There are no phoenixes in this world, and Ave naturally didn’t recognize a phoenix. She only knew that after Miss Keroy had swallowed a piece of flesh from a giant, she caught on fire.
They tried many methods. Rowena suggested using water to extinguish the fire, while Bi’an thought it was too slow to find water and that they should put Miss Keroy in a place devoid of air. Just as they were discussing the location, Ethan returned.
And what Ethan did was...
He directly reached out his hand to Miss Keroy’s head and gently patted it a few times.
"Aren’t you afraid of getting burned?"
Ave’s eyes widened, and only then did she notice that not only did Miss Keroy not show any signs of pain, she even happily rubbed against Ethan’s palm—just like usual. Despite burning for so long, her feathers remained unaffected by the flames, becoming even more beautiful under the golden radiance.
If not for the fear that Miss Keroy might get burned to death, Ave thought she looked extremely beautiful now, like a creature depicted in myths.
"No, phoenix flames don’t burn those they’re close to."
This was indeed a pleasant surprise. He hadn’t expected the flesh of the Giant Divine Soldier to possess the effect of a fire stone, enabling Miss Keroy to complete her third stage of evolution. Just her current appearance seemed to have a racial value of 680.
However, this might not be Miss Keroy’s endpoint. This is a world filled with magical artifacts, and he might find an item that could help her complete a mega evolution in the future.
Bi’an was the first to approach. She hesitated to say it out loud, but after witnessing Miss Keroy’s transformation, her first thought was to try riding her, though she ultimately gave up for fear of setting her rear on fire.
She placed her palm on Miss Keroy’s back, feeling warmth and softness. What surprised her even more was that when the burn wound on the back of her hand was exposed to the golden light, it healed at a rate visible to the naked eye. She withdrew her hand as if electrocuted and stared at it for a long time, exclaiming, "It really healed!"
"Phoenix flames have the power of rebirth through fire."
Afterwards, the group conducted numerous studies in the cave, discovering that after consuming the giant’s flesh, Miss Keroy almost inherited both magical and physical immunity, which greatly shocked Bi’an. She stood at the back of the crowd, lost in thought.
That thing can really be eaten!
The events of recent days had taken quite a toll on her. As the Knight Commander of the Empire, she had always been extremely confident in her combat abilities. Combat was the basic survival skill for the Knights of the Neseriel Sanctuary. However, upon reaching Ximu Town, she suffered a harsh reality check.
Their battle records were so poor, it was difficult to claim even one victory.
Bi’an looked around at the people in front of her. Apart from Ave, who was never skilled at combat, the only one capable of going a few rounds seemed to be Rowena. But if the opponent set up magical traps first and seized the advantage, the outcome was uncertain, and now she might be less capable than even a chicken.
At least currently, she couldn’t come up with any strategy against the magical and physical immunity possessed by the giants.
She had to find a way to become stronger quickly!
After witnessing Miss Keroy’s transformation, Bi’an saw a door to a new world. Over the past few days of interaction, she discovered she had a lot of common ground with Miss Keroy in terms of eating—if you can’t beat them, join them!
Since she couldn’t figure out how to deal with the giants’ traits, she thought of ways to steal them!
This couldn’t do without Ethan’s help, who, after all, was the ’stew king’ of Ximu Town, "Brother Ethan, how long should that giant’s meat be stewed to be edible? Will it taste good?"
"If you eat it, you’re sure to become a monster."
The cat on Ethan’s shoulder mercilessly poured cold water on Bi’an, believing that if unchecked, this foodie Knight Commander might actually do something crazy like sneaking a bite of the Giant Divine Soldier, "The reason this little hen was able to transform is because of the soul link between her and Ethan, which allowed the elevated fire element to purify the curse within the flesh."
Everyone was stunned for a while and then looked at each other with admiration—not a word wasted from Teacher Cat, who always mentioned professional terms that they had never heard of!
"I recall you talking about putting a collar on this little hen, and then you could understand her language, which is the most common manifestation of a soul link."
Rowena got interested upon hearing this, "Is this magic? How come I’ve never heard of it?"
She thought the name didn’t sound like elemental shaping magic, but back during her studies at the Astrologer Society, she never came across soul-related magic, and even the Astrology Guild within the imperial cities strictly prohibited exploration of the soul.
"It’s a wizard’s trick. They use this method to forge contracts with the creations of the Evil God."
This was addressed mainly to Ethan. Lindong was very satisfied with his student in every aspect, never hiding knowledge from him, "Remember the wizard proficient in summoning spells I mentioned to you on the road? Their magic power is reflected in the strength of the soul link; the stronger the magic power, the higher the rank of the creation of the Evil God they can control."
For a moment, the cave fell silent.
The group exchanged glances, feeling like they had heard something incredible.
Driven by strong curiosity, Ave could not help but ask, "Where did you learn this?"
By right, isn’t this...
Content only found in forbidden tomes?
Lindong candidly admitted to a crime that could see her tied to the stake, "I’ve flipped through the forbidden books of Bazatous’ followers. Currently, more than eighty percent of the wizards in the Empire are believers of Him... Because of this, Miss Keroy can inherit a certain degree of elemental energy from you. Although she cannot directly control elemental elves, she will receive help from the elements."
To put it in more straightforward terms, Ethan has a big reputation among the Elemental Elves, and they all know this is the chicken Ethan raised.
Even when Ethan isn’t around, they make sure Miss Keroy is safe.
"It is precisely because of the soul link that the changes in Miss Keroy will be influenced by your inner thoughts, like how I’ve never heard of a creature like a phoenix, yet you can easily describe its traits."
Teacher Cat tilted her head, staring at Ethan. She always found Ethan’s range of knowledge very strange. He clearly lacked a basic understanding of the occult, yet he could sometimes speak of things even she didn’t know.
The previous steel torrent as well, that was a scene she hadn’t even imagined.
Has this guy been sneaking glances at forbidden books somewhere, learning all these bizarre bits of knowledge.
Cats are naturally curious creatures.
She must think of a way in the future to steal the forbidden books Ethan has read!