Chapter 114 - The Special Eyes User and the Phoenix

"My son, you need to take a bath!" my mother shouted.

"I’ll be right there, I just need to do something first!" I replied, running through the halls of the mansion located in my family’s castle. Desperation pushed me toward my room. A few maids tried to speak to me, but I only greeted them briefly. When I finally stopped in front of my bedroom door, my hand trembled on the doorknob.

Please, let you really be there.

I flung the door open with all my strength.

"Huh?" a startled cry came from the bed, where I saw my phoenix companion, Cylla, getting up in a panic.

"Cylla!" I shouted.

I ran to her, and she ran to me, jumping into my arms.

"Ahhhrgh!" she screamed again.

"You’re small again?" I asked as I hugged her with all my strength. Somehow, she had returned to the size of a small phoenix in her bird form, though she was still quadrupedal. I didn’t care about that; all I wanted was to make sure she was okay.

"Ahhhhh!" she scolded me, and part of me knew it was because I had been away for so long.

"I’m sorry for being gone so long. I’ll never abandon you," I whispered.

Cylla hugged me back, trying to give me one of her deadly hugs. I stayed there, stroking my phoenix companion as she nestled into me.

After a while, Cylla jumped out of my arms and started sniffing me.

"Maybe I don’t smell so great... I spent the whole day in a carriage."

She continued sniffing me, examining my hands, my stomach, and then stopped, staring at me with narrowed eyes.

"What is it?" I asked.

Cylla blinked rapidly and pointed at my face while still blinking.

"Oh, right. That pain issue I had is resolved. My eyes have finally awakened." She seemed happy and leaped to hug me again.

"It seems your deadly hugs aren’t so deadly with you this size," I remarked, looking at my friend.

"Hmm..." something made a sound beside me.

"Ah!" I jumped in surprise when I saw the familiar Moon Panther who lives with us.

Carnellian was standing next to me, having entered my room without making a sound.

"What’s up? You’re never seen during the day," I said to him.

The giant gray panther approached me and began sniffing me.

She narrowed her eyes at me.

"I met your people in the forest," I told her. “They were kind to me.”

She tilted her head and nodded before turning and leaving.

That guy’s not much for conversation...

I turned back and looked at the phoenix, who was happily rubbing her head against my stomach.

"I need to tell you some things. I think this concerns both you and me. Something unknown is searching for both of us." I began explaining everything to her, from the moment I first saw Sisika to my kidnapping.

We talked for quite a while, and she listened to every word in silence. Sometimes her eyes would widen, and other times, she’d jump into my lap.

At some point, Martha knocked on the door, letting me know that the bathtub with hot water was ready in the bathroom attached to my bedroom in the castle area.

The last two days of traveling back to the castle had been exhausting for me.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

When I came out of the forest and saw my family, I got emotional... I think no one can resist a mother's embrace, whether you're a General, an Emperor, or a Sovereign... in the end, mothers are above all of that. I ran to hug her, and it brought a new meaning to me.

I told my family about the elemental powers of my Special Eyes, and then we left the place, with the soldiers in charge of continuing the restoration of the burned crops and ensuring security. My Aunt Margie had sent people to search for me, but she ordered them to fall back after the scare I gave her. She insisted on returning home with me, leaving the maids to deal with the fate of the prisoners.

On the way back, they asked what had happened to me, but I decided to omit the details. I didn’t want my family to worry, and with the things I had discovered, I knew they were mysteries of the world that only I understood. I told them that my headache had returned, and I lost control of my magic while running, accidentally knocking down the soldier, and we fell into a waterfall. I explained that my tracks had disappeared due to a wind explosion I caused, and that because we had fallen into the water, there was no clear path for them to track me.

I said I had killed the soldier, but my powers were deactivated due to the cultivation of my Special Eyes. With no easy way to climb back up, I tried to find a safe route, knowing that even if Sifu spotted me, there would be no way to rescue me due to the height, and that place was dangerous. I explained that I hid in the wilderness while searching for an alternative path back to the village. They believed me, after all, I had fallen into a forbidden area where monstrous creatures lived.

I also told them about the tribe of Moon Panthers I encountered. My aunt explained that they live in these lands, following their own way of life. They don’t attack humans because of an agreement they made with our ancestor, and they only attack if threatened.

Sifu mentioned that these creatures have a sixth sense for detecting evil. If they sense someone has malicious intentions, they turn into true killing monsters. I was instructed never to tell anyone about this tribe besides them, as the Moon Panthers have practically disappeared from the continent and only live there, a secret known to few.

The fact that they guided me and didn’t hide intrigued my aunt. She believes this happened because there were likely dangerous monsters in the area, and the panthers were protecting me. Like Carnellian, they honor the agreement made with my ancestor. After all, they are the same panthers, since they live for a very long time.

No one dared ask much more after my mother started scolding me, pulling my ear and saying I had been irresponsible for lying about going just for reconnaissance... Then, she hugged me, telling me she loved me and didn’t want to go through another scare like that.

In the end, things were resolved... in part. We spent two days in the carriage, everyone still in disbelief about what I could do with the elements.

Everyone was shocked, and my Aunt Margie muttered that her workload had increased, though she sometimes congratulated me.

When we arrived, Aunt Margie ordered the legacies to be gathered, and I rushed to see my phoenix friend, where you saw me having that reunion with her.

"It looks like more strands have appeared..." I murmured, looking at my reflection in the mirror after taking a bath. My head now had a few scattered silver strands.

Another thing that had changed was my eyes.

"A little light blue and a little dark blue," I commented, observing my eyes in the mirror. They had a bluish hue that subtly shifted if you looked closely, resembling ocean waves. It was as if the blue was alive.

"These are my Special Eyes."

I activated a yellow ball of light, the element of the High Elves.

"I’ll need to train with Professor Adrihna and Kinue. There’s no one else who can teach me spells for this element; otherwise, it’ll be like my thunder element, where I had to invent my own spells." My eyes glowed slightly as I activated the element.

"I think I understand how I used thunder at the prince's party; it was through you," I said, staring at my eyes.

I moved my hands, and a green leaf formed.

"This is the plant element. Looks like I’ll need my mother’s help, too."

My eyes gave me both the High Elf element and the human elements. I’m a half-blood, and they gave me the elements of both races.

"If a purely human person had awakened these eyes, they would have only the regular elements, without light or plant. I guess it was worth it to be a half-elf."

If I were a common elf half-blood, I wouldn’t have the light element.

These insights were in my mind, and I theorize that when you acquire the Special Eyes, you also acquire the knowledge of how to use them. That’s why I knew all of this. Just as a child is born knowing how to breathe and blink, I instinctively knew what my eyes could do and why.

I stepped out of the bathroom in my room at the castle. Unlike the room in the mansion area, this one was truly luxurious, and the space was enormous. On my giant bed, a phoenix was lying down. As soon as she saw me, she flew over to be by my side.

"Were you lost in thought too?" I asked her.

She nodded. As soon as I sat on the bed, she flew at me and pushed me, making me fall. My phoenix companion lay on my chest.

"Alright, I won’t leave you again," I said, stroking her.

'Blep,' she let out a small puff of smoke and shrank in embarrassment.

"You little piglet," I said, picking her up in my arms.

I was reborn with memories, but she was reborn without them.

It wasn’t easy petting her.

"You’ve changed too... your skin is a little tougher," I observed as I examined her.

I noticed that her skin was no longer as soft; now, it felt more resistant and a bit rough. When I looked more closely at her feathers, I saw that in the fine spaces between them, her skin had a scaly appearance.

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through my head, as if something was moving inside it. When I blinked, in the darkness of my mind, I glimpsed a gigantic white creature shifting as it slept.

"I forgot about this guy..." I murmured to myself.

What is that thing?

'Knock, knock,' someone knocked on the door.

"Can I come in?" asked a familiar voice.

"Of course! I’ve been looking forward to seeing you."

The door burst open.

"W-what do you mean you’ve been looking forward to seeing me!?" Chloe exclaimed, surprised.