Chapter 50: Choice
Sera paused.
Then her tone shifted subtly, but enough that Luis noticed.
"Training is finished for today."
Luis blinked.
"...Really?"
"Yes."
He frowned slightly. "I can keep going."
"I know," Sera said. "That’s not the point."
She turned to face him fully.
"You’ve reached the limit of what this lesson can give you without becoming counterproductive. Pushing further today would just reinforce bad habits."
Luis nodded slowly.
That made sense.
"Good," Sera continued. "Because there’s something else we need to discuss."
Luis straightened slightly.
"Something important."
The Shadow Prison changed again.
The platforms dissolved, the terrain smoothing into a vast, open circular space. The oppressive sense of motion faded, replaced by stillness.
A place meant for conversation.
Luis swung his legs up and stood.
"What is it?" he asked.
Sera studied him for a moment longer than usual.
Then she spoke.
"Your next blessing."
The smile on Luis’s face betrayed his excitement.
Silence hung in the air for a few moments before Sera continued.
"You will be given a choice," she said. "Three, to be precise."
The air shifted subtly.
"First," Sera said, raising one finger, "a blessing aligned with fire."
The darkness beside her stirred.
A faint fire like shadow materialised above her finger, the flame was only a manifestation of shadows not an actual flame, it radiated no heat.
"A Phoenix aligned blessing, It would synergize with your current blessings and the Phoenix essence. It would feel natural. Comfortable."
"If the Phoenix is able to give you its blessings in the future, it would be the perfect way of growth for you, as you would not have to go out and seek blessings and be able to focus all your time on training and growing stronger."
Luis watched the shadow flicker.
"But that’s dangerous," he said quietly.
"Yes," Sera agreed immediately.
"If you continue stacking Phoenix aligned attributes, your soul will resonate more strongly with the Phoenix essence."
She looked directly at him.
"That makes you easier to track. Easier to recognize. Easier to kill."
Luis swallowed.
"And if I survive?" he asked.
"Then your long-term risk increases," Sera replied. "If your blessings are way to compatible with the Phoenix essence. Yours and the Phoenix’s souls will be harder to separate once it leaves your body. The pain you will experience during that process will increase and maybe even being at the legendary tier won’t be enough to survive and live."
She lowered her hand.
The shadow ember faded.
"Second," she said, raising two fingers, "a blessing opposite in nature."
A flowing wave of shadow materialised above her fingers moving like a current.
"An opposing element," Sera said. "Water, ice, something fundamentally incompatible with fire."
Luis’s eyes narrowed slightly.
"That would raise my chances of survival" he said.
"Yes."
"Would it also make it harder to track me?"
"Yes, mostly."
Luis exhaled slowly.
"If you take the approach of having opposite blessings that are not compatible with the Phoenix. It will make the process of the Phoenix rebirth easier for you to survive, your soul and body can put up more of a fight against an opposing element. Your souls won’t align, even with one body the two opposites won’t be attracted to each other. They would want to naturally separate."
She didn’t elaborate further.
She didn’t need to.
Luis already understood the implication.
Two souls.
Two foundations.
Opposing attributes would clash, unlike similar elements which would have the stronger one consume the weaker one without much resistance. The opposing elements would fight till the end.
"And the pain?" Luis asked.
"There will be some," Sera said. "The more the Phoenix soul progresses and the more your souls become unaligned the more pain you will experience but it won’t be an instant spike in pain, it will be a gradual increase almost unnoticeable. This allows you to get used to the slow increase in pain and finally when the Phoenix reincarnates the pain won’t be as bad as it would have been if you didn’t have opposing elements."
"I won’t lie and say what I have said is how it will definitely work but based on our theories and the Xoliti clan deity’s theories that’s how it should happen. Also, Luis right now you are safe no one except our allies know you have the Phoenix essence but you shouldn’t think that will always be the case. If you can survive till the end, until the Phoenix rebirth through the pain of having opposing elemental blessings you will live. The only question is can you make it till there."
Luis stared at the space where the water like presence lingered.
Something about it felt... intriguing.
Not comforting.
Not familiar.
But interesting.
"And the third?" he asked.
Sera lowered her hand.
"Neutral."
The presence vanished entirely.
"No immediate blessing," she said. "A placeholder. It preserves flexibility. Allows you to decide later when you have more information, more experience."
Luis frowned.
"That sounds... safe."
"It is," Sera agreed. "In the short term."
"And in the long term?"
"You lose time," she said simply. "And momentum."
Luis was silent for a long moment.
Three paths.
Fire.
Water.
Nothing.
If I choose fire...
He didn’t finish the thought.
He didn’t need to.
Fire was easy.
But it was also something that had the greatest chance of killing him.
It would be easier to reach the point of the Phoenix’s reincarnation but it wouldn’t be easy to survive the rebirth.
If I choose nothing...
Delay.
Waiting.
That didn’t sit right with him either.
His gaze lifted slowly.
Water.
Opposite.
Uncomfortable.
If he chose the water blessing, it would be constant gradual increase in pain or that is what is assumed would happen but the end process of the rebirth should be easier to survive.
Luis’s eyes sharpened slightly.
He didn’t think long.
"I choose the opposite," he said.
Sera studied him.
"No hesitation," she noted.
Luis shook his head in agreeance.
"I want to live... even if it is painful, I don’t want to die just for less pain." he said. "Maybe I won’t have to reach the legendary tier to even survive the rebirth if I can get used to the pain."
A faint smile touched Sera’s lips.
"There is a chance you won’t have to reach the legendary tier. Think this over for the next three days after that we will go to get your blessing. Also inform your parents."