chapter 28: Aleria

Far away from the city of Aurendale where Ethan resided, a beautiful woman sat meditating on a small tropical island, so breathtaking that even the gods would envy her beauty. The woman had flowing black-red hair resembling lava, and she was of a rare Phoenix lineage nearing extinction on the continent.

As the woman noticed her necklace turning black, indicating something approaching the island, she rose with furrowed brows, scanning the horizon. Though she saw nothing, a sense of impending doom crept over her. Wings of fire emerged from her back, and she swiftly took to the air, realizing the danger approaching: demons were sailing towards them. Hastily, she descended to the center of the island, darting into a cave.

There, stood her daughter, newly transformed into human form. Seeing her mother rush to her, the girl assumed it was their usual embrace. But her mother, gripping her shoulders tightly, spoke urgently, "Listen to me, Aleria. You must heed my words now, no matter what." Sensing her mother's fear and concern, Aleria understood the gravity of the situation. She prayed that the past wouldn't repeat itself and nodded affirmatively.

Her mother dragged her to a spot, holding her roughly for the first time, before embracing her tightly and instructing her to transform from human to bird form and squeezing her into a tight crevice. Handing her the necklace, her mother explained, "This necklace turns black when in danger and shines bright yellow like the sun when safe. Keep it with you always and fly towards the land of the rising sun when you reach the Eastern realm. Understand?" she said, leaving the necklace by her side.

Aleria nodded solemnly. Tears welled up involuntarily, sensing impending doom, but she looked at her mother as if pleading her not to leave. When her mother saw her daughter's sad eyes, tears streamed down her face as if something inside her shattered. She struggled to speak, "My child, you must be brave now," her voice trembling, "You are strong, and you can overcome this hardship. Fly towards the land where the sun rises, there you will be safe." Planting a kiss on Aleria's shoulder, she gazed at her with a sorrowful smile. "I love you dearly, and you will always be in my heart. Lastly, remember, no matter what happens, live your life to be happy..." she said. Aleria embraced her mother, feeling a warm sadness enveloping her. She stayed in her mother's strong arms for a while, then transformed back into bird form and slipped into the hidden space behind the rock.

Shortly after parting from her mother, Aleria witnessed her battling demons. Her mother conjured powerful lights around her, vanquishing the demons one by one, but their numbers didn't diminish. Every passing moment, Aleria saw her mother growing weaker. Eventually, her mother erected a transparent barrier around herself, but the demons relentlessly attacked it. Soon, her mother's circular shield of flames began to falter. Despite her dwindling strength, her mother valiantly fought the demons, and their corpses piled up around her.

Aleria watched in despair as the demons relentlessly assaulted her mother's shield, which was on the verge of collapse. She couldn't do anything but watch as her mother's shield finally shattered. Yet her mother continued to bravely battle the demons, whose numbers seemed countless.

In the midst of chaos, Aleria, trembling with hopelessness and despair, continued to gaze at her mother, who was now fighting with her last shreds of fiery power. She witnessed the relentless attacks on her mother's shield by demons her mother would normally vanquish effortlessly. In the end, all she could do was watch her mother's shield crumble. The red and purple demons closed in on her mother and finally killed her.

After taking her mother's wings and soul, the demons departed from the island. When Aleria realized the demons were gone, she mustered all her strength to emerge from behind the rock and approached her mother. Upon seeing her mother's lifeless body, she cried out in heart-wrenching agony and lamented. Hot tears streamed from her eyes to the ground. Death hadn't taken away anything from her mother's beauty. Her mother's crimson hair gently swayed in the breeze. Aleria had never experienced such profound pain in her life.

She had lived her entire life alongside her mother, but now she had to live alone. With no other Phoenix to accompany her, she had to fly alone. After wearily crying and embracing her mother's body for a while, she fell asleep right there.

When she woke up, she buried her mother's body facing towards the direction of the rising sun. She had cried so much that tears no longer flowed from her eyes, but when she looked at her mother's grave, the tears she thought had dried up welled up again. Finally, summoning her courage, she flew with all her might towards the direction of the rising sun. After one last glance at the small tropical island where her mother was buried, she turned her back and began her journey.

But the ocean seemed endless. She flew for hours but couldn't reach the Eastern continent. When her small body grew weary, she spent the night on small islands. Sometimes, she slept on tiny rocks and resumed her flight when the sun rose. Eventually, she spotted a large landmass and continued to fly with her remaining strength, but her body refused to obey her commands. When she was almost reaching her destination, her body crashed into the water.

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Ethan finally realized the day had come when the tunnel was officially opened, and he was quite happy knowing that the port was now fully operational. In the past few days, he had been working on a steam-powered ship and had almost finished it. A steam-powered ship was undoubtedly a great revolution in this world. Ethan was about to take a break when someone knocked on his door. "Come in!" he said, and a guard entered.

Ethan asked, "What's the matter? If it's not important, I need to leave to rest." The guard replied, "Sir, fishermen caught something, and the shipmaster said you shouldn't see it." Ethan knew the shipmaster wouldn't call him unnecessarily, so he headed towards the harbor.

Upon arriving at the harbor, he noticed a group of fishermen discussing something, and he approached them. There he saw the shipmaster. "Why did you call me here, old master?" he asked. The shipmaster replied, "You better see this for yourself," and led him to a nearby boat. As Ethan boarded the boat, he understood why they had called him. On the fishing net lay a small girl covered with a jacket. She seemed to be about his age, with long crimson hair and porcelain-white skin. She had a small cute nose and sweet pink lips. Every man who saw this little girl felt a protective instinct rise within them.

Ethan asked, "Why is there a girl like this here?" and the shipmaster explained the situation to him. Some fishermen had seen something caught in their nets in shallow waters, and they found the girl barely alive. After forcefully giving her water and feeding her fresh fish, they brought her here and informed the shipmaster. After evaluating the situation, Ethan learned that the girl was fine after being checked by the healer. After leaving her to rest, he went to his room to relax

"Aleria's photo is in the comments"