Chapter 7 The Starting Point of Encounter
The profound darkness filled everything before his eyes, as if intending to swallow all color… Consciousness and soul were about to return to the underworld of death.
However, unlike the darkness before death, Ig felt that his will was incredibly clear. He gazed at the pitch-black surroundings that were about to sink but were forcibly frozen. The strands of memory presented themselves like a magic scroll, showing the last scene in his memory:
That beautiful and noble… girl in flames.
Who is she… And shouldn’t I be dead? What’s going on?
Ig was quite confused, but at this moment, unable to feel his body, he could only remain silent here aimlessly.
The endless darkness in the silence seemed to be eternal, until… a cluster of golden flames illuminated all vision.
The light of the flames was comfortable, soft, and warm.
“Finally awake.”
He vaguely heard a slightly dissatisfied girl’s mumble by his ears.
His tightly closed eyes began to sting from the light rays, and Ig gradually began to feel his consciousness. He opened his eyes with effort, then exerted all his strength to support himself with his arms and sit up.
The surrounding scenery then fell into Ig’s sight, and the young man’s expression suddenly froze:
The surroundings were still that scorched red land, filled with rugged layers of flame. The only difference was that not far from him, a girl with brilliant sunlight-like radiant golden hair sat idly on a rock, swinging her slender, fair legs.
The girl’s beautiful face, propped up by her slender hands, showed a hint of tenderness suitable for her age, and her luxurious golden pupils revealed a hint of impatience.
However, what made Ig stunned was not this, but why was this girl not wearing any clothes!
The girl seemed to have noticed Ig’s expression. She first looked confused, then puzzled, and finally became suspicious and wore an expression that made the young man feel like he had fallen into an ice cellar.
Seeing the exquisite girl with an unfriendly look take a step in front of him, Ig felt a chill and hurriedly prepared to shout.
“Ah, wait–”
A pure white little fist forcefully hit the young man’s forehead, Ig’s vision went black, and he fainted again.
“Phew, done! But, what exactly happened?”
Verafia frowned slightly. She waved her slender hand, looking at the mirror that formed in front of her eyes, her doubt growing even more incomprehensible:
Clearly, she was wearing this dress condensed from flames, but why did this brat have such an expression? Has her strength declined too much?
After thinking about it, the girl still couldn’t come to a conclusion. She simply stood up from the stone and planned to put on substantial clothes.
However, after rummaging through, the professional equipment for the greatsword mercenary and longbow hunter was still quite ill-fitting for her. In the end, the girl simply put on the robe prepared by the female mage.
Time passed slowly, and Ig slowly opened his eyes again.
“Hey! Human brat, don’t pretend to be asleep if you’re awake!”
A very unfriendly girl’s voice startled Ig. He hurriedly got up, and at this time, the girl’s figure once again fell into Ig’s eyes:
A strand of hair, brilliant like the dazzling sun, as if forged from gold, slid from the edge of the hood. The girl’s clean and flawless beautiful face was full of suspicion.
Although she was only wearing a simple mage’s outer robe, it could not conceal her noble and precious aura.
“What happened just now, do you still remember?”
His forehead was still vaguely aching, and he had no doubt that his answer would incur something: that would definitely not be such a simple “physical cleansing technique”!
So Ig put on a puzzled expression: “What, what just happened?”
Hearing the other party say this, Verafia nodded with satisfaction.
Ig breathed a sigh of relief. Only then did he have the chance to examine his actual condition: not only were there no injuries in his body, but even his clothes were almost intact, with only some dried blood residue left.
The young man opened his mouth, showing surprise and doubt. He knew how serious his injuries were before, and even fell into that sea of fire, yet he was unharmed? All of this…
“Miss Phoenix, did you save me just now?”
“Didn’t do much! Just scooped you up, and then dealt with those guys who were bullying you.”
Verafia waved her slender hands generously, a look of indifference on her little face.
The girl’s radiant golden beautiful pupils curved into a crescent moon again. She circled the young man a few times, “Human boy, your eyesight is not bad, you recognized me as a Phoenix so quickly! But just call me Verafia!”
Ig thought to himself, if you expose your aura so unscrupulously, anyone can sense it, right?
Fortunately, I am just a weak Bronze Rank. If it were someone else, even if this somewhat naturally clueless Miss Phoenix was a powerful Platinum Rank expert, she would definitely not be able to withstand the pursuit of endless human powerhouses.
Although he thought this way, Ig still bowed respectfully in front of the girl:
“Miss Verafia, thank you for offering your help. I am Igert Landishloven, and I will surely remember your kindness…”
“Shloven?”
Upon hearing Ig mention this word, a strange look flashed in Verafia’s eyes. She pressed: “Is there someone named Eggesti in your family?”
“You are referring to my father.”
Ig also said with some surprise, “Miss Verafia, do you know my father?”
“To be a descendant of Eggesti, what a fate… No wonder he knew my technique.”
Verafia muttered to herself inwardly, looking at the young man in front of her with a complex expression. However, the strange look in Verafia’s eyes flashed by, and she shook her butterfly head, showing an angry expression.
“How could I possibly know your father? I only just hatched not long ago! If it weren’t for you suddenly waking me up, I should still be sleeping beautifully! It’s just that I happened to hear your attendants mention this name.”
Ig felt relieved. He thought to himself, it must be like this. With his old man’s cunning, if he met this pure and simple as a blank sheet of paper Phoenix lady, wouldn’t he devour her until not even bones were left!
However, as expected of the legendary powerful race that could rival royal dragons! A little phoenix that just hatched already had Platinum Rank power. Looking at myself again… after cultivating for more than ten years, I’m only a mere Bronze!
Even though Ig’s temperament was always calm, seeing such a stark contrast, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness and tears, thinking that it’s true that comparing people… no, comparing people to phoenixes, makes one even more infuriated.
“Oh, right, human boy, I found this sword on you, here you go!”
Subconsciously taking the long sword thrown by the girl, Ig looked carefully.
—
End (Tegasol) (Damaged)
Type: Long Sword
Rank: Black Iron
Evaluation: The former Sword Saint Lothel’s sword. Forged jointly by legendary Elf artisan ??? and legendary Dwarf artisan: ???. After bearing an unbearable amount of power and being completely damaged, it was reshaped by Verafia’s power.
Properties: Sturdy, contains the power of flames.
—
“This, this…”
Looking at the End in his hand, which had a new appearance and was actually only repaired to a usable state, Ig’s heart was incredibly excited:
Since End could be easily repaired by Miss Verafia, does that mean that one day, I might also be able to make End regain its original brilliance!
Seeing the boy’s excited expression, Verafia just shook her head slightly at his thoughts.
To be able to restore End to a barely usable state, she had put in a lot of effort, even sparing a drop of her own source blood.
The reason she was so weak now was also related to this matter.
If Ig wanted to restore End to its original state, the effort required would likely be much more difficult than forging a similar weapon of the same rank.
