Felix and Lakshman went out of the castle and visited several shops for clothing that Lakshman could wear. After checking them out, Lakshman finally decided on several new clothes for him to wear now that his old ones are no good for him. Now that he got new clothes, he planned on using his old clothes as rags of cloth.
“Better to use them for something else than needlessly throw them out,” Lakshman had said when Felix inquired about him wanting to keep them.
Later, they visited a salon where the owner operated a custom cutting as per the client’s desire. He did this by simply letting the client customise with adjustments while he operated on him. When the owner asked him what kind of cut he wanted for his hair, Lakshman simply shrugged his shoulders indifferently.
“You pick,” he said flatly.
“Don’t you want to make your hair stylish? You know, like the previously spiky hair you once hair?” Felix asked him curiously. “It’ll look pretty cool and people will like it a lot.”
“I don’t care what others think of me,” Lakshman said sternly. “I am who I am.”
Tetra, who had transformed into her human form, sighed and said, “Master, the girls won’t be happy with that attitude of yours. They would want you to appear cool.”
“Fine, but I have no idea how to look cool. So, I’ll leave it in your capable hands to decide that, Tetra.”
“Leave it to me!” Tetra said confidently as she thumped herself in the chest.
The air salon owner used the magical cutting scissors to cut through Lakshman’s hair carefully. He was aware of Lakshman's status as both the Phoenix Titan and the future husband of Venezuela Sargold, which is why he put in more effort than usual to be extra careful. He casted several illusions magic spells, just in case his hand slipped from nervousness and did something bad.
The man did not know that Lakshman had already activated his own magic to protect himself against such a disaster. Due to how good he had become in controlling his magic spells, he had closed his eyes and appeared as if he was sleeping while his hair got cut. In the meantime, Felix just sat on a chair and watched with curiosity as Lakshman got his hair cut while Tetra instructed the owner.
After a while, the cutting was done and Lakshman opened his eyes to check his new look.
“Mmm! That looks good!” Felix said as he looked at his hair.
The owner smiled and said, “Yes. It certainly looks better than the long hair.”
Tetra nodded in agreement and said, “You’re right. Now, it doesn’t look straight and flat, but it doesn’t appear to be spikey either. On a whole, it looks great for your current appearance, master!”
Lakshman, who was turning his head this way and that way to look at his hair, just said, “It feels a bit weird for the hair to stand up like that. Is that thickness or just my hair being strange?”
Tetra chuckled and said, “That’s thickness, master.”
“Oh…! Thickness? Okay, okay. That makes sense,” Lakshman said with a smile of satisfaction.
He rose off the seat and turned to the man as he asked, “How much did it ask?”
“Fifteen gold, sir,” the owner said with a smile.
Lakshman, who had pulled out his Item Box, paused and looked at the man with a puzzled expression on his face.
“Fifteen?”
“That’s right, sir,” the man said respectfully.
Lakshman continued to look at the man curiously before he shook his head and said, “No. You’re lying to me.”
“Eh?” the man said and he looked surprised. “I’m not lying, sir.”
Lakshman shook his head and smiled as he said, “No, you’re lying. I can tell when someone lies to me.”
When the man looked alarmed, Felix looked seriously at him as he asked, “Hey… Are you deceiving us or something?”
Lakshman held his hand out and stopped Felix. Then, he looked at the man and said, “He’s not lying to me in a bad way. Rather, I believe you’re giving me some kind of discount for being a special customer, right?”
Lakshman, who had his Elemental Sense, constantly active, immediately detected the lie in the man’s words. At the same time, he also realised the amount of money charged was pretty low and he realised the man must be doing some sort of a discount.
“Forget about me being a special customer and charge me at the right price,” Lakshman said to him firmly. When the man continued to hesitate, Lakshman sighed and said, “If you don’t, it’ll low like I’m being pitied by you.”
“Ah!” the man said in shock and he quickly said, “No, no! I don’t want that!” Then, he reluctantly said, “Fifty-five gold, sir.”
“That’s better,” Lakshman said and he held the Item Box before saying, “Transfer fifty-five gold.”
In an instant, gold coins began flying out of the Item Box and landed on the shop’s counter. Once the amount had been done transferring, Lakshman pocketed the Item Box. Then, after biding the owner of the shop goodbye, he, Felix and Tetra left the salon.
“I’m impressed,” Felix said in an impressed voice as they walked down the street. “You can detect truths and lies now?”
Lakshman nodded and said, “Originally, the Elemental Sense was used to detect the power levels and life energies of people. Realising that it had more potential, I improved its functions and became capable of utilising it to detect danger, trouble, lies and many other things.”
Tetra laughed and said, “Master became so good at it that he detected my suspicious behaviour when I served him food.”
“Served him? Was he in the middle of training or something?” Felix asked curiously. “And what did you mean by your suspicious behaviour?”
“She tried to drug me to sleep,” Lakshman said flatly. “Apparently, she thought I was training too hard and tried to put me to sleep so I could rest.”
“Because you were, master!” Tetra told him sternly. “Spending almost twenty hours continuously training in that hellish place… You must be out of your mind!”
“So, did you eat the food?” Felix asked curiously and Lakshman nodded.
“Didn’t need to,” Lakshman said simply. “I just used Illusion Destroyer to remove all unnatural substances within the food that I ate.”
“Illusion Destroyer?” Felix asked looking puzzled. “I don’t remember hearing about such a technique.”
“It’s one of master’s new techniques,” Tetra said proudly.
“Woah… That’s amazing!” Felix said and he sounded impressed. “How does it work?”
“Simply put, it erases all things that I preserve as not real, like that sleeping substance within that food. I ate that kind of food many times over the years and when I felt a new element in it, I immediately activated the spell and it got rid of foreign substance, leaving the delicious food only.”
“Interesting… Hey, does it… um… erase people?” Felix asked nervously.
Lakshman looked at him with his eyes slightly narrowed and said, “It is possible, but I highly doubt any of us will be able to use that spell in such a way to erase a living being from existence.”
“Meaning?”
“Only a god can do such a thing, Felix. No mortal or immortal being is capable of unleashing such a devastation upon this world than the gods.”
Hearing that, Felix sighed in relief and Lakshman smiled. The two of them knew the kind of devastation such a powerful spell would bring upon the world. Felix was glad such a spell cannot be used to erase people from existence.
Sensing the tense situation between them, Tetra quickly moved the conversation and said, “Master also learnt and invented several more techniques of really high ability!”
“Really? What are they?” Felix asked eagerly.
“Well… There’s Illusion Destroyer, Maga Distrab, Spirit Circuit, Metal Force and several more. Oh yeah, I also made a contact with a Spirit Beast and Phoenix Familiar while I was at it.”
Felix’s eyes shot up in shock and he said, “Huh?! You made a contract with a Spirit Beast and a Phoenix Familiar?”
“While I was resting, I went through the vast amount of information I possess and I confirmed several things I had to do. First, I had to master both Spirit Summoning and Phoenix Summoning and the next is to make a contract with the summoning. In the end, I ended up contracting with a Spirit Dragon and an Eternal Phoenix.”
At hearing with whom Lakshman had made contracts with, Felix’s jaw dropped in disbelief. He stared at him in disbelief because he simply could not believe what he just heard.
“You managed to summon a Spirit Dragon and an Eternal Phoenix?!” Felix said in a carrying voice.
At his loud voice, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked over at them with curious expressions on their faces. They wondered why the Phoenix Emperor was raising his voice so suddenly and wondered what it was they were talking about.
“Oh, for crying out loud,” Lakshman said with a sigh. “Phoenix Portal!”
In an instant, a portal opened up in front of him and he pushed Felix through it before he and Tetra walked in. Once inside the portal, Felix recovered and immediately bombarded him with questions.
“How is it possible for you to summon a Spirit Dragon and an Eternal Phoenix? That’s impossible!” Felix said fervently. “I tried summoning a Phoenix Familiar, but failed for unknown reasons. Yet, you’re saying you succeeded in summoning and making a contract with both of them?”
“Stop complaining, Felix,” Lakshman said as he began walking along the road of light with swirling darkness on either side of them. “It’s not like it’s completely unnatural for me.”
“Yes…! Yes…! I’m finally beginning to realise just how the unnatural becomes a natural thing for you!” Felix said heavily. “Anyway, I can understand you made a contract with an Eternal Phoenix since you’re the Phoenix Titan and all, but how did a Spirit Dragon make a contract with you?”
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
Lakshman shrugged his shoulders and said, “I know that dragons only connect well with other dragons, but I somehow managed to summon it. I mean, I was expecting something more in the terms of a Spirit Lion, but I was pretty surprised when a Spirit Dragon got summoned.”
As they walked, Felix looked at Lakshman’s back and asked, “Did the Spirit Dragon challenge you to a battle?”
“Yeah, it said something about testing my worth and I had to fight to prove myself,” Lakshman said in a dull voice. “I powered up and fought that thing head on!”
Tetra chuckled and said, “It was quite the battle too, a fully grown dragon verses a newly rising phoenix. For a while, I feared those two might end up destroying each other. Eventually, master won and the dragon consented to the contract.”
Lakshman laughed and said, “I never thought I’d end up in a battle between dragon and human in our very first meeting.” Then he shrugged his shoulders and said, “Oh well. I think it was worth testing each other’s strengths.”
“I see,” Felix said and he nodded in understanding. “I suppose your pets are in their respective dimensions?”
“Yes because I don’t exactly have a home here yet,” Lakshman said heavily. “That’s why, is there a land I can buy, Felix?”
“Huh? Land?” Felix asked in a surprised voice. “Why not live at the castle since you’ll become king soon.”
Lakshman shook his head and said, “No. I want to lead a simple life while bearing my responsibility is king. Also, when I have kids later, I don’t want them being raised by royalty. It will only feed their ego and turn them into the trash bags of society.”
Felix nodded and said, “I understand. I’ll see what I can do about the land, but I’m sure there is a place that’s available for sale, but I don’t know if you have the money to buy—?”
“If its money, I’ll have plenty and if that’s not enough, I’ll just go acquire more gold from another Labyrinth Tower to buy the land. How does that sound?” Lakshman asked with a small smile on his face.
Felix chuckled and said, “Sounds interesting. Anyway, let’s all discuss this together at a later date.”
They nodded at each other just as they stepped out of the portal and arrived outside of Astral Academy. As the portal closed behind them, Felix glanced towards it and looked impressed.
“You’re improved with using your Phoenix Portal. It’s a lot more solid than what I use and it certainly is better than the Magic Scrolls the Phintex Rajas use often to travel really long distances.”
Lakshman smiled and he said, “Stop getting impressed with everything I’m doing right now, Felix. I’ve changed.”
Felix nodded and they walked towards the gate, where the guards stepped forward to speak to them. When they found out that they were in the presence of the Phoenix Titan, they quickly bowed to him. Then, they quickly informed each other and let the gates open to let him and Tetra inside. Lakshman walked in and suddenly realised he did not sense the presence of Felix beside him.
“Felix, come on,” Lakshman told him as he turned around.
Felix, who was standing outside the gates, shook his head and said, “Sorry, but I only came out of office to get you new clothes, a haircut and escort you here. With my job done, I’ll be going back to work.”
“Oh… Alright then. Thanks for the help so far,” Lakshman told him and together, he and Tetra waved goodbye.
Felix chuckled and said, “Well, have a lovely reunion.” Then, he turned around and said, “Phoenix Portal.”
As a portal opened up, he walked into it and disappeared and a moment later, the portal closed. The guards closed the gates and returned to their standby state as Lakshman and Tetra continued walking inside.
“Mmm! I spell something delicious!” Tetra said as she sniffed eagerly.
Lakshman raised an eyebrow at her and asked, “Are you a dog or something to sniff like that?”
“Master! Aren’t you forgetting that phoenixes are birds?” Tetra asked sternly as she continued to sniff the delicious smell. Licking her lips, she said, “Now that I’ve smelt it, I feel hungry.”
“Haha. Fine,” he said before laughing heartily.
Together, they made their way towards where they were sensing the presence of many people. When they turned a corner, they arrived to see a large crowd had gathered there. Most of them were standing around while talking happily while others continued to eat food from the plates. As he looked around at them, he immediately saw the six girls whom he loves very dearly.
Ondine, Silvera, Venezuela, Emilia, Erza and Cantia were standing around together and talked. Ondine had a glass of water in her hand, which she continued to drip from. Cantia still had a plate in her hand full of food that she was slowly eating, obviously to savour the taste. Seeing her eating so slow, made Lakshman want to laugh.
As he drew nearer, the girls stopped talking and widened their eyes. They did not know why, but they sensed the presence of someone they had been longing to meet over the past two years. In anticipation, they turned around and saw Lakshman walking together them with Tetra walking beside him. At first, the girls were frozen in shock when they saw the slight change in his appearance, but his new look memorised them and caused them to continue staring at him.
The first to break out of this spell was Erza, who had her eyes wide open. Then, she rushed forward as she smiled widely in thrill of great happiness.
“Lucky!” she cried out happily as she ran towards him.
Seeing her rushing towards him surprised Lakshman and he quickly stepped back to catch her as she jumped at him. As soon as he caught her in his arms, she swung her arms around him and hugged him tightly with her arms.
“Lucky! Lucky! You’re back! You’re back…!” she was saying happily.
“Woah there, Erza!” Lakshman said with a laugh. “You surprised me there, suddenly running at me like that. I thought you wanted to hit me or something.”
“Why would I want to hit you?” Erza asked him breathlessly.
Lakshman let her go and she landed gracefully on her feet. Just then, he saw the other girls rushing towards him and he quickly pushed Erza out of harm’s way. The next moment, he was hit by a wave of bodies as Ondine, Silvera and Cantia took a running leap and bumped into him before they began hugging him tightly. The impact from their running leap caused him to move back as his feet got dragged on the ground.
“Wow…! Ladies!” he exclaimed in a surprised voice. “Calm down…! I’m back—! Ouch!”
He winced because Ondine, Silvera and Cantia were hugging him a little bit too tightly. Lakshman realised the girls became very strong over the past two years. It seemed their determination to get strong in an effort to try and catch him in his ever growing strength pushed them forward. His strength was immense, but he feared anymore of their pressure will cause him to automatically activate his self-defensive combat mode.
“Ladies… Stop it. You’re crushing me!” he told them sternly and they finally let go of him.
“W-We’re sorry, but… but… we… missed you… master…!” Silvera said tearfully.
When they stepped back, he was startled to see all three of them shedding tears out of happiness at seeing him again and sadness of missing him for so long. Feeling a surge of affection for these three girls, he began patting their heads in a speedy movement that made it look like he was using three arms to pat their heads.
“You’ve certainly improved with your speed,” Venezuela said as she walked over to them. “On top of that, seems like you grew taller and your muscles also got a bit more bulky. Is it just far or…?”
Lakshman looked hurt as he said to her, “Ah, come on, Vena… I became strong, not fat.”
Venezuela smiled and said, “That’s good to know.”
He nodded at her and asked, “So… Should I still call you Vena or… Empress Vena?”
“Say that again and I will beat you up like anything…” Venezuela said quietly in a dangerous voice.
“I was just joking! Just joking…” he hastily said and she nodded in satisfaction.
He suddenly felt a nudge to his side and he turned to see Emilia looking up at him. The height difference between them was quite something because her fullest height was about his shoulder height. However, he did not care and they hugged each other happily. Unlike the other girls, Emilia was gentle with her hug and he felt all her emotions pass through him easily, feeling very happy.
“Welcome back, Lucky,” Emilia said sweetly.
Lakshman was thrilled to hear her voice and the sweetness in her voice made him feel his heat just skipped a beat. It was an amazing feeling that he had quite forgotten due to the training he was undergoing. Now that he is back, the once subdued feelings of love and peace.
When he straightened up and looked at all the girls smiling happily at him, he happily back smiled and said, “Yeah… I’m definitely back!”
----------------------------------------
Author's Note
Today the weather was so damn cold that I my hands kept mistyping and all. On top of that, trying to get that wikia working really did take a bit out of me today. Oh well, I've learnt a few things and I believe I will just learn more where that came from. Still, I wouldn't mind getting help, but that's up to the people to decide after all.
Here's a page that's got the most content in right now: Phoenix Rising Wikia: Lakshman Reddy