The story of the Phoenix was simple and it goes like this.
Before falling into Solvarya, the Phoenix ventured into a place named [The Great Void] in hopes of finding an extremely rare treasure, rare even among the Divine.
However, guarding it was a being whose power equaled that of the Phoenix. They fought day and night until that being from the Great Void used deceptive methods and caught the Phoenix off guard.
She had to use all her life-saving skills, exhausting all her energy in the process, just to survive.
The clash threw her out of the Great Void and through the [Intermediate Space]. With no energy left to help her navigate that treacherous place, she fell into a random world that is Solvarya.
And that's the story of the Phoenix told to Asher.
Although Asher doesn't know what the Great Void is and the Intermediate Space, it is easy to understand. The Phoenix met a foe and lost. That's how she got here.
Unbeknownst to him though, Madesol was lying!
She didn't encounter a being as strong as her. That being... she didn't even see its figure. It just slapped her one time and she had to exhaust all her energy just to barely survive the attack. But that slap was so hard, that it threw her out of the Great Void.
Does this mortal know how hard it is to traverse the Intermediate Space just to enter or exit the Great Void? But that being just used one slap to throw her out!
That unknown being... casts fear into her heart.
While she was thinking that to herself, Asher recalled that night when the Phoenix, as a ball of fire, entered the world's atmosphere, raising the temperature everywhere.
The mysterious spirit then came out of him and shielded him from the blast. It successfully protected him, it shouldn't have made him fall unconscious, but he did.
Memories of that fateful night flooded Asher's mind...
[Asher, look away!]
The spirit warned.
But it was too late.
From the night sky, he didn't see them but instead, felt them.
Those indifferent eyes, bigger than the sun and moon, looking at the world from far away. Pressure emanated from this otherworldly stare and the air of Solvarya felt heavier as a result.
However, when those indifferent eyes rolled and focused on him, Asher's vision almost turned dark even though the surrounding fire was so bright.
"Hey!"
"Ah... huh?"
"Are you listening? I'm giving you the answers but it seems like you're uninterested!" Madesol shouted in irritation.
Asher frowned and shook his head, "No, I just remembered something. I'm listening"
"Make that sure. I'm giving you the time of day to tell this-"
"Just continue the story."
"..." Madesol huffed air out of her nose, "Hmph, well, you know the rough story of how I fell into this world. So, just know, It wasn't my fault, it's that being, alright!"
"..."
This bitch. Asher glared.
Although it didn't seem like it was her intention, her words still stabbed deeply into his heart. Her apology is empty, she doesn't feel an ounce of guilt.
Somehow figuring out Asher's thoughts, Madesol pursed her lips and didn't continue pushing the blame. She then answered his second question.
"As to how to restore my energy, it's simple, really. I naturally gain it over time."
"Really?" Asher's eyes widened, "It's that easy?"
"It should be," Madesol's pearl-white shoulders slumped.
After Asher left her in their first encounter, Madesol aimlessly walked around the ashen land while thinking of the reason why her energy wasn't recovering as usual.
Coming up with all the explanations she can think of, one makes the most sense.
Madesol then pointed downwards.
"My energy is indeed recovering. However, this right here is taking it away from me."
Asher glanced down, "The ground?"
Madesol shook her head.
"The ashes...?"
Another shake.
"Stop being so mysterious."
Madesol finally answered.
"It's Solvarya."
Before Asher could react, Madesol continued.
"Solvarya is eating every bit of energy that I recover."
Asher scratched his head, he felt like he was stupid.
"I'm sorry, I'm not following. By Solvarya, you mean the world?"
"Yes, I mean the world, stupid. What else is named Solvarya?"
Asher couldn't get mad at being called stupid this time, "Well, you are speaking as if Solvarya is the name of a person."
"It's because I'm talking about a person, idiot."
"Wait, wait, I'm getting more confused, you said Solvarya, the world, not, Solvarya, a person."
"Yes, I mean both. Your world, Solvarya, is also a person," Madesol didn't forget to add at the end, "ignorant fool."
This bitch is having fun insulting me. Asher then paused.
"Wait, did you just say our world, Solvarya, is also a person?"
Madesol has a smirk on her face. It is fun flaunting her superiority in knowledge since this mere mortal wouldn't know such things.
"Did I stutter?"
"How could that be..."
"It isn't strange," Madesol lazily opened her arms, "Don't you question why we have the same appearance?"
"..."
"I mean, you would never find a mortal as beautiful as I. Even among the Divine Beings, I'm at the top b-"
"Get to your point."
"Hmph... Even though I'm a Phoenix, we don't look much different. We have a head, two arms, two legs, a pair of eyes, you get my point."
"Now that you mention it... Isn't this just not your true form?"
"No, this is my true form, a humanoid."
"Huh..."
Seeing the disbelief in Asher's eyes, Madesol continued explaining.
"I'm not going to delve much into the Life and Chaos Theory. Simply put, beings that gain enough intelligence, will become humanoid, no matter how what they originally are. For example, a Dragon's Nascent Energy may have strength that your imagination cannot comprehend. One breath of theirs and worlds would be blown away. However, they may still have their original appearance because they are not intelligent. They are only smarter than animals. In the end, they are only powerful beasts."
"I see. So anything can become humanoid with enough intelligence and Nascent Energy- whatever that is."
"What..." Madesol was stunned. How could he not know about Nascent Energy? Even children under the age of five know it.
"Wait, maybe the name is different from your world. Since you're a human, you should have been born with a light, right?"
Madesol tapped on her forehead.
"You mean, Birthlight?"
"Birthlight, okay. So, the thing that you call Birthlight is a representation of your Nascent Energy. The brighter it is, the stronger your inborn energy is."
Brighter?
Noticing Asher's confused expression, Madesol felt disdain.
"Right, you are nothing but weak humans. I assume you don't evaluate the strength of your Nascent Energy by the brightness of your Birthlight."
Madesol pointed her finger with confidence.
"If I guess correctly, you're evaluating it with color."
That's true.
To which Asher replied:
"No, we evaluate with brightness."
"..."
Madesol's confident face froze.
I was wrong?
A subtle blush appeared on her cheeks. She was so confident with her answer, belittling Asher, that she felt embarrassed.
Unbeknownst to her, Asher lied.
Why? The Phoenix's smug look is irritating.
"... is that so. Then this world isn't that weak." Madesol muttered. Was her senses wrong?
She would need to use a certain method to evaluate this world's strength, but she currently doesn't have the energy to do so. Thus, she only based it on her senses...
"That's beside the point!" Madesol returned to the original topic, "Solvarya should have enough intelligence to take so much energy from me while I'm in a weakened state."
But why?
"Before reaching Divinity is Celestial. The moons, planets, stars, and so on are naturally Celestials at birth. Solvarya is eating my energy because, one, I'm a Divine Being who can absorb Divine Energy."
Madesol paused as her blood pressure rose, thinking how some parasite of a world was taking advantage of her weakened state, keeping her in this pathetic state.
"Second, I'm a foreign being in this world and Solvarya doesn't welcome me at all!"
Then, Madesol added with a mutter, "and probably because I burned everything..."
With that, Asher completely understood the Phoenix's problem and found another bigger problem.
The whole world, literally, is their enemy.
His frown deepened and was hesitant to ask.
"Then... how do plan on restoring all your original power?"
Madesol stayed silent for a while before answering.
"You don't need to know."
"Lady Madesol, I need to know."
"... no, you wouldn't understand it."
"Divine One!"
"...!"
Madesol's eyes darted around but chose to not reply.
Asher wants to know the answer. Madesol needs to gain her original power to fulfill her oath. He, at least, needs to know how so he can help.
But the big question was, would he be able to do anything?
This is a conflict between a Celestial and a Divine. What could he do?
Asher clenched his fists from frustration. He was reminded of how weak he truly was.
Should he just rely everything on this detestable Phoenix? She's not even that reliable in the first place. If not for him, she would've died from hunger.
Wait...
Asher remembered that Madesol was in a desperate state. He was the one keeping her alive - if Phoenixes could die in the first place.
She's weak and dependent on him right now.
Does that mean...
"Do you even know a solution?"
"!"
The cover was easily blown!