Chapter 118

"I see," Naell replied.

Considering Pegasus in Mundo is a beast and not an entire race, he knew he shouldn't be that shocked. He then added, "My apologies, I didn't intend to be demeaning, I was just misinformed."

It was then when red feathers embedded on the cavern walls, detached themselves and quickly flew into the center. Suddenly Naell saw flames arise and encircle the nest without burning it.

Slowly an unmistakable human-like silhouette formed in the vortex, before out of the blaze the figure of a small cold looking lady came about.

"A hologram...?" He mumbled yet the figure was quite real.

Phoenix then looked at him with scrutinizing eyes before replying, "What's a hologram?"

Naell tried to play it off by replying hastily, "Ah, illusion magic- but an advanced one at that."

Hearing this, she smiled and nodded. Truth be told Naell found that she somewhat resembled his sister, only colder as she possessed both red hair and eyes.

Naell couldn't help but be in his own world once more as he thought, 'But why a little girl.'

And as if Phoenix knew what he was thinking, she sighed and replied, "I just recently resurrected, hence my appearance.'

Naell smiled wryly knowing his curious gaze was obvious to Phoenix, yet his curiosity got a hold of him as he asked further, "So, the recency of your summoning is why you're a little g...lady?"

"..."

That was when she explained that the limit of using image magic was that it could only display what she could look like presently since her wake.

"I see, thank you for telling me," Naell said gratefully.

Yet Phoenix' eyebrow remained raised as she replied with snark, "You Witners' really are a curious lot."

Naell was surprised. It was certainly not his first time hearing his ancestor's name, yet it always baffled him how a minor villain like himself had such depth in his original lore.

He could still remember how when he tried to look for insight into his lineage, there was not much he could find. For starters, the Beryldot family could be traced back to farmers within the northern sectors of the Autumn Kingdom.

Other than that, his father Fharom didn't really know much as he was an orphan living in the southern areas of the Autumn Kingdom.

That was why both Naell and his father found it funny; who would have thought they would be situated in the northern part of the Autumn Kingdom, as nobles at that.

For the Witner part, hailed as a ruined family in the Continent of Winter, some say they were high nobility that got annihilated even before the Country of Christmas was born.

As Naell pondered, Phoenix coughed and awoke him from his trance. He apologized as the girl squinted her eyes and stared at him quizzically.

She then said with a smile, "Are you curious about your lineage?"

Her eyes were quite sassy; presumptuous even, yet Naell simply accepted how in that instance he was an open book.

"It appears so. Humor me only if you wish, Lady Phoenix, but before that...Why are you here?"

Naell words seemed to have unearthed her emotions, as he saw a tinge of loneliness in her eyes before they went back to her usual cold look.

"Alright, where to start." As Phoenix said that, she began telling her story, a tale that Naell was so immersed in that only the sound of her voice entered his thoughts.

She began with her friendship with the great Pegasus, and how both of them were the first guardians of the celestials.

"I was the Guardian of Vitality before losing my life and imparting the title onto my disciple."

She then told of how Pegasus, the Guardian of Speed, a disciple of the former Guardian of Agility likely transferred his towards his own elven disciple at that time.

"I'd heard of the Guardian of Speed, but not Agility." Said Naell remembering how Owly only knew of the Guardian of Strength and Speed.

"...I see. Well, he did sustain an injury so that's just what I think. Even now he's likely dead or occupied with fighting them in their lands."

Upon hearing that, Naell felt troubled as he asked, "They have a place?"

Phoenix nodded. She then explained how dungeons were likely made by extending the mana and aura of "that place" onto other locations.

"What place?" Naell asked, tilting his head questioningly.

Yet Phoenix shrugged and shook her head as she replied, "I didn't get to find the place of origin before I slept, and so I have no idea. But that place of origin does exist."

Naell nodded, proceeding with another inquiry, "So if you are saying artificial dungeons are being created now, it just means someone from their ranks can now extend mana or aura like Lucille."

Naell could only think of Reyna, the queen piece. As she was powerful enough to wield both light and dark magic, it was no longer a stretch to imagine that she could do it.

Phoenix also agreed, expressing how dispirited she was knowing an elf had betrayed them. She then asked, "How many guardians are still living at this age?"

Naell scratched his head as he replied, "I only know of Athena, the Guardian of Wisdom, a dragon dubbed the Guardian of Strength, and the Guardian of Speed."

"I see... So Merlin already passed away." She appeared smiling yet Naell could more or less detect how sad she was.

Having only resurrected recently, Phoenix was in no way hoping any of her colleagues were still alive, but seeing any of them would surely make her happy.

She then added, "You see when a guardian dies without passing their title, it will be gone forever."

"What do you mean?" Naell further inquired. Even in the book he read, there were times it was quite confusing.

Sometimes old books would say 12 Guardians of Old. Likewise, when he asked someone, they would also say the same thing. Yet no one really knew how many were existing.

"In my time, there was the guardian of aura, mana, wisdom, charm, luck, speed, will, and me, vitality who waged a war against Lucile."

Phoenix then told how the Guardian of Accuracy, Agility, Dexterity, and Intelligence died.

"As that happened that was when the guardian of speed was born," Phoenix said.

She then further stated that Merlin at that time surmised that when they died, a title could cease to exist, or be melded with another as a last resort.

"A combination of the title agility and dexterity birthed the guardian of speed. "

Naell could only nod from the information he was getting. There were not even any doubts as her words were the only way he could explain some of the things he was still doubtful of.

He then muttered, "So perhaps the guardian of strength was a combination of aura and mana?"

Yet he immediately regretted it as he saw Phoenix's lonely demeanor.

"I'm sorry, I-" Yet when he tried to apologize, she only smiled and said, "It's okay little one, I knew the chances that only a few would- rather, none of us would survive that war."

She then added, "Although my successor was actually a dragon."

Naell, being himself, then firmly vowed that he would never get acquainted with a dragon. Her story continued on how she defeated the bishop, knight, and rook of Lucile yet upon doing so slept for thousands of years.

"Before I lost my consciousness, I was immobile within their lair. None of the other guardians could bring me out or away from the pieces, since they were all occupied."

Her gaze grew sentimental as she told Naell she'd accepted her fate that day.

"...yet it was Pegasus who found me in time.. He took care of me and brought me to safety. I can still recall how he left to return to the others right before I fell into my deep slumber." Her face was filled with worry once more.

Naell could more or less understand. As perhaps she thought someone among her friends would welcome her upon her wake. He then said, "This is his territory yet...only his grandchildren are here."

"...I see." Replied Phoenix.

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Drawn Cast: https://www.patreon.com/posts/65136761

The post is titled "Character Portraits WiP" Under the "Arts" tag at patreon.com/nezothecat . It's free for public viewing and is a work in progress that will soon have every character we've introduced in TNBS thus far ' ')/

Thanks for reading everyone!