Chapter 3 - Large Wings
Gallus once again started listing materials, while giving each name the weight it deserved. “Warding materials come in many different variations. They are considered quite valuable due to their ability to protect anyone regardless of personal strength, and as such, they are quite expensive.
The first material is the luminite flower, an extremely rare plant that offers global protection from anything. The ward will stop any force approaching it, including any breath of wind, any wave of heat, or any physical object. The only issue is a large expenditure of mana, making it quite ineffective.
The second material is the wind element core. It uses wind to deflect any incoming object and is very efficient. The only issues are that it offers no protection from electric attacks and is weak to piercing attacks.
The last material is the fairy dragon heart. It’s almost entirely focused on physical protection, but if that’s what you want, it’s definitely the best choice. The fairy dragon has great resistance against everything but pure force, so its evolution focused on that one weakness.”
Lilly felt that the flower was a bad choice. ‘The core's lack of electric protection bothers me, but other than that, it sounds perfect…’
“Does the steelwood core offer any protection against electric attacks?” She asked, hoping the materials could make up for each other’s weaknesses.
Gallus nodded. “Indeed, the core makes the body a great conductor of electric charge, allowing it to pass much more easily through the body. Some muscles might twitch involuntarily, but there won’t be any damage—at least as long as you’re not fighting a thunderbird.”
“Then I think it’s an easy choice.” Lilly looked over at Mia, seeing her nodding along. “We’ll take the wind elemental core.”
“Perfect! Would you like to hear the price, or should I send the bill to your assistant?” Gallus asked, looking extremely satisfied—too satisfied.
“Hang on, are you telling me the price is set in stone? Surely we can discuss it a bit, right?” Lilly tried, hoping the price could be negotiated.
Gallus pretended to be remorseful as he replied. “Oh, I would, Lilly. But I have this distinct feeling telling me you won’t be selling this product through us, which would make it a lot harder to make a decent profit.”
“... What’s the total, then?” Lilly asked, clenching her teeth and cowering in anticipation.
“34,000 gold.”
Lilly fell back on the couch. She knew the materials would increase in price, but not to this level. She had barely heard prices above 100 gold during her previous enchantments, making this a bit of a shock.
“Who will even be able to afford our product when we’re done?” she asked, half in desperation. The palladium to make the cuirass alone was worth 30,000 gold, forcing her to dig into the reward she got with her new title.
“Well, there should be plenty of buyers from noble houses or great adventurers. And if they don’t want it, I’m sure the royal guard won’t mind equipping their soldiers some more,” Gallus responded helpfully.
Lilly smiled bitterly. Equipping the royal guard with better armor would be a blunder, at least before the matter with the king was sorted out.
Mia looked at her nervously. She knew they wouldn’t be able to afford more than two or three projects like this at a time. But if they sold one, they might be able to increase the production in the next round.
Lilly looked at Gallus again. “If that indeed is a fair price, can I expect your storage of rare and powerful materials to increase in the near future?”
“Of course! Our available wares depend on the clientele. It would be easier if you could give us a signal before starting your projects so that we could prepare the right materials, but our storage will increase in value either way.”
“Fine then, we have a deal.” Lilly got off the couch and stretched her arm out, ready to seal it with a handshake.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Gallus happily accepted her hand and shook it eagerly. “Fantastic! I’ll have the heart sent over by tomorrow. Do you want me to pack everything together for you, or would you prefer to bring the other materials with you?”
“You can hand them all over at the office. Do you have any idea about the final price of the cuirass?” Lilly asked, feeling a bit uncertain of her potential profit.
Gallus thought about it for a second before answering. “I think it would depend on the buyers you can reach. Due to the war, it will probably be higher than usual. But even with a hard bidding war, I doubt you will get over 200,000 gold for it. I’d say around 120,000 could be expected.”
Lilly could feel her jaw hanging and swiftly closed it. She did not nearly expect to double her investment after a single project. She expected it had a lot to do with her advantages as an enchantress, but it still seemed like an incredible price.
“... How would I reach–”
“Screeeeee!”
Before Lilly could finish her sentence, a powerful shriek could be heard from far up in the sky.
Lilly felt her entire body tense up at the familiar sound, while Gallus and Mia looked at her in confusion. Unlike the rest of the city, they knew Lilly wasn’t the source of this shriek.
‘Old. Very old. And strong,’ Lilly thought, feeling her mind interpret the shriek somehow. She knew right away that a phoenix had come to the city for some reason.
“I have to go. You two stay here,” she said, grabbing the staff and heading over to the window. She opened it quickly, and after a quick glance at Mia, she was gone.
While floating in the air, she looked up at the sky and spotted the majestic red bird soaring above the city. It had an aura of heat surrounding it, making her grateful it hadn’t landed in the city. Its eyes were focused on her as she ascended, passively observing.
‘I hope we’ll be able to communicate. Maybe I can try making my throat like that again?’
They were at the same height now, twenty meters apart, far above the city. The phoenix looked old, even though it was the first one Lilly had ever seen. She wondered if she should try speaking first, but she wasn’t sure how to transform again.
“Screee!” The phoenix started, looking at the staff intently.
Lilly tried interpreting the sound, but only simple concepts could be understood. It was saying something about dying and mother, further reinforcing Lilly’s suspicions of who this phoenix was.
“You’re Beak, right? Myndia won’t be here for many years. Can you understand me?”
The phoenix lowered its head sadly, clearly having understood her well enough. Another shriek, more tender this time, sounded out.
Lilly thought something about heart and staff could be understood, and tried to respond. “Do you want me to take care of your heart? Or do you want me to put the final enchantment in the staff?”
It shrieked again in response, but the reply only confused Lilly. She thought she heard enchant and new mother, and while the first part made sense, she didn’t quite like the second one.
“I’ll do my best with the enchantment, but… Oh, you need someone to raise you again?” It made sense; Myndia had told her about how she had to raise him whenever he came to die.
No one would be better suited to raising a phoenix than her, most likely, considering her immunity to flame and her ability to understand them somewhat. The thought of giving Myndia a favor bothered her, but Beak hadn’t done anything wrong.
“I will do my best, Beak. Do you need any help with… dying?” She had no idea how the process of rebirth worked, so she could only ask.
But Beak only shook his head and closed his eyes. A circular white flame started appearing in front of his chest, spinning rapidly.
Lilly was shocked by the heat she could feel from that small white flame, even from a distance of twenty meters. It had to be far hotter than any flame she had dared to create so far, and that was saying something.
Beak let out a great shriek while flinging his head back, looking every bit the mightly mythical being he truly was. He cut the shriek short at the very end, sending the spinning flame into his chest, where it dug a deep hole.
Lilly could only watch, horrified, as his heart was ripped out of his chest by his own flame. It floated towards her, and she could only hold her hand out to accept it, still beating.
She felt like a part of some ancient ritual, awakening memories she didn’t even know she had. This was the way of the Phoenix's death; a majestic end and a marvelous beginning in one.
The feathers on Beak’s body started igniting, sending massive amounts of flame out in every direction. It spread to his limbs and eventually his torso until every part of him was enveloped in flames. But Lilly could still see his eyes staring directly at her.
Shortly after, the flames disappeared, and nothing but ashes remained, slowly falling toward the city. Lilly still felt a sense of awe at the scene, but a hint of panic appeared as well.
‘Where is the newborn Beak? It should rise from the ashes, right? But the ashes are everywhere…’
She flew beneath the ashes just in case a tiny chick suddenly appeared, but she still couldn’t see one.
The panic was starting to set in for real now, but she could suddenly feel something pushing against her chest. She looked down at the heart she was holding close, which had now stopped beating, and saw a tiny red chick sitting on top of it, sticking close to her in search of warmth.
The little ball of cuteness was a stark contrast to the majestic figure that just died, but it only made Lilly smile. ‘I hope raising phoenixes isn’t too hard…’