Lakshman and the girls spent the night with Indra and his family. The ladies had a wonderful time talking about the marriage arrangements and the sort of dresses they would be wearing. The boys, which is mainly Lakshman and Indra, spent their time together talking about the events of the past.
The next morning, they ate breakfast with great appetite, which was super delicious with Emilia and Ondine helping out Lakshmi and Mariana. Everyone ate the food with happiness that also included Lakshman’s familiars. Phylex happily ate the vegetable food while thanking the ladies for making it. On the other hand, Draga the Spirit Dragon did not want to eat the food of the humans, but Lakshmi’s words of encouragement finally got him to eat, which he did with great happiness.
“Human food usually taste bad, but I’ll make an exception for this one,” he told them telepathically and they smiled happily.
“Just come out and say you like it already,” Phylex telepathically said to him.
“I don’t like it, but it’s good enough to eat,” Draga telepathically said gruffly as he ate.
The ladies took that to mean he did like the food and smiled at each other happily. Phylex is well mannered and the twins like him very much and Draga is lazy and prideful to admit to most things.
“Your familiars are really something,” Indra said to Lakshman, who simply smiled. Then, Indra suddenly remembered something and he said, “Ah. That reminds me…”
He rose to his feet and left the dining room before returning a few seconds later with an envelope. He held the letter tightly in his hand and once he sat down on his chair, he passed it over to Lakshman.
“It’s a letter from Sumara Manjuvad that arrived in mail two years ago,” Indra told Lakshman as he observed the envelope. “We received this a few days after you left to attend Astral Academy.”
“Really? From Miss. Sumara?” Lakshman asked eagerly. Then, a puzzled expression cover his faced and he asked, “If it came a few days after I left, couldn’t you have posted it to me immediately?”
Indra nodded and said, “I thought about it, but I also came to the conclusion that you might be busy in studies and this letter mighty distract you from it. So, I decided to hold onto it until you came home for holidays. I never thought you’d go on a training though.”
“Ah. I see,” Lakshman said and he nodded in understanding.
He looked at the envelope and had the urge to immediately open it when he realised he still had food on his plate. His discipline dictated that food comes first before anything else and so, he put it aside and quickly shoved the food down his mouth. Once he was done, he let the dining room and arrived in the living room to sit down as he opened the envelope. He held it upside down and a folded letter fell into the palm of his hand. Once he unfolded it, he began to read the contents of the letter.
“Dear Lakshman Reddy,
How are you, Lucky? I hope you doing well in both health and education. The last I saw, you were still a kid, but I believe you would have grown up a lot over these three years. Are you perhaps wondering how I am doing? I am in a healthy condition with no side effects of traveling for so long.
I promised you I will write you a letter every so often, but my travels did not give me a chance. I suppose you can wonder why I travelled for so long. It seems an explanation is an order and I will provide the best explanation I can while leaving out tedious details.
After leaving your home in that village, I arrived at Rodfox Capital and I searched for signs of jobs. Unfortunately, there were none and I began my journey from kingdom to kingdom. I first travelled to Mardana Kingdom to find a job, which I fortunately did as I ended up teaching the Mardana Magical Engineering, where I got to work with the Scientific King, Wolfenstine.
A few months later, I resigned my job and left the kingdom because some fishy things made me take that decision. Students were disappearing, there were the apparent random deaths during the night when people find their mutilated remains. It became dangerous and I decided to take my leave before I got dragged into that mess.”
Lakshman realised that Sumara was referring to the random kills that the Demon Dragon King, Razzel, had been doing in the past. Just thinking about those events made his blood boil angrily, but he quickly relieved the anger because Razzel was dead and he would never cause trouble again. With that, Lakshman returned to the letter and continued reading.
“I began to feel this tension amongst the Elemental Spirits during my journey. I had realised that I made the correct decision in leaving Mardana Kingdom when I did. Anyway, I next went to Ashtra Kingdom and I had to do a mandatory test to apply for teaching at Ashtra University. I spent two years studying there and that was when I finally decided to reach a higher rank.
So, using the salary that I saved up from my teaching for two years, I enrolled in the upper classes. I started my serious studies and after spending two difficult years, I finally realised my dream and was able to use King ranked spells like Lightning Burst Wave, Icicle and several more. I also managed to master Positron Cannon, an Emperor Ranked technique, but it was difficult.”
When he reached this part, Lakshman exclaimed and said, “Woah… Miss. Sumara mastered Positron Cannon? That’s amazing!” He suddenly thought of something and he thought, “Wait… She studied really hard to master that technique when I had the Decisive Player bombard me with so much that I wished I fainted to rest.”
He laughed and continued reading her letter.
“With the completion of my studies, I was left feeling confident with my skills and strength. That made me wonder how your training is coming along. I hope you did not slack off after I left and became a lazy bumpkin because I would hate to think of one of my finest students becoming like that.”
At those words, he laughed and said, “You worry needlessly, Miss. Sumara,” before continuing to read.
“Once I was done with my studies, I decided to visit Floria Kingdom one last time. It took me a few months reach the kingdom, but when I did arrive, I was surprised to find it under construction. As it turned out, it appeared the kingdom had been attacked a while back by the demon army, led by the Demon Emperor. I was even more surprised when I found out the one who defeated the Demon Emperor was none other than the Phoenix Titan.
Now, this is where things get complicated because apparently, the Phoenix Titan’s name was Lakshman. At first, I was shocked to think that you were the Phoenix Titan and that you defeated an Emperor ranked warrior.”
Lakshman chuckled and said, “But I did!”
“However, a lot of people had trouble pronouncing his real name and some even said they don’t remember it that well. All they could remember was that he was a young boy with golden spiky hair with red crown shaped eyes. I don’t remember you having golden hair and certainly not red crown shaped eyes. I didn’t believe that person to be you because people tend to exaggerate the truth, which is either fifty-percent truth or made up junk.
Anyway, I tried to teach in Astral Academy, but it seemed I had to pass another test. Sadly, the test proved to be really difficult as it was asking for various things that I just never bothered to learn. After I was unsuccessful at getting enrolled into the academy, I decided to return to my home continent, the Bazaraka Continent. The Demon World, Demagrad, is the home to many of the demons, but I am born in this world and as such, Bazaraka Continent is my home and I feel it’s time I return the favours done by my family and relatives.
I am sure you will be sad to see me go back home without meeting you again, which is why I am posting this letter to you. I am unsure when you will receive this letter, but I am confident that you will be very powerful by then. How powerful? I suppose we can start comparing yourself with power warriors like the Phoenix Emperor and the Nine Pillars of Power, which I believe I had forgotten to tell you about. Anyway, I think you would have learnt about them by now since they are the strongest warriors.
And now, I bid my farewell to you, Lucky. I do not know when we will meet again, but if we are destined to meet, we will meet. Until then, study well, train hard, become strong and never give up! That is a rule I believe I hammered hard into you in our training and although it might make you reckless, go with it! You will be perfectly fine because I have this feeling that you will reach great heights. I believe it and you believe it as well.
With sincere regards,
Your previous home magic tutor,
Sumara Manjuvad.”
Lakshman reached the end of the letter and he felt really happy as he smiled at the letter. From the details that she included, she had mastered her skills and reached King rank. It seemed that she was fine and safe, which made him feel relieved. He was his first teacher before Darian Ronald, Rumble, Felix, the teachers of Astral Academy and the Decisive Player. Happiness gushed forth for his previous teacher as he showed both liking and respect for her sincere attitude in her training to become stronger. However, he did feel a twinge of displeasure when he learnt that she had left.
“Judging from the time of delivery of the letter and the posting, I guess she left a while before I arrived as Astral Academy,” he muttered unhappily.
As soon as he felt depressed, he smiled widely and said, “Oh well! I’m sure I’ll meet her again soon enough! Now that she’s become strong enough to help her people, it’s time I follow in her footsteps to get moving with my desire to help the people and the world!”
He nodded confidently as he was filled with determination to succeed. Later that day, it was time for them to return to Floria Kingdom and they were saying goodbye to the family. As the women talked, Lakshman and Indra stepped aside to speak personally with one another.
“Lucky, make sure you be a better head of the family than me,” Indra told him firmly with a serious expression on his face. “Unlike me, you’re going to be the husband of seven women and they will start relying on you. On top of that, you will become the king of a kingdom once you marry Venezuela. You told me you will lead a simple peaceful life in that new home that you’re going to buy, but be ready for a hectic life, alright?”
Lakshman nodded and said, “I know my words to make you feel relieved will be wasted since you will constantly about me, but be confident in me, father. I have learnt many great things in these two years of training and I will make sure no problems will occur.” As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly thought of something and he asked, “Actually, why don’t you, mother, Mariana and twins move over to our new house?”
Indra chuckled and said, “I see. You’re trying to keep the family together.” They smiled at each other when Indra shook his head and said, “Unfortunately, this is my home, Lucky. You’ll be starting your family of your own and you shouldn’t need us there to assist. Be a man and do things like I did, from scratch.”
Lakshman laughed and said, “Fine, father, but you will have to come for the wedding.”
“Of course! There’s no way am I or the women of this house are going to miss that out!” Indra said and they smiled each other.
Once they were done talking, they returned to the girls, who were laughing.
“Time to go?” Ondine asked curiously and Lakshman nodded at her.
“You girls climb onto Phylex and Draga to return while I use my portal to go do some business,” he told them as Phylex and Draga returned to their full forms in a flash of light.
“Eh? You’re not coming back with us?” Erza asked in a surprised voice.
He shook his head and said, “I have some things to take care of, but in the meantime, you ladies return and set things up for the marriage.”
“Okay, but you better be back soon. We can only do so much without you around,” Venezuela said and she narrowed her eyes at him.
“Alright, alright. I’ll be back soon anyway, so there’s no problem in me being late,” he told her with a smile on his face.
With the help from Phylex and Draga’s magic, the girls got onto the backs of these mighty creature’s backs. They shouted their farewell as the two majestic creatures beat their wings and slowly lifted into the air. Then, once they were airborne, the two of them whooshed away into the distance at great speed.
“I just hope they don’t get airsick,” Lakshman said, causing him and his family to laugh.
He held his hand out and with the destination in mind, he said, “Phoenix Portal!”
“Take care, Lucky!” Lakshmi told her son with a wide smile on her face.
“Bye, annayya!” the twins said at the same time and they waved their small hands at him.
“Make sure you get back on time!” Indra told him sternly.
He turned around and with a grin on his face, he said, “No worries and see you later!”
Once he was done waving goodbye at them, he turned around and walked into the portal, which closed a moment after him entering into it. For a few seconds, he was walking along a straight white road that was shrouded in darkness on either side of it. Then, he walked out into the bright sunlight, causing him to squint to adjust his eyes as the portal closed behind him. After getting used to it, he realised he was at the capital of Floria Kingdom.
“Good. I’m here,” he muttered in satisfaction. “Now then, I should be close to where Wolfenstine’s laboratory is located…”
He looked around and the shabby area he was in when he saw a large board hanging off a building. The sign read “Wolf’s Lab,” which caused Lakshman to involuntarily chuckle.
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“Wolf’s Lab?” he asked in amazement. “Wow… That’s one strange title right there.”
He was sure it was definitely Wolfenstine’s laboratory, which looked as if it was run down. As he observed more closely, he noticed the shifting in the appearance, which made him realise there was a strong illusion barrier placed on the building to make it look that way.
“Smart,” he muttered in an impressed voice. “I guess he wanted to avoid danger. Anyway, let’s see if he’s in.”
Lakshman walked over to the building’s entrance and raised his hand to tap once on it. The moment that he tapped the door that it promptly fell forward and slammed against the ground.
“Ah…”
He was frozen in shock when the door he wanted to knock against fell on the ground.
“Oh crap!” he exclaimed. “I only knocked, but I didn’t think I was so strong that a simple tap knocked the door down…!”
Just then, he heard footsteps from the inside and he heard a familiar voice shout, “Oh my goodness! Who the hell knocked the door down?”
The lights within the darkened room switched on as a man’s frame appeared in front of the doorway. As the lights became bright, Wolfnestine came into clearer picture. There was not much of a change in his appearance, except that his white hair became long and spiky. His broad shoulders and strong muscles gave off the feeling of a powerful warrior as he wore a business style short and pants. Strangely, he was wearing spectacles, which truly gave him an impressive look.
“Oh…? Is that you, Lucky?” Wolfenstine asked curiously as he walked forward a bit to get a better view.
Lakshman smiled and nodded as he said, “Hey, Wolf and sorry about this. I only meant to knock on the door, but I didn’t think I put so much strength that it would actually knock the door down.”
Wolfenstine chuckled and said, “Of course not.”
He walked forward and bent down to easily pick up the fallen door. With a gesture, Lakshman walked in as Wolfnestine easily fitted into the entrance and closed the door. Lakshman looked at him putting the door into place nonchalantly without bothering to fix it up.
“Um… Is that door not attached to any swinging stuff? Is it just there for show?” Lakshman asked curiously.
Once he was finished, Wolfenstine turned around and said, “Not really. I just never bothered to fix it up with the bolts for the swings.”
“So, you basically knock it off and put it back in place to make it look solid,” Lakshman said before shaking his head incredulously. “That must mean that door’s been knocked over on several occasions.”
Wolfenstine laughed and gestured for Lakshman to sit on the chair near the table. Lakshman slowly walked over as he looked around the building of Wolfenstine’s laboratory. It really did not look like a laboratory due to the many types of tools hanging off the ceiling along with some other stuff that would be used for experiments. Some of them seemed to be dusty as if they had not been cleaned and used for a while.
“Looks like you haven’t been working for a while,” Lakshman commented from looking at the tools as he sat down.
Wolfenstine sat down on the chair in front of the table, which was opposite to Lakshman. He leaned back on chair and sighed heavily.
“You’re right. I haven’t been working at all lately. It seems the world is doing pretty fine with my Crystal Clocks that you suggested. Now, I don’t seem to be getting anything into my mind to make,” he said in a dull voice.
“Aren’t you receiving payment for the improvement of the Energy Crystals and the supply of energy sources?” Lakshman asked him curiously. “Or, is there not enough incentive for you to make anything else?”
“I’m getting the payment from Felix and it’s pretty good for a Scientific King like me. Like expected, I spent quite a while fixing up those Energy Crystals and experimented with them to make their efficiency better in using the natural energy source without going out of control. I think you’re aware of the dangerous brightness for the eyesight.”
Lakshman nodded and said, “Yeah. It would literally feel like the sun was thrown into our eyes. Then, there’s the recoil from the explosion of the overloading of the Energy Crystal that would certainly feel like a small explosion. I think it’s good that you’ve fixed that up, but you can’t give up like that, Wolf.”
Wolfenstine chuckled and sighed before saying, “My clansmen are doing well at the Forest of Fog and I literally just have to use my Vocal Transmission Device to speak to them. Through this telepathic communication, there’s no need for me to visit them except the every year.”
“Mmm…!” Lakshman made a noise with his mouth as he was impressed by nodding his head. “Then, how about you make it global?”
“Global? Are you suggesting that I expand the device and multiple it to be used by everyone all around the world?”
“Why not? I mean, it would be very useful and people would simply love to use such a simplified device.”
Wolfenstine shook his head and said, “No, Lucky. People would simply need to master the Telepathy magic spell or to contact with someone from a faraway place, they just have to master the King ranked Telepathic Spirit magic spell to connect to them.”
Lakshman nodded and said, “Right, but there are two problems with that way of communicating. The first is that those are high ranked techniques and they required people to actually master those technique to make them work. The second is the requirement of concentration to focus your mind on the person or the people you want to connect to and speak with.
These two require people a lot of strength, deep concentration and a large quantity of energy. For people like us, it’s quite an incredible feet to achieve it, but for those that cannot do it is just simply unfair in my opinion. That’s why, I want you to improve the Vocal Transmission Device so that it works when anyone uses it.
Also, I believe there should be a Teleportation Zones in various places connection to each other. Right now, I’ve mastered the use of Phoenix Portal and I’m using it constantly to move from one place to another. Even the Phoenix Clan members use the Warp magic spell to teleport themselves to a known destination.
I believe there are Teleportation Circles connecting the continents together even though I’ve never seen them, but I believe there should be Teleportation Zones around several places connecting one kingdom to another or one place to another specified place. Like, during the attack of an invading army, the people can use these zones to escape from harm’s way if they are installed in all homes.
Along with that, I think we should make—!”
“Hold onto your reigns!” Wolfenstine exclaimed in a loud voice. “At least, let me write them down…! Geez…!”
Wolfenstine quickly got up to go and pick up paper and pen before returning back to the table. Once he sat down, he asked, “Alright! Fire away and tell me whatever you want to try experimenting. Then, let’s talk if we can achieve it or not.”
“Suits me just fine,” Lakshman said with a shrug of his shoulders and he began telling Wolfenstine his ideas.
Some of the following are in the list of major inventions or creations that Lakshman wanted to be made or implemented:
Vocal Transmission DeviceThe use for these devices is simply to let multiple people talking to one another through the use of telepathy. Naturally, people would not need to speak in their mind and whatever they said out loud into the device will get transmitted to the receiving end of the device through real-time functionality of the magic cells.Teleportation ZoneThese are the connections between several places that enables the teleportation of several people at the same time. The idea behind this is to be used for travelling long distances, but only limited within the boundaries of the continent they are in. However, the people can choose to install ones that enable them to move from one continent to another.
This gave birth to the idea of Teleportation Rings that could be used to achieve the same principles, except these rings would be worn on the people. The user would activate the ring’s teleportation magic and once they specify a locatable destination, the ring would automatically transport them directly there.Barrier CrystalsThe idea came from the past events two years ago when the people of Floria Kingdom were under attack by the invading army of Mardana Kingdom. The true purpose of these crystals was to secure the person that has a hold of this. If the person is under attack from an enemy, the crystal would act like a barrier and it would shield them and the people around them from possible injury.
The main drawback with these crystals was that they cannot protect you from the most devastating attacks, but it would work as it was intended to function.Titanium ArmourThese are the armours that would be mixed with the knowledge of the Phoenix Clan and the remains of the inferior qualities of the Dragon Armour. The intention behind the creation of this type of armour was to provide the Phoenix Army and the Floria Kingdom Army the fighting edge they need against other kingdoms and clans like the Demons and Dragons.
There is the chance of them illegally being transported to the other kingdoms, which is why there will be a remote breakdown feature that will enable the Phoenix Clan or Floria Kingdom the power to dismantle the armour by remote activation. Such a powerful armour should not be wielded by the other kingdoms due to their lower trustworthiness.
Lakshman continued to list down the kind of inventions that he wanted to be done or made while Wolfenstine quietly took note of them on his piece of paper. This went on for almost an hour with the different and varieties that Lakshman had in mind. There were also minor inventions included as well to help reduces the use of natural resources and rely on the natural energy provided by mother nature.
“The God of Nature wouldn’t mind us using the power of the natural energy,” Lakshman said confidently.
“If you say so,” Wolfenstine said while laughing. Then, as he looked down at the list, he said, “Anyway, this is quite the list you’ve made me write. I didn’t think you studied Magical Engineering since you left for your two years of training. Was there some special training available at that place?”
Lakshman smiled when he saw the eagerness in Wolfenstine’s voice and eyes.
“There really wasn’t much in there expect for white space, wildly fluctuating gravity and weather,” Lakshman said and he grinned at him. “Anyway, one can learn a lot from the amount of knowledge they have amassed like me.”
Wolfenstine did not understand that Lakshman was referring to the vast amount of knowledge he possess. He gained this from the now deceased Decisive Player, who had given him that knowledge as his final gift to him. During the training, Lakshman realised most of the knowledge would be very useful to the world once they are implemented, although he kept a few under wraps because he felt they would increase the chances of trouble than creating peace.
“Well, whatever it is, I’ll think of starting on these at some time soon,” Wolfnestine said as he folded the paper and set it aside. “Now… Why don’t you get down to the actual business that brought you all the way here?”
Lakshman looked surprised and asked, “You can tell?”
Wolfenstine nodded knowingly and said, “Indeed, I can. People don’t come near me because of how wild and inhuman I am with my experiments.” After they laughed, he narrowed his eyes in a business like way and asked, “So… What brings the mighty Phoenix Titan here?”
Lakshman chuckled and said, “Stop that…” Then, he straightened up and smiled slightly and as he asked, “I was wondering if you can make the most delicious liquor possible.”
“Liquor?” Wolfenstine asked in a surprised voice. “I didn’t think you were into that sort of stuff, Lucky.”
Lakshman immediately shook his head and said, “Oh, please! I’d rather die a natural death than be killed by such junk, but a lot of people seem to like it and the thing has its use in what I have in mind.”
“Hmm…? What do you intend to use the most delicious liquor for?”
Lakshman smiled and said, “I’m hoping to, you know, soft talk the other kings into agreeing with some of the things I have in mind of doing once I become king.”
“Oh…” Wolfenstine said curiously and he narrowed his eyes intently. “So, what do you have in mind?”
Lakshman simply smiled before beginning to speak to Wolfenstine about the details of the liquor.
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Author's Note
I felt extremely lazy today because of the cold (it's winter and my hands are really cold to touch), but I didn't want the fans of my, the author, and the fans of the story to feel bored that there wasn't a story today. Anyway, I managed to pull up my energy and get on with the story of writing today's chapter.
In addition to that, I've also been working daily on the Phoenix Rising: Wikia. I've managed to add in a lot of terminology, characters and some of their details. I'm still in the adding process, but I'm also taking breaks to focus on my real life as well. I hope everyone is finding the wiki to be a handy tool to help you through the story.