8 Me Stronk! Me Caveman!

--- 3rd POV (Harry's Room) ---

Pain...

BURNING PAIN!!!

The boy on the bed that's currently thrashing about while being burned alive by bright golden flames is our MC, Harry Potter, if you're wondering.

He is screaming, but no one can hear him because The Phoenix is concealing the noises with magic.

The spiritual flames of creation, destruction, and rebirth are currently purifying and strengthening his body a bit in order to finish the process of his soul integration.

As everyone knows, such intense purification is always accompanied by intense pain as the deficiencies and injuries are burned away, then healed.

The process is over in about 5 minutes.

The flames die out, and Harry lays there weakly, gasping for air and drenched in sweat.

--- 1st POV (Harry) ---

What...

*Gasp*

Was...

*Gasp*

That...

*Gasp*

For...

*Gasp*

"What... was... that?" I ask weakly.

The Phoenix's voice sounds in my head through telepathy.

'That was me speeding things up a bit.'

"Why did... you do... it though?" I start to catch my breath.

'Because I was bored of all your questions.'

I squint my eyes.

'AND THAT'S A GOOD REASON TO LIGHT ME ON FIRE?!' I yell in my head.

'Stop complaining so much. It's a good thing I just did.'

'Really... How so?'

'I healed your body and strengthened it. You are now strong enough to lift up a small car by yourself. You still look skinny even if you just got stronger though.'

Oh.

Really?

Cool!

No Pain No Gain!

Wait.

No masochism here... this isn't a cultivation novel...

"So, you... strengthened... my body, huh?" I say, but I'm still a little out of breath.

'You can just speak to me in your head. I'll hear it all.'

Great... a mindreading bird...

She furrows her brow and squints at me. I can feel her seething anger.

'I just told you I am reading your mind, and you insult me. I am a majestic Phoenix! Not. A. Bird.'

'Sorry...'

*Cough* She makes some weird coughing sound to get my attention again. Hard to make human like sounds when you are a bird, huh...

'I'm leaving now. We may or may not see each other again. It all depends on you, and if you succeed or not.'

'Ok.'

'I'll release the block I put on you after I leave.'

She turns around on my bed and looks towards the heavens. She starts to spread her wings in order to take off.

"Wait!" I call out.

'What now?'

She looks back over, annoyed.

"Thank you."

She pauses.

'...? You're welcome...' It blinks at me and turns around once more.

Flapping her wings, she disappears in a flash of brilliant orange-red flames.

I take a moment and watch the spot that THE phoenix was just standing at on my bed.

I flop down onto my pillow.

'What a crazy situation I'm in. I wonder when she'll take off that bloc...'

I'm cut off by my thoughts by the sudden influx of a large amount of magic swirling around in the air around me.

The magic is absorbed through my skin and into my soul.

It takes just a few minutes for the magic to calm down, but when it is done, I can faintly sense the magic energy within me.

Suddenly I feel exhausted. As though I just got finished with an all-nighter, but it was two days in a row.

So, I fall asleep.

--- Morning ---

*Knock Knock Knock*

"Harry. Wake up. Rose made breakfast, and you need to get ready to go shopping." Arthur says through my door.

*Groan*

I feel like I need at least 24 hours more of sleep.

"Coming." I reply.

I go to the door and swing it open.

"Morning Harry!" Arthur says happily with a smile on his face.

"Right." I deadpan in a low voice and stare at him. "I'm really not much of a morning person."

"I see." He feels sad at seeing me react negatively to his cheerfulness.

I take a breath and look down from his face.

"Sorry, Arthur. I didn't mean to say it like that. I'm just really tired."

"It's alright Harry, I understand. You must be tired from the long trip and all these changes." He looks me in the eyes and gives a small smile.

I close my eyes and nod.

"Thank you." I reply somewhat quietly.

"You don't need to thank me, Harry."

"I do, though. I'm really glad to be able to live with you. It's much nicer here than an orphanage would be."

"Harry. Rosie and I are quite happy to have you here."

"Still. I'm thankful for you." I give a small smile. It feels a bit awkward since I'm not accustomed to smiling in conversations. Or in general, really, unless I find something funny.

"Well. You're very welcome, Harry." He says kindly. "Now, Rosie said to bring you down for breakfast. She made pancakes and sausages."

"Sounds delicious." My tastebuds salivate. I am quite hungry. Not surprising since I just went through an intense purification via phoenix flames. "I hope she made plenty."

"Well, I suppose even if she didn't, we do have more pancake mix."

"Great!"

I walk with Arthur down the stairs to the dining room to eat breakfast. I hope shopping won't take too long.

*Sigh*

I'm already exhausted.

--- Time Skip ---

I walk into my room with my arms full of plastic bags filled with all sorts of everyday items.

Clothes, toiletries, etc.

I put it all away in their proper places. I may be bad at keeping my room perfectly clean, but I am sure as heck going to try to keep this one in good shape.

Rose and Arthur said that I could relax for the rest of the day and do whatever I wanted. I think I'll do a bit of training after a nap.

I'll wait until I have teachers to learn magic, so that leaves my soul powers and physical training.

--- One Nap Later ---

I walk downstairs and find Rose. She is currently putting away the few groceries she bought for the next few meals.

"Rose?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"Is it ok if I go and exercise outside for a while?"

She looks over and furrows her eyebrows and I can feel her concern for me.

"I don't think that's a good idea Harry. Not until you get your body a bit healthier."

"Well, I feel pretty good after waking up this morning. If it makes you feel any better, we could go to the doctors for another physical."

"Really?" I can see her thinking things through a bit.

My logic here is simple. If I prove that I'm in better shape than before, then I can go exercise. The best way to prove that is to get a physical. Even if they get suspicious, I'll just deal with it when it comes. I don't care about the statute of secrecy much. If they find out, they find out.

Not like they'll burn me at the stake. At worst, they'll kick me out and I'll just go somewhere else.

"Yeah. Even if I am wrong, there's nothing wrong with getting a random physical every now and then... even if my last one was just a few days ago...."

"I suppose not. I'll call my doctor and ask if they're free."

It seems the power of logic has gained sway over another unlucky soul...

--- Time Skip ---

We went and got the physical done. As I expected, those phoenix flames really did improve my body to an extreme level. The doctor was left baffled after he heard that I was just a weak and malnourished child a few days ago. It was quite a sight to see him so confused when I know exactly what happened.

Rose looked confused for a little bit and looked at me as though she just thought of something. While we were there, she had thought of getting me some shots to boost my immunity to stuff since I had never gotten any, so I got them.

She was looking at me weirdly as we went home, but seemed to put off her thoughts, and just agreed to let me go out and exercise. So, after driving back home, I changed clothes, and went out to find some way to exercise.

I started with a run until I found an old junkyard with a bunch of cars and random parts for stuff.

---

"Huff... Huff... Huff. Who knew cars are so heavy?"

Since the Phoenix said I could lift a small car, I thought I'd at least try it out. I found that lifting up one side of a really small car is my limit. Most people would require an adrenaline rush to do that, and they would still injure themselves. I'm still only ten years old and I can do it without hurting myself.

Phoenix flames are OP...

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