppeteers, we cannot do anything… That’s so annoying. This stuffs my plan in the junk…!” Venezuela, from the corner of her eye, saw the displeasure in his face and she silently smiled. There was a plan she was slowly forming, but she needed him to make it happen. “There… is another way to sort this out,” she said quietly, but firmly. “Oh? There is?” Lakshman quickly asked eagerly. She nodded her head with her back still facing him. Then she said “But, for that to work, I will need your help.” “You need my help with something? What is it, princess?” he asked curiously. “Before I tell you, I want you to promise me you won’t say no. If you do say no, I will spread word about you being the Phoenix Titan and make up all sorts of stories to make you look bad!” “Eh?!” Lakshman exclaimed in surprise.
“The news will spread everywhere and people will start looking down on you. You will eventually lose your credibility as the Phoenix Titan and will be forgotten from the world! Heck! They might even start hunting you down like some sort of criminal!” “What?!” He could not believe his ears. The princess was threatening him, the very same princess whom he thought was soft and gentle. She was threatening to make him look bad and turn him into someone bad. “Will you promise? Will you?” she asked him forcefully. Lakshman was troubled because of the threatening words he just heard. The princess still had her back to him and he could feel her impatient growing by the second. His mind was so troubled, he was having trouble thinking straight. Just then, he heard the voice of the Decisive Player say “Well, well, well…! That haughtiness and wanting things to be done her way… So much of her reminds me of ‘her’ from the past.” “Who from the past?” Lakshman thought in confusion. “Never mind. Anyway, what’re you hesitating for? Just promise. Go on.” “But she’s threatening me and… uh…” The Decisive Player laughed before he said “You won’t lose anything by helping her. Believe me. I know.” “Alright. If you’re okay with it, then I’ll do it!” “Well? Will you promise or not?” she asked again impatiently. Lakshman sighed and said “Yes, princess. I promise I won’t say no.” There was a moment of silence before the princess asked “You’re not trying to trick me, are you?” “I swear on my powers that I’m speaking the truth!” he said firmly in a serious voice. “V-Very well… I’m glad to hear you say that.” “Thank you. Now what is it that you want me to do to help you, princess?”
The princess began fidgeting with her fingers nervously. Then she turned around and he was surprised to see that she was blushing with a strange smile on her face. Instead, he was drawn back to the picture of the cute princess he thought she was. Venezuela took a deep breath and said “I want you to be my boyfriend!” For a moment, Lakshman blinked in surprise and thought he misheard her. Then his suspicions were confirmed when she pointed at him and said “I want you to be my boyfriend and marry me!” His eyes widened in shock and he exclaimed “WWWWHHHHHHAAAAAAATTTTTTT?!”
Phoenix Rising Chapter 205 Political Marriage Princess Venezuela faced Lakshman with a blushing smile on her face and said “Like I said, be my boyfriend and marry me!” Lakshman, who had gone into shock, was speechless. At first, he believed it to be a dream, but he had just heard the Decisive Player advice. So he was forced to rule out the possibility of this being a dream. Even so, he could not believe the princess was openly confessing to him after threatening him. “U-U-Um… W-W-What? Huh? B-B-B-Boyfriend? M-M-Marriage? What? Ah…!” He was at a total loss for words and his brain was not functioning properly. Hearing her sudden demand, he felt lost. Only moments ago, the princess had threatened him she will label him a bad person that the world will hate. Now he found it highly disbelieving at the sudden words of the princess. She smiled and said “Calm down. Breathe slowly and easily to relax.” “R-Right…” Lakshman said and he performed the deep intake and smooth release of his breathing. Once he finally calmed down, the shock of her words hit him anew and he exclaimed “EEEEEHH?!” She shook her head and said “You need to learn to relax.” “B-B-B-B-But princess…! What’s the meaning of this? Boyfriend? Marriage? What?!” he asked in a desperate voice. “It’s just as you heard, Lakshman. I want you to be my boyfriend and then, later in life, marry me,” she said before smiling sweetly at him. He widened his eyes and asked “You’re not serious?!” She nodded at him and said “I am. Even since I was just a kid, I’ve always admired the bravery and the might of the Phoenix Titan. I’ve read many stories of his past adventurers and achievements along with the numerous battles he waged to save the world. I loved him since then and you finally came, Phoenix Titan.”
“Uh… I don’t mean to be a dream smasher, but princess… those were in the past. Those are the legends of the past Phoenix Titans that can before me. I haven’t done anything to make a legend of myself just yet.” “Of course, but that’s simple because of how young you are. Even so, that idea with the calendar system was approved by father and he will be making it public in a few days’ time.” “Seriously? I haven’t heard anything about it.” “That is because you were very busy with your studies that you did not pay any attention to the news. Rumours have started to spread about the yearly calendar system you implemented. Additionally, I believe you have been thinking of some other ideas as well. Am I correct in saying that?” “W-Well… I can’t say that’s not true, but those ideas were just things that I’ve been thinking about on the side,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders. Since the knowledge of the calendar, he had been thinking of various other things. One thing he noticed was how the official ranks of the people with their magic and weapon skills. On his Adventurer Card, he had become a B-Ranked Adventurer after three years of constantly entering labyrinths in Rodfox region. So he wanted a way for the natural forces to identify what rank a person is instead of them telling the people. The person could be deceiving which could lead to great problems. So he began working on a Magic Formula to work out a way to identify the ranks easily. “It’s still only theory, but never mind that now,” he said and he returned to the main topic. “Yes?” she asked him curiously. “Why are you confessing to me right now? Aren’t you aware that I already have four others whom I dearly care for? Are you perhaps trying to monopolise me and push them away from me?” Venezuela looked startled by his words and quickly shook her head. In a reassuring voice, she said “No, no, no! I have no such ulterior motives whatsoever!” Then she moved closer to him while speaking softly. “Can’t you feel it in my eyes? My power? My words? My wisdom? Or do I look like an ever day person to you?”
“Every day person? That’s funny, but seriously! I’ve learnt that woman are good at hiding their feelings when they want to, unlike the boys. We tend to be straightforward and direct which is why we are mostly referred to as thorns while the girls are the smiting images of flowers.” She chuckled, but she seriously looked at him intently and said “I speak the truth. I do wish to be with you and I will not take you away from the girls whom you care so deeply! I have no such illogical designs.” At that moment, a voice from behind them said “Yes! You certainly don’t have such bad ideas, princess Venezuela!” Lakshman stiffened when he recognised whom that voice belonged to. Then he turned around and saw, to his surprise, the girls whom he loved greatly; Ondine, Tetra, Emilia and Cantia. He could see Ondine and Tetra with suspicious looks on their faces while Emilia looked agitated and Cantia looking curious as always. “Ondine, Tetra, Emilia and Cantia! W-What brings you here so early in the morning?” he asked hastily. As the girls walked closer to him, Tetra said “Don’t you remember, Lucky? We agreed to train together during the four day break from school. Remember?” “Ah… Oh… Oh yeah! I did say that, didn’t I…? Haha,” Lakshman said and he laughed feebly. “Yes, you did, but I never expected to find the surprise of seeing you and the princess being so intimate,” Tetra said suspiciously as she eyed him and Venezuela. Lakshman instantly recognised the rising problem and quickly said “No way! I didn’t do anything! Seriously! The princess wanted to talk to me in the today and wanted to train with me which I seemed to have forgotten that I would be training with you girls as well. I never expected the princess to confess to me like this…!” “Oh…? Does that mean you anticipated that she would fall in love with you…?” Tetra asked shrewdly. “What?! No! Of course not!” he said instantly. Then he turned to look at Emilia and Cantia as he said “Please believe me. I have no reason to hide things from you!” Emilia and Cantia looked at each other. Then they came to a decision and they nodded their heads in unison.
“I believe in Lucky. I don’t believe he would do anything that will leave us out,” Emilia said to Ondine and Tetra. “Yeah! I’m agreeing with Emilia here! You two need to calm down and think this through!” Cantia said and she looked irritably at the two other girls. Ondine raised an eyebrow and asked “Oh…? Are you picking a fight with me, Cantia?” Cantia shrugged her shoulders and said “You call yourself to be strength, yet you totally ignore how desperately he is trying to make us believe in him. Isn’t that enough to see master’s love for us or are you blind to it?” Ondine looked surprised at her words and she made a sad expression on her face. Tetra came to her rescue and said “Seriously… Can’t you take the hint that I was joking all this time?” When the girls shrugged their shoulders, Cantia looked back and said “Well… I can’t say I’m surprised there’s somebody else who loves master, however… make sure to follow our lead, princess.” Venezuela was surprised by the firmness in Tetra’s voice. Then she smiled cheekily and hugged Lakshman’s other arm much to the surprise of the girls. “I’m sorry, but I don’t need advice of a consort!” she said to them with a smiling face. “What?! Consort? Just for the records, we’ve lived together for more than three years!” “Oh really? Well then, I loved him ever since my childhood!” “That was the Phoenix Titans of the past!” “He’s a Phoenix Titan as well and will also create legends like the past lives.” “Yes he will, but please let go! We are also his lovers!” “No can do! I will never let him go!” Lakshman was being pulled this way and that way. He somehow became the object of a game between the five girls. Knowing this, he got very annoyed until he finally lost his patience. “Stop it! All of you!” he said loudly and startled the girls into stopping. He looked at both of them and said “Stop using me as some sort of tug-o-rock game! Seriously! I might lose an arm one day!”
“W-W-We’re truly sorry! We got carried away by our feelings!” Ondine apologised deeply and the other girls followed. Lakshman tested his arms and was satisfied that he was safe. Then he looked at the princess curiously. Even though she had confessed to him and told him the reason, he still found a hole in the way she confessed to him. It was almost as if she was hiding something from them which he noted from how she threatened him a few minutes ago. Deciding the voice his doubts, he asked “Princess, why did you confess to me after waiting three long weeks? I think you should’ve had plenty of reason to believe I am the Phoenix Titan if you overheard me and Felix talking about the calendar plans and stuff.” The princess looked surprised for a moment as she went silent. Then she turned her head away to avoid making eye contact. He had seen this so often he immediately understood there was something wrong. “Did something happen to make you wait so long?” Emilia asked which surprised Lakshman because he was going to ask that very same question. Venezuela looked at Emilia and said “I’m sorry I did not speak about this sooner, but I had to be sure. For all I know, you could have fooled Felix by using a high level Illusion Magic Spell on yourself to appear as the Phoenix Titan.” Lakshman appeared to be surprised as he said “Ah. I suppose that is possible.” “I couldn’t take the chance of being outright wrong so I waited three whole weeks to make sure. During that time, I researched your family using my political connections and asking people around. That was when I finally remembered the boy from three years ago with blond hair and a red crown shaped eyes.” “Eh?” He was surprised, but he also knew that might have been the case. The princess, like everyone else, only recognised him by his Phoenix Titan transformation and forgot how he looked normally. He did find it strange that she did not piece it together when he told her his name when his name was rarely used name. “Anyway. I waited three weeks because that’s the amount of time my father granted me.” “Your father? Why? Does he know that I’m the Phoenix Titan?” he asked while looking surprised.
She shook her head and said “No. That time was for a different reason completely.” “Different reason? What is that reason, princess?” Cantia asked curiously. Venezuela looked down at her hands and sighed. Then she looked at them and said “The fact is, my father has prepared for me to marry the prince of Mardana Kingdom.” There was a moment of silence as they digested this. Then Emilia asked “M-Marry the prince of Mardana Kingdom?” Venezuela nodded her head at her and said “That’s right. Due to the trouble with the demon army three years ago, our kingdom took a lot of help from the Mardana Kingdom. As such, we owe their kingdom a lot of debt. Because of this, my father believed it was the right decision to marry me off to the prince as a show of appreciation.” “I see… A political marriage…” Ondine said with distaste. “What’s wrong, Ondine?” Lakshman asked her when he noticed something strange from the way she said those words. Ondine looked at him and said “I don’t get it, Lucky. People should marry those that you wish to be with forever, not because of obligation or duty. I understand the reason behind the king’s actions, but it’s unfair the princess does not get to choose her own path. She’s not a puppet or a doll to be used as they liked.” Venezuela nodded at her and said “That maybe the case, but I have a duty to perform as the princess of Floria Kingdom. My mother tried to convince father, but it was no use. It seemed the other party are also interested to see their princess and me getting married.” Lakshman nodded in understanding and said “I see…” Then he looked sad as he said “So that’s why you said you loved me and me to marry you. You’re doing it because you’re using my, the Phoenix Titan, as an excuse to reject the marriage.” Lakshman sighed with a small chuckle. He thought he was a fool to believe that all girls would be like Ondine, Tetra, Emilia and Cantia. They loved him because of the things he had done for them which did not involve obligation. Ondine was his Slave Spirit, Emilia was his Human Slave, Tetra was his Contracted Spirit and Cantia was destined to be with him. Even though they are all obligations, he had never once treated them as nuisance or play things. The girls loved him honestly and they cared for each other dearly.
Venezuela widened her eyes in shock at those sad words. To their surprise, she grabbed his face and pulled him close to her until they were only centimetres away. Lakshman blinked in surprise at suddenly finding himself up close to Venezuela’s face. “Please believe me, Lakshman. My feelings for you are as honest as the words I speak. I have no reason to lie to you nor hide the truth from the person I love. You are right in saying I do love the legendary Phoenix Titan, but I’ve loved you ever since you saved me three years ago.” He widened his eyes in surprise and he slowly said “Wait… You don’t mean…” She nodded and said “That’s right. The night of the banquet, you knocked down those rowdy noblemen with nothing, but your finger. You did it because they were mistreating the ladies whom you love so dearly. That’s when my love for you strengthened as I recalled the history of the past Phoenix Titans. I knew you were different, but the same Phoenix Titan whom I loved.” Lakshman became embarrassed by her words and he made a stiff smile. He was actually not happy with what he did that night three years ago. “I… I’m sorry about that time. I got really angry about how they were treating Ondine, Tetra and Emilia so I manhandled them.” On the spur of the moment and in the heat of his anger, he knocked those noblemen out with nothing, but his strength and that was going easy on them. If he had truly wanted to hurt them, he could have easily buried them into the ground with each blow. “I think that was the correct choice you made. Those noblemen got what they deserved.” The princess was understanding and caring even if she has that nasty side to her. She is certainly haughty because of her upraising and can want to do things her way, even by force. Lakshman did not mind them at all and liked them because those were her qualities as a woman. He realised the smell coming from her was really good. He was aware of the scent of Ondine, Tetra, Emilia and Cantia which he had smelled due to being constantly on the receiving end of their hugs. They were nice, but the smell wafted from the princess was pleasant and nice. Just then, Ondine cleared her throat a little louder than usual. It surprised Lakshman and Venezuela to their surroundings and she let go of him. “Please keep your romantic behaviour elsewhere when we aren’t around…” Ondine said with her clenched fists.
“S-Sorry…!” Lakshman and Venezuela said in unison. Emilia sighed and asked “What will you do next, princess?” “Father has asked to bring my boyfriend to see him tomorrow. It seems he wishes to see him and the prince of Mardana Kingdom together at the same time,” Venezuela informed them. “It looks like your father is being cautious since he might’ve thought you lied when you said you had a lover,” Cantia said and Venezuela nodded at her. “I thought so as well. So I kept the information regarding Lakshman being the Phoenix Titan a secret and will introduce him as my love interest. It seems Lakshman wanted to hide his true identity as well for some reason.” “Yeah… There are other matters that makes me want to hide it. So I’m glad I’ll be introduced as Lakshman Reddy instead of the Phoenix Titan,” he told them. Lakshman was referring to the Demon Slayer Sacred Spirit that lay sealed beneath the academy grounds. Sevedant, the Death Titan and the ghost, Spectra, had urged him to keep silent about it until the time was right. He has not seen the Death Titan in all this time so he guessed the guy was busily doing his job in finding the Demon Dragon Kind, Razzel’s whereabouts. “Anyway! Please look after me from now on since we all madly in love with this dashing handsome man!” Venezuela said before winking at them. “Yes, but I’m first! So let go of master already!” Ondine said and she walked over to her. “No!” Venezuela said indignantly and the girls resumed their pulling of his arms. “Please let go of me! I’m not a tug-o-rock to play with!” Lakshman said and he broke free from the girls. Finally free, he began running towards the arena to begin his morning training which was already delayed. “What?! Come back!” the girls shouted and they ran after him. As he ran, he tiredly thought “Dear god… Please give me a break!”
Phoenix Rising Chapter 206 Lovely Resolution The next day, Lakshman was inside the castle. The reason for him to be there was a certain meeting that he had to attend. He had only found out about this meeting yesterday and did not think much about it. However, his nerves were slightly on edge with nervousness. The previous day, princess Venezuela had confessed her feeling for him. This was partially due to him being the Phoenix Titan and the other because she finally remembered he was the kid that saved her three years ago. Because of that, he was forced to come and he found himself feeling nervous. In a few minutes time, he will be meeting with the king of Floria Kingdom. He was not the only one as it so turned out. Apparently, the reason for Venezuela’s desperate confession yesterday was due to her father arranging a political marriage for her. The to-be-wed groom turned out to be the prince of Mardana Kingdom. Lakshman had arrived at the castle an hour ago and was told to wait in a private room. After being sent in, the doors closed and only silenced remained. He did not know what to think or do in the meantime. So he simply played with his clothes by trying to look neat so he does not make a fool of himself. “I so dislike this sort of stuff!” he thought with annoyance. He heard the Decisive Player say “I’m not surprised. This kind of political manoeuvring is always annoying.” “No! I’m not talking about the stupid political marriage here! I’m annoyed I’m having to wear these kinds of clothes!” Yesterday evening, Venezuela paid him a visit at the boy’s dormitory. Since there is a barrier making it difficult for girls to enter the building, he had to go out and meet with her. Once they were outside, she pulled out a set of clothes from the inside of a plastic bag she was carrying. “How does it look?” she asked him eagerly when she unfolded the clothes. Lakshman was speechless as he stared at it. The clothes she brought to him were a full hand sleave suit. There was a pale blue coloured shirt on the inside for him to wear. He had worn something similar three years ago when he attended the banquet at the very castle.
“I-It looks good,” Lakshman said honestly and she smiled in appreciation. She folded the suit neatly and tucked it into the plastic bag before handing it to me. “Here. I want you to wear them for tomorrow’s meeting,” she told him brightly. “Eh? Wear this? But-,”he said in a surprised voice, but he was cut off by her. “No buts! Okay? Just wear it. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she told him firmly. Then she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek before leaving. He watched her go with the plastic bag in hand and a dumbfounded look on his face. Yet again, he was reminded of how forceful the princess was when she wanted things to be done her way. Due to that, he had no choice, but to wear those clothes. So he came to the castle in his normal clothes so as not to dirty the suit. Once he was showed in and the door was closed, he quickly changed clothes. Now he waited for the time when Venezuela would come to take him to meet her father, the king. “It sort of feels tight and strange to swear these,” Lakshman thought as he stretched his arms and legs while he sat in the silent room. “You’re nervousness is causing you to notice them. Once you get going and focus on other things, you’ll totally forget about it,” the Decisive Player told him in a reassuring voice in his mind. “I know, but I’m amazed she knew about my dimensions so accurately. I don’t remember telling her my sizes, have I?” “No, you didn’t, but you’re underestimating the eye of the princess. She’s been observing you constantly and would certainly be able to get the measurements of your clothes right.” “Yikes…! I suddenly feel exposed even though I’m wearing clothes!” At that, the Decisive Player laughed and that was when the door finally opened. Lakshman turned around to see who was at the door and was glad to see that it was Venezuela. “Sorry to keep you waiting,” Venezuela said and she entered the room.
His eyes shot up in astonishment when he saw the dress she was wearing. It was a lavishly decorated dress which he imagined a princess would certainly wear. Additionally, she was wearing a tiara over her head. Lakshman could only describe her as the most beautiful person he had ever seen. Her beauty was amplified by the amazing dress she was wearing for the occasion. He could have mistaken that this meeting might be some sort of party. Venezuela looked him up and down before nodding in satisfaction. Then she showed her dress off and asked “How do I look?” “Uh… Um… R-Really beautiful!” he said slowly as he slowly recovered. “Thank you!” she said and she beamed at him. Then she grabbed him by the arm and said “The prince of Mardana Kingdom has just arrived. He is already at the place faster is at. Now let’s go and show them our love!” “W-We’ve just become lovers yesterday though…” Lakshman said hesitantly. She smiled at him and said “Love is not bound by time or distance.” With that said and done, she pulled him out of the room. After closing the door shut, she walked Lakshman while walking at his side. She had inserted her arm around his right arm and she leaned her head on his shoulders. He was a bit taller than her, but she was not worried about the height difference. “Now remember to look impressive, okay? Father is strict and he does not like boys that do not exert themselves in public.” “R-Right…” Lakshman said in a low voice. “Don’t feel so nervous. I’ll be next to you so you’ll be fine,” Venezuela said in reassuring voice. He did not feel reassured because past memories were rising up. Three years ago, he had beaten up several noblemen in his anger due to their mistreatment of his comrades. It made him feel nervous, but he was not afraid since he had to do what was right. After walking for a while and climbing several stairs, they arrived outside a large door. Venezuela knocked on it three times and Lakshman heard the sound echo around the deserted corridor. They heard a strong voice say “Enter!”
With the command given, Lakshman and Venezuela pushed the doors open. He quickly closed his eyes and looked away due to the bright sunlight hitting him hard in the face. As he blinked and his eyes got adjusted to the sunlight, he noticed two figures seated on chairs. The king, Bernard IV Sargold, was seated at the head of centre. There were two chairs laid on either sides of the centre. While walking into the room, Lakshman noticed an unknown man sitting on the right side. He instantly knew the man was the prince of Mardana Kingdom. Venezuela lead Lakshman into the room and they sat on the left side. This positioned so that Lakshman was directly facing the king. The prince was not looking at him nor did he acknowledge the fact that Lakshman was even there. This made him instantly dislike the prince. Then three maids arrived while wheeling a table towards them. On the table were plates full of sweets and biscuits. Under normal circumstances, Lakshman would have eagerly dived into eating them, but right now he is here for a serious matter. Once the maids bowed and left by closing the door, the king finally spoke. “So… This is the man whom you’ve taken a liking to, Venezuela,” the king said as he looked at Lakshman. Venezuela nodded and said “Yes, father. His name is Lakshman Reddy and he is the only boy currently studying at Astral Academy. He is currently studying in the same year as me.” Lakshman bowed towards the king and said “My sincerest greeting, you majesty.” The king nodded and said “Yes. I see.” Then he gestured towards the man on his left and said “Lakshman. This man here is the crown prince of Mardana Kingdom, Adebola Gramstone. Unlike you and Venezuela, he is turning twenty next month.” Lakshman turned to look at Adebola and said “Oh… Our senior.” Then he rose to his feet and walked over with his hand out before saying “Nice to meet you, prince Adebola.” Adebola did not respond immediately. He glanced at Lakshman for a moment and at the hand outstretched to him. Then he turned away and said “I’m sorry, but I’m not in the habit of shaking hands with commoners.” The king coughed and looked away. Venezuela looked shocked at the prince’s response to Lakshman’s good natured attempt at a hand shake.
“Oh,” Lakshman said and he looked surprised for a moment. Then he nodded and said “I’m sorry.” He returned and sat back on his feet just as the prince sat cross legged on the chair. There was an arrogant smile on his face as he successfully displayed his superiority over Lakshman. Venezuela was unhappy, but for the sake of not causing a problem, she remained silent. Adebola looked at Venezuela and said “Come on, my dear love. You’re saying you love this commoner? Come now. You’re jokes are stretching.” Venezuela frowned slightly before she said “I am sorry my statements appear to be jokes to you, but I am speaking honestly here. I love this person with my heart and soul which is why I cannot agree to marry you.” Adebola appeared to be stumped for words. Her clear voice and strong words left an impression on him. He realised she loved Lakshman more than she was displaying by sitting there. This angered him and he decided to go on the offensive with Lakshman. “Okay. You love him, but what’s so good about him? Is he a noble? Is he a prince? Is he rich? At least, does he even get paid well? Oh wait...! You just said he’s a student so he doesn’t which means he’s empty!” Adebola spat the last word at Lakshman who kept his cool. In an annoyed voice, Venezuela asked “I’m sorry you’re treating him so badly, but believe me. He is quite rich because he had conquered a Labyrinth Tower and defeated a C-Ranked Minotaur at a Monster Dungeon.” “I see. So he is rich for now, but what about in the future? He will need money to live and support you. What will he do? Leach off the royal family? Hey! Is that what you’re planning on doing? You disgust me!” Adebola said and he spat at Lakshman again. Venezuela got angry and was about to speak when Lakshman extended his hand to stop her. He faced him with a cool expression on his face. Listening to the prince talking to him in such a manner did not particularly bother him, but he was doing so to hurt Venezuela which he disliked. “Forgive me if I’m rude, but you are currently living with your parents at the Mardana Kingdom castle, correct?” Lakshman asked him curiously. “That’s correct,” Adebola said with a nod of his head. “Your parents are the king and queen of the Mardana Kingdom, right?”
“That’s true.” “And you are the crown prince of such a kingdom. Am I right?” “You’re right. I am the crown prince of Mardana Kingdom.” “Okay…” Lakshman said and he nodded his head in understanding. Then he smiled and asked “So doesn’t that mean you’re the one leaching off the assets of your parents and wealth rather than earning them on your own?” Adebola became frozen with shock with wide eyes. Venezuela quickly looked at Lakshman with a look of astonishment on her face. She was surprised to see that he was taking the battle directly to the prince. Lakshman smiled and said “After all, you just said that I will leach off the royal family in the future, but aren’t you already doing that right now?” Adebola pursed his lips and looked very angry. He did not have any retort to throw back at Lakshman without making himself look bad. Additionally, his plan to trap Lakshman in his web of words was destroyed effortlessly. With the prince not saying anything, Lakshman shrugged his shoulders and said “It’s true that I am rich right now, but in the future I will need money. I also have the duty of providing support and wealth for my other four lovers as well. So I quite understand where you are coming from.” At those words, Adebola looked stunned with his mouth open. He quickly recovered and said “You have two lovers?! How shameless are you to dare love four and then go after a fifth! Venezuela, don’t you see? He’s trying to trick you with his façade of love!” Venezuela smiled and said “About that, I actually met the four girls in question. All of them are quite beautiful, nice and are very understanding. I am positive we can lead a happy life together with minimum trouble.” Adebola gritted his teeth in frustration and turned to look at the king. “Why aren’t you saying anything in this matter, King Bernard? Your daughter is clearly going wild with this… this… loafer!” Venezuela got extremely angry when she heard Adebola calling Lakshman a loafer. She started to raise to her feet, but Lakshman put a firm hand on her shoulder and made hit sit down again.
Bernard IV Sargold, the king of Floria Kingdom, shrugged his shoulders. To be honest, he quite liked the boy whom his daughter had picked, but he kept his silence. The final decision goes to his daughter which was why he forced the matter about the political marriage to make her think about the future. “It seems my daughter is fine with the man she picked. On top of that, I had Felix report to me about the boy and I find him to be a suitable companion for her,” Bernard told them in a firm voice. Lakshman, Venezuela and Adebola were surprised by his words. They had no idea that he had tasked Felix with the job of observing those two. Additionally, Lakshman and Venezuela were not aware that he already knew Felix was the Phoenix Titan. Adebola was left speechless for a moment, but he began to slowly nod his head. He looked at them all with a fowl expression on his face that made Lakshman be on guard. “I see that everything was planned from the beginning. Very well! I will not forget this insult!” Adebola said in a firm voice. He rose to his feet and glared at them all one final time. Then he walked towards the door, opened it and disappeared out of it in a flash. After making sure he was gone, all three of them sighed in relief. “I’m getting too old for this,” Bernard said before sighing heavily. “Father? Did you know about… um… everything?” Venezuela asked him hesitantly. Bernard looked at them and said “Well… I know about that fact that Lakshman Reddy is Phoenix Titan, about his other four love interests and that you finally confessing your love for him yesterday!” “Eh?!” Venezuela exclaimed in a startled voice. “Wow! You’re really something, you’re majesty!” Lakshman said in awe. Bernard inclined his head towards them and said “You’re the newly rising Phoenix Titan and my daughter’s the developing princess. I, however, am the king of an entire kingdom and I’m a Heroic Emperor! Naturally I would be aware of all the things happening around here.” “Eh? Heroic Emperor? Does that mean that you’re…?”
Bernard nodded and said “That’s right. I’m on the same ranking stature as the Felix Phoron, the Phoenix Emperor!” “Wow…!” Lakshman said in awe and he stared at Bernard with admiration. Bernard sighed and rose to feet as he said “Well then, I have certain matters to attend to. The Mardana Kingdom won’t be happy with this move, but we’ll counter them, especially when we have the Phoenix Titan on our side. Now to go and inform Felix about this… Mmm… I’m sure he’ll love it.” He laughed for a bit before leaving the room. This left Lakshman and Venezuela alone in the room. She moved her chair over to him and hugged his left arm with a happy expression on her face. “Everything went more smoothly than I expect, but I never suspected father would be aware of what’s going on,” she said in a surprised voice. “I think we’re stupid to not think about how powerful he is even if he says he is getting too old for this,” he said with a small chuckle. Silence fell within the room and it stretched for several minutes. Then Venezuela sighed and said “It looks like things are finally going to go in our favour.” “You’re right,” Lakshman said in agreement. He looked at the sunlight streaming through the castle windows. It was a beautiful light full of power and energy. It brightens the day and, for them, it was the shining fortune of their future. Feeling happy, he closed his eyes and thought about nothing else. Elsewhere, in the deepest parts where everything was covered in darkness, a voice could be heard loud and clear. “Finally…! The time has come for me to make my move! The Demon Slayer will soon be mine!” With those powerful words, the man began to let out a cackle of laughter. It was chilling laughter which caused cold winds and energy to flow everywhere.
Phoenix Rising Afterward
That is a good thing. Now Lakshman, Ondine, Tetra, Emilia, Cantia and Venezuela can live happily ever after. Still, it makes you wonder who that crazy person was laughing at the end. A friend or enemy? What’s this Demon Slayer he was referring to? Hello my amazing reader! It’s me, Vijay Kakani, and I’ve come again to thank you for reading so far. The story has progressed quite well. Now it’s time to call for the end of another amazing arc which will spark the start of the next arc. In this arc, we have witnessed Lakshman’s growing popularity amongst the woman even though he doesn’t try much. That’s a good thing, but it’s equally good that he doesn’t hang out with girls too much. He’s got Ondine, Tetra, Emilia and Cantai to keep him company and now the added love of Venezuela. We have also learnt about what happened with Sevedant, the Death Titan three years ago. Seems he and the Demon Dragon King, Razzel, had quite the history together. Now it looks like they will be clashing in the future again, but when is the real question. The growing powers of my characters and their interaction was super great. It’s awesome when Lakshman displays his awesome skills with his powers. Even so, I believe he’s got more to learn from the knowledge of the education. We’ve met some new characters like Mercia, Spectra the ghost, the teachers of Astral Academy and the principal, Carmila. Everyone seems to be in awe of Lakshman, but they definitely would be. None of them have yet to realise that he is the Phoenix Titan. Now for the development of stuff and all. Lakshman had started his own ideas and began sharing them with Felix. That calendar idea was super great, but it is also an idea that made him start thinking about more. This brought him to concentrate on making magic formulas to create new magic spells for different things. I think we’ve seen that he’s trying to create a magic formula that enabled people to see what rank someone is instead of buying their word for it. This arc focused more on interaction between Lakshman and his classmates. We’ve seen him studying madly and writing lengthy notes in his books. One would feel really tired and drained
from leading such a busy lifestyle. Along with that, we’ve witnessed his immense growth in power since three years ago. Arc 08 is complete which sparks the start of Arc 09. Now you should expect this arc to focus more on Lakshman again as he begins to invent new things. You will see him using his powers for more everyday stuff rather than the usual combat related skills. We will witness the power of the Demon Slayer once it is set free. Can anyone be able to stop its rampage once it’s lose? Thank you for reading Phoenix Rising and I hope you will continue to do so from the next chapter onwards. Until the next time you read a chapter, make sure you stay safe and well. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables because they are highly healthy! Till the next time the phoenix rises again!