"Should we change our place?" asked Angus.
"No!!" said Jayna before forcing herself to wake up from the bed.
"Jayna, you still need to rest," said Angus worriedly.
"Angus, I need to do this. I need to free them." said Jayna with resolute eyes.
"*Sigh* Alright. But I will co with you." said Angus before supporting Jayna's body.
After their previous short clash with Patimura, Jayna's body enters a weakened period. Although it is not dangerous and permanent, her body still needs to rest after forcing herself beyond what she can hold.
Leaving their tent, the young couple find Lilith on their side while Brigida takes care of Anna in the distance. As for Nabe and the two female dwarves, they slept on the spot frozen ground filled with many empty bottles.
Judging by the number of empty liquor bottles, Angus guessed these three won already drunk themselves to oblivion. Ignoring the snoring of three won, Angus and Jayna observe Anna in the distance.
The naughty little troublemaker seems to talk with the air in incomprehensible words such as Boom, Duar!!, Kyaa!! Mommy, Daddy. It would be a funny scene if not for Jayna knowing that Anna is talking to the vegetative phoenix souls.
"Anna!!" called Angus.
"Ahh… Daddy?!! Mommy!!" called Anna back while running to them.
After hugging her beloved parent, "Mommy, Daddy, Anna finds a lot of pretty big sis. But, Pretty big sis is sad and in pain. Anna wants to help pretty big sis." said Anna.
"It's okay. Mommy will help them." said Jayna before giving Anna to Angus.
On the other hand, Angus only gives a silent nod to Jayna. Step by step, Jayna approaches the invisible phoenix soul with a somber feeling. After a while, she spreads her arm to the side.
Through their [Allegiance] bond, Angus could feel all the trapped phoenix souls gathering at Jayna. The souls embracing her felt a warm sensation. Not physically but spiritually. After a few minutes of silence. Jayna opens her fiery phoenix eyes with tears and sadness.
"I am sorry. I should have co sooner." said Jayna.
Unfortunately, the chilly night wind can only respond to her words. Then, Jayna put her palms together in her hand as a dim light gathering. As ti passed, the sparkling light rose to the night sky, gone without trace.
Such an epheral scene only makes the environnt depressed. No one knows when, but everyone nearby is already shedding tears without them noticing. Even the just woken-up Nabe also shedding tears despite her hardened expression.
"Phoenix an immortal beast. A being that could fight the corrosion of ti. Yet, their end will always be full of suffering and despair." muttered Nabe while seeing Jayna in the distance.
After the sparkling light is gone, "Rest in peace, My Children." muttered Jayna softly.
Jayna stands on the spot montarily before returning to Angus and Anna. She is trying to reign in the emotion and sadness in her heart.
"Mommy, are the pretty Big sis going to be okay?" asked Anna.
"Yes, they are. They will live a new and better life than this." Jayna said with a forced smile.
"Anna hopes so. Anna really... really like pretty big sis. Anna wants to et a pretty big sis again. Then, Anna will show Anna's special roasting pork." said Anna excitedly.
Hearing this, Jayna embraces Anna with a smile. On the other hand, Angus is thinking hard about the previous scene and what Jayna shared with him.
From Jayna's short explanation, she feels like this phoenix is her child. As their parent, she needs to free them from this endless suffering. This makes Angus speculate that Fire Phoenix is the mother of all phoenixes.
However, this theory has too many loopholes. Within Fire Phoenix's mories, she was never called a mother or parent by other phoenixes. At most, she is called the older sister. Fire Phoenix also regards the other sister as her own sister.
There was one ti when she led her sisters for a while. But none of them regard Fire Phoenix as their parent. In fact, all the phoenixes never regard other phoenixes as their parents or mothers.
Even the newborn phoenix only regards its biological parent as an older sister. This sudden revelation makes Angus confused and intrigued by her beloved woman's true identity.
Angus' gut tells him Jayna has not only just inherited Fire Phoenix but sothing more important and ancient. Moreover, he also rembers a strange scene when they confront Fire Phoenix for the first ti.
While Angus is in deep thought, a heavy earthquake shakes the frozen lake.
"Angus?!!" called Jayna from the side.
"Gram… A lot of them suddenly appeared from the bottomless Basin." replied Angus.
*GROOOOARR* A loud howl could be heard across the whole area. At the sa ti, the Guardian imdiately returns to their position, ready to receive the incoming Gram Wave.
*Crack* *Crack* *Crack* Countless cracks appeared on the frozen lake before a monstrous ice hand erged from the edge of the frozen lake in front of the Guardian.
*Zzzsshhszzztt* Following the giant ice hand, the unfrozen water splashes, creating a strong wave toward Patimura and Guardian. Unperturbed by such a devastating scene, Patimura holds his double axe and charges forward without fear.
*BOOOM* The clash between Patimura and the Guardian with Gram begins soon. Shouts, explosions, and magic spells could be heard everywhere. In contrast, Angus' side is empty without any Gram approaching them.
It is as if all the Gram is only attracted to Patimura and Guardian while entirely oblivious to them. Such a phenonon was also noticed by Nabe and found to be quite weird. Still, they are not protesting about it.
*Click* *Click* *Click* At this mont, Angus and his group find the water near the Basin frozen like the rest of the lake.
Through their sharp perception, they could see it kept freezing until the edge of the waterfall basin. This magical phenonon also stops half of the waterfall basin.
"Err… This is…" said Kusibella from the side.
"It is as if whatever is inside that Basin is trying to invite us in." said Bornja.
"Agreed. The question is, should we go there or not?" asked Nabe before glancing at Angus.
Despite Angus' young age, everyone already regards Angus as the leader of their team. Not only is he the one who organizes this group, but he also has enough strength to lead everyone without problem.
"Nope. Our priority is forging Jayna's sword. As for whatever is inside that Basin, you may explore it later." said Angus.
"Well, either way. This is certainly an interesting place. Do you know anything about this?" asked Nabe.
"Nope. I am also as clueless as you. Those Guardian we t before even use soul contract to cover this place." said Angus.
"Hee… That only makes more interested in this place. So, will they also be forced to sign a non-disclosure contract later?" said Nabe.
"That's still uncertain." replied Angus.
"Hm?" asked Nabe.
"The Guardian and my king are on the verge of going to war. With the apathetic attitude of Patimura, the Heart Kingdom army has a great chance to raze this whole place. I doubt you need to sign any non-disclosure contract at that ti." said Angus.
"Alright, Jayna and I will rest first. Starting tomorrow, we will start to reinforce the whole area. We don't want it to suddenly collapse during the forging process." added Angus before bringing Jayna and Anna to their tent.
"Sure." said Nabe while still glancing at the bottomless Basin.
The Everwhite Basin is a magical and natural wonder. Rather than a Basin, it is more accurate to say a huge bottomless hole. The bottomless pit penetrates the ground deep below the lake.
It is so deep and endless that even Angus' [Great Mana Echolocation] can't perceive its bottom. This is also why it never filled up, even after being poured tons of water daily.
As soon as Angus and his little family entered their tent, "Silvia, are you there?" asked Angus.
"At your service, Master." said Silvia as she appeared from the air.
"Ahh… Silly! Silly!!" exclaid Anna excitedly before catching the poor high elf roughly.
Still, Anna seems to control her strength and not burst Silvia into minced at like in the past.
"Did you manage to explore the Basin?" asked Angus.
When Angus reaches the frozen lake periters, Angus imdiately sends Silvia to observe and explore the Everwhite Basin carefully without being found. To his surprise, the high elves must take a long ti exploring it.
Although most of Silvia's power is restricted because of her current body, she is still a full-fledged seventh-grade high elf with vast magic and spells repertoire.
Usually, a basin at this size only needs a half day or less to be fully explored by her. Yet, she didn't finish it until now. She may still be stuck there if it is not for Angus's call.
"I am sorry, Master. I believe it is really a bottomless abyss. It is impossible to explore it physically." replied Silvia expressionlessly.
"Then, do you have any idea of that place." said Angus.
"No. This was the first ti I saw such a magical place. It is a bottomless abyss, yet it didn't affect the surrounding space. It is truly magical." said Silvia.
"Even soone like you also said that. I guess we could only leave it alone for now." said Angus.
"Ermm… Master, I seem to sense sothing from that place." said Silvia after contemplating.
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