The cover was already blown
"No, I do know what to do!"
But the Phoenix pointlessly persisted!
"Then, what is it?"
Asher stayed firm.
"As I said!" Madesol crossed her arms underneath her plump bosom and looked away, "You don't need to know!"
Asher shrugged his shoulders.
"Okay, Divine One. I'll see that 'method' of yours eventually."
Madesol's stubborn expression softened.
Right... he will be coming along for the ride. She needs him for food and water.
No matter how she feels about it, she would rely on him and eventually, any lie would be revealed.
The Phoenix got depressed.
"I don't know..."
"What was that?"
"You're not wrong," the Phoenix spitefully replied, "I don't know what to do."
"..."
"This parasite is eating my energy and I can't fight back," her frustration and anxiety poured out, "At this rate, I'll be stuck here forever!"
Asher stared while the Phoenix turned quiet in front of him. Unfortunately, his knowledge is limited and he couldn't find a solution as well.
She then turned her back from him and moments later, sobs could be heard.
After some time, Asher spoke out.
"I lied."
"..?"
"We don't judge by our Birthlight's brightness by color."
"Eh?" Madesol frowned as she slightly turned her head.
Why lie? She wanted to ask but didn't since she also lied earlier. Instead, she asked another question.
"Then, how bright is yours?"
"Didn't I just tell you that we judge by color?"
And how do you even measure brightness? Asher asked internally.
"Don't play dumb. I've seen you use a lot of Soul Skills which are not possible with a colored Nascent Energy. So, your so-called Birthlight must be bright, having the same talent as draconians."
"Ah, really?" Asher couldn't help but smirk. He doesn't know what these "draconians" are but they must be pretty powerful for a Divine Being to use as a reference.
"How about yours?" he turned the question around.
"Why are you asking me?" Madesol didn't let this chance pass and flaunted as she turned her body to face him, "We Phoenixes have a Starbright Nascent Energy. As the name suggests, it is Nascent Energy as 'Bright as a Star'. Even among the Mystic Beasts, few have Nascent Energy that bright."
"...must be pretty powerful."
Asher muttered indifferently, which offended the Phoenix.
"Pretty powerful? Mortal, in the whole universe, you can count one hand Nascent Energy that's on par or above a Starbright!" she pointed a finger at him.
Asher felt wrongly accused. Was the phrase 'pretty powerful' not enough? He couldn't comprehend such power so he couldn't only describe it as 'pretty powerful'.
"Then, our Nascent Energy must be pretty close."
Madesol gave a big 'HAH?' to his statement.
Before she could refute that ridiculous statement, Asher continued.
He let out a confident smile, "My Birthlight is Dark Red."
"..."
After staying silent, Madesol realized something, "Oh, you are making a joke."
"..." Asher's face turned bitter.
At least give a fake laugh or something.
"But seriously, what's your Birthlight?"
"The part about our Nascent Energy being close is the joke, my Birthlight is indeed Dark Red." Asher clarified.
Damn, it's embarrassing to explain a failed joke.
Madesol's eyes widened in surprise.
Asher readied himself to be mocked and laughed at by this Phoenix. Even other humans treat him like trash, how would this devil react?
Contrary to his expectations though, Madesol's face expressed deep pity as if she was looking at a beaten-up dog or something.
Are you saying that my Birthlight is so weak, that it's not even funny?
Asher felt more hurt than he expected.
"But wait, that doesn't make sense!" Madesol pointed something out, "You used a lot of Soul Skills. Normally, a Red Nascent Energy would only unlock one Soul Skill while a Yellow could use two, Green for three, and Blue for four. But, I've seen you use at least six!"
Asher nodded. He did use a lot of Soul Skills such as when digging, cutting up tools, making a campfire, and so on. It's to compensate for a lack of tools.
"Well, it's because I'm using World Energy directly to access these Soul Skills."
He didn't hide how he could use World Energy. It's because while other humans may not believe him, a Divine Being would.
But as soon as that left his mouth, Madesol sprung from her seat.
"Did you just say you can use World Energy?"
He was startled by the solemn gaze from this Phoenix.
'Even for a Divine Being, World Energy is something to be serious about.' Asher assumed.
"Yeah"
"..." Madesol's eyes were filled with doubt, "You're not joking?"
"Nope"
However, doubt immediately formed within the Phoenix's eyes.
"I'm being serious. How could you use World Energy? Do you even know what that is?" Madesol shook her head, "No, no, what am I saying? A mortal being able to use the World Energy?"
She scoffed and stared to Asher with disdain.
"That's not a funny joke."
"Well, it's not."
"I said I'm serious, this is not funny."
Asher wasn't annoyed but just curious as to why this Phoenix seemed so serious about it. So he asked.
"Why can't I joke about it?"
As if confirming her doubts, Madesol's face revealed annoyance and anger, "I knew it! You raised my hopes for nothing!"
She continued with a mutter as she massaged her temples, "It was stupid of me to expect a mortal to know how to use World Energy."
"Why? What were you hoping for if I can use World Energy?"
"Hmph! You are a really annoying ant, you know that!?"
Madesol didn't know what to do. Usually, if she was annoyed by something, she would just blow it away with her heavenly flames. But right now, she couldn't even touch this insolent mortal.
After receiving silence from Asher, Madesol relented and answered.
"I don't know where you heard the term World Energy. Simply put, it's a natural energy of the physical universe. Only Immortals and above can use this energy and only Celestials can produce it. If you really do know how to use the World Energy, it means you can also do other things with it, such as manipulate, store, and transfer.
Although World Energy is incomparable to Divine Energy, if I have a sufficient amount of it, I can turn the tides and have my energy recovery back to normal!"
Madesol's eyes glittered thinking about it.
Listening to her explanation made Asher gulped. Is that really the case?
"You mean, if I can transfer World Energy to you right now, you'll be able to return to your original power?"
"Well, it depends on your capabilities."
"What do you mean?"
Madesol thought for a while and gave a metaphor.
"Imagine a table. Normally, this table is tilted to my side. Meaning, that all water that pours onto this table naturally slides down to my side. That water is energy and the rate it is pouring down is how much I recover.
When I used up all the water on my side, the weight decreased on that table's side as well, making it stand upright. Now, this is what this piece of parasite did. Before the water filled up my side of the table and tilted it back towards me, Solvarya pushed their sneaky little hands on the table, tilting it to their side.
Now, after a while, the weight on her side is heavier than my side, making all the pouring water from then on slide to their side even without doing anything!
Do you get it?"
"You mean, you need enough energy all at once to overcome Solvarya's siphoning?"
"Right, you understand it better than I thought."
"... another reason to get stronger." Asher heavily muttered as his sight dropped to the ground.
"Really, you are still speaking as if you can use World Energy," Madesol got irritated again.
When will this guy stop joking around?
"It's because I could." Asher just kept a straight face.
"Are you deaf? As I said, only Immortals and above can use this. What are you even? I don't know how you can use so many Soul Skills but that only makes you an Initiant. You are not a Transcendent without a Soul Structure!"
That's true. But Madesol didn't know about the mysterious spirit within Asher.
Now that I think about it. Whose origin is greater? The mysterious spirit or this bitch?
"You don't believe me? Want to make a bet?"
Asher put up a fight, wondering if this naive Phoenix would take the bait once again.
Madesol glared, "Do you think I'm a fool? I have a clear head right now."
Ah... so, she's not that stupid. Only when hungry.
"Shame," Asher sighed, "So, how do I prove it?"
"You...! Okay, I'll take the bet. If you can't prove it, kill yourself!"
"Isn't that too much?"
"Well, then don't play around. I said it's not funny!"
"No, no, what do I gain if I prove it? I'll take my life if I lose the bet. You must put up an equivalent offer."
Wait, can he truly use World Energy?
Madesol's eyes darted around as she calmed herself.
"No, ignore what I said. Prove it right now." she opened her palm towards Asher, "Hold my hand and transfer the so-called World Energy you have."