Chapter 36 - The Fire Phoenix and the Thunder General

"Come on, stop delaying me!"

'Nahh!' complained Cylla as I tried to drag her out of bed.

"You agreed to this and promised you'd behave!"

I struggled to pull the four-legged phoenix from my bed, but she was grumpy and far too strong for my eight-year-old arms.

"Please, Cylla. I don't want to get scolded by my mom. Remember how scary she gets? You're lucky she spoils you."

'Nahhh!'

Cylla stood up, pulling me with her paws and tossing me back onto the bed.

"Let go, idiot! You're squashing me."

The phoenix grabbed me and pinned me in a tight hug with her paws.

'Nah,' she said in her language, rubbing her head against mine.

How is she so strong when she's a kid like me? Damn racial advantages...

Cylla continued hugging me, trapping me in her embrace. In my three years living with Cylla, I learned that when she gets clingy like this, I have to let her get her fill of hugs before she'll let me go.

"I hope when you grow up and get huge, you don't give me these hugs anymore, or I'm doomed..."

The phoenix ignored me, continuing to hug me tightly.

I hope she doesn't see me as one of her chicks...

If I have another scary mom to scold me, my ears won't survive the tugging.

"Young master, I'm coming in," Martha's voice called out as she opened the door.

Martha entered the room and took in the scene.

"I see Cylla's still at it. I'll leave your breakfast on the table, good luck."

"Wait, Martha! Save me, I'm trapped here!"

The maid chuckled.

"No lady likes having her sleep interrupted," she said, closing the door.

'Nah!' Cylla agreed with Martha as she shut the door.

I sighed.

"How long will these hugs last?"

The phoenix rolled her eyes at my question.

"I saw that. You know you're annoying me."

She licked my face and finally released me.

"Gross, now my face is covered in drool. Good thing I was going to take a bath anyway."

The four-legged phoenix leaped off the bed, stretching on the floor like a cat. She even wagged her tail before spreading her wings and shaking herself off.

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Everyone in the mansion had gotten used to her, and no one found it strange anymore that she had changed shape. The residents were already accustomed to dealing with a magical animal because of Carnellian, but my aunt had asked that no one speak about Cylla.

Everyone agreed with my aunt, and it was normal since no one revealed Carnellian's existence to outsiders either. My aunt said not even the kingdom knew we had a 'domesticated' Moon Panther. Although Carnellian didn't obey anyone, he was theoretically 'domesticated' because he accepted living in our home and didn't kill us, given that these panthers kill anyone. Moon Panthers are known as assassins. Which is ironic because everyone living in Evenhart Mansion was also an assassin.

I would also be trained in the Art of Assassination. Even though the 'Era of Assassins' had given way to the 'Era of Diplomacy,' my family maintained the tradition. I would be trained once I had better control of my magic since we awakened early. Even Chloe would be trained, though her focus would be more on sword combat than assassination. As a future Duchess, she needed to be proficient in combat, especially since we were to attend an Academy that was practically military. We couldn't afford to be weak just because we were high-ranking nobles.

I learned that at the Magic Academy, they would teach both magic and sword fighting. It seems that mages combine sword battles and magic since mana isn't infinite and has its vulnerabilities. If a warrior got close to a mage, the mage would be vulnerable without mana. Therefore, mages were taught to use weapons from a young age. In a way, mages are warriors who use magic. Although some mages are more inclined towards long-distance spells and don't train much in close combat, our mothers didn't want to explain the types of mages to us, fearing it would interfere with the teacher's lessons.

I had to take a bath and put on a 'cute outfit' my mom had Martha bring. I shared my breakfast with the phoenix. Even though she ate a huge piece of meat once a week, she still ate small pieces during meals with me, so they always included a small steak for me to give her.

"No more delays, we need to go. I have to be ready to meet my teacher," I said to her.

Cylla decided to listen this time, and after we ate, she followed me out of the room. I pointed to the door, and a blue spark shot from my finger, hitting the doorknob, which closed the door by itself.

I let out a small laugh.

"Electromagnetism… this is great!" I said, looking at my hands.

Unfortunately, this only worked on metals that I had to touch to leave my mana, and it was a slow process.

I had been practicing this electromagnetism trick for the past 15 days, and all I managed was to close the door. Worse still, after it happened, I couldn't control the doorknob anymore as my mana had drained from it. I tried to imitate what I did with Aura to create an invisible protection on my weapons. The advantage was that I could place my mana in objects, but it was laborious and time-consuming. I couldn't store much energy in the object, or it would… explode. So, besides consuming a lot of mana, it wasn't worth it.

The time and mana spent only gave me a simple movement with magnetism, and then my mana in the object disappeared.

"A shame, but there's still room for improvement."

I had only awakened my Mana Gem a little over a month ago, but I had been secretly training with thunder and was getting good at it… I don't want to brag, but if I dedicate myself, I could be deadly with this magic.

Cylla and I walked side by side. She had also improved during this time and had better control of her powers. For now, I noticed she had lost the ability to cover her entire body in flames, but I suspected that was because all her energy was being used to help her grow.

Once, I injured myself while playing with a sharp knife during a fight with Sifu… the monk made me fight him while he held a sword, and I had a little knife. I did well, and he was impressed, but I ended up scratching my hand.

My mom scolded me when she saw I was hurt… luckily, Cylla saved me by licking the wound and healing it instantly. When my mom saw that, she started spoiling Cylla.

Lucky phoenix! She even gets gifts!

As soon as my mother saw that Cylla genuinely cared about me and would be by my side to prevent me from getting hurt, she grew even fonder of the phoenix. She and my aunt remodeled the lake room, installing a giant crystal light sphere at the top and adapting structures for Cylla to play on. What used to be a dimly lit room now had a massive light sphere that made it feel like daytime, with various platforms for Cylla to jump and fly around. They also placed a large piece of meat there once a week for Cylla to eat.

Our guardian, Carnellian, didn't get too close to Cylla. We feared there might be some territorial dispute, even though Carnellian was intelligent; he was still an animal. Luckily, the Moon Panther understood the situation and left us in peace, though I suspected he was afraid of her.

“Nahh!” said Cylla, looking at the stairs leading to her 'den.'

“It’s just temporary, and I’ll fetch you every night to sleep in my room.”

If I don’t forget…

She nodded in agreement.

Looking at the dark staircase, I raised my hand, making my lightning glow to illuminate the path as I walked.

“Who said the thunder element isn’t useful?” I said to her.

Cylla moved, and her head caught fire, illuminating the area even more.

“That wasn’t necessary…”