Chapter 26 - Phoenix Squadron Part 1

"Greetings and welcome to the royal hunting grounds. My name is Julio, and I will be your proctor. All who anger me will die, so be silent!" Julio shouted as the mages and Practitioners gathered. "I don't care who you are or how powerful you are. This trial requires a party of no less than five and no more than five. If your numbers dwindle, that's your problem. Collectively, only the top fifty groups that bring the most magical beast cores will continue. In short, the maximum number of people expected to move to the final trial is two hundred and fifty. I know for a fact that there are well over a thousand of you left. How many, I don’t care. The lowest number expected to pass, if only one member of each party survives, is fifty."

"Now, mages and Practitioners, the time has come for the fourth trial to begin. Once you confirm a party of five, you will be given a rank 4 magical beast egg of a Blazing Phoenix. One person must choose to own the phoenix. That person must protect the phoenix egg. If the egg is neither stolen nor broken within three days, you pass," Julio explained with a grin. "You didn’t think you’d get a phoenix egg without paying a price, did you? Well, you have five minutes to form a team. The guards will provide further details. Good luck."

Many mages silently cursed the man, while the Practitioners hastily formed parties. Agemo quickly found Bakura and the others, and they had to decide who would own the egg. Agemo immediately declined, though he didn’t share the real reason—he already had an Emerald Steel Dragon egg. In the end, Bakura was chosen. Karen, being the only mage, couldn’t risk carrying the egg as they might need her in battle. Jasper and Kairi were both at the peak of the second stage, making them better suited for frontline combat. Thus, Bakura, being the weakest, took the egg, as the party would lose the least fighting power if he were chosen.

"Ah yeah, rank 4 magical beast, and it’s a phoenix!" Bakura cheered as he received the egg from a guard.

"As the bearer of the egg, you are now the official leader of the party. You must choose a name for your party before beginning the trial," the guard instructed as an attendant recorded their names on a scroll.

"What?" Jasper and Karen cried, dreading the name Bakura might choose.

"BWAHAHAHA! No way! Oh, this is awesome. I feel the power," Bakura exclaimed, caressing the phoenix egg. "I declare our party to be the Phoenix Squadron. Yeah, that’s it. The Phoenix Squadron."

"Very well. The Phoenix Squadron has been verified as the party of Bakura Asano. Leader: Bakura Asano. Mage: Karen Song. Practitioners: Agemo Miura, Jasper Fowl, and Kairi Yamada. Bakura Asano has received a phoenix egg. To pass, you must obtain one demonic core of a rank 4 magical beast or three demonic cores of a rank 3 magical beast. Remember, rank does not determine power, but rather potential and danger level. If, at the end of three days, you fail to meet these conditions, or if Bakura Asano does not possess the phoenix egg, your group will fail."

"Be advised that most magical beasts of the first and second rank are weaker than you. However, do not underestimate them if they travel in groups. Most of them are found in the forest, but your primary quarry hides in the mountain region of the hunting grounds," the attendant continued. "Most rank 3 and 4 magical beasts are of the second and third stage. Guard your leader well, and good luck, Phoenix Squadron."

"I get to keep the egg, right?" Bakura asked as the others headed into the forest.

"After three days, it’s your choice to break, eat, keep, sell, or hatch the egg," the attendant explained. "To hatch it, you must pour spirit energy into it. However, note that a phoenix chick is hard to raise and even harder to keep safe than an egg."

"Thanks!" Bakura waved and rushed to catch up with the others, carefully cradling the egg.

"So, what do we do first?" Karen asked.

"We get as far away from the entrance as possible," Agemo replied. "Others will try to steal eggs and loot storage bags. I’d suggest heading to the mountain region, but I want to observe how others fare first and plan accordingly. We need to familiarize ourselves with the area and set traps. We also don’t want others tracking us and finding out whether we have the demonic cores or not."

"Can’t we use our own demonic cores?" Bakura asked as he gently held the egg.

"Who are you, and what have you done with Bakura?" Jasper asked, incredulous at Bakura’s sudden change.

"What? I like phoenixes. My hometown worships one of them as a god. Though, it’s the Sacred Omen Phoenix of the Saint level from the legends. Still, I’ve always wanted one," Bakura explained. "I aim to have two of my magical beasts as phoenixes and reserve the third spot for the Sacred Omen Phoenix. If I never find one, oh well. Hopefully, some of the slave vendors sell those magical collars so I can bind other types of phoenixes if I catch one."

"I..." Jasper began, then shook his head. "Whatever, man. Still, we should be able to use our demonic cores, right?"

"I don't think so," Agemo sighed, shaking his head.

"Is there something there?" Kairi asked as she noticed Agemo glance up at a tree.

"A ninja," Agemo thought but didn’t say aloud.

"I can sense several faint collections of spirit energy," Agemo said. "One of them is up there."

"You can sense me?" a voice asked as a man in black linen clothing, wearing a silver phoenix mask, appeared.

"Darkness element. I presume it’s a movement technique that makes you invisible in the shadows," Agemo nodded. "I’m sensitive to spirit energy. May I ask if our question is true?"

"It is. We are always watching, but only watching. If you die, you die. We just observe and hold the mirror crystals so the audience in the stadium can see different people. It always shows the most interesting scenes. No doubt people are watching us speak now. The mirror crystal doesn’t need to visibly target you to show your direction," the proctor nodded. "Remember, only demonic cores from beasts you kill in the hunting ground count. We are always watching."

"Yup. A ninja," Agemo thought as he watched the proctor step back into the tree’s shadow and vanish. "I can turn into shadow, but not like that. Oh, I want to learn that. Teleporting from shadow to shadow and tracking your enemy soundlessly? Too awesome. I wield a katana though, so I’m more like a samurai—albeit with a katana that has a cross guard about two inches on both sides."

"Damn. We need to hunt rank 3 and 4 magical beasts after all," Jasper sighed. "We’ve also got to watch our backs against other competitors and ensure Bakura’s safety."

"Like a boss," Bakura grinned. "Go, my peons! Vanquish the enemy! BWAHAHAHA… Ow!"

Bakura cursed as Karen smacked him on the head with her staff. "Damn, that hurt, Karen! You mad witch! What if it becomes a bump? Wait! Don’t hit me! Stop, you witch!"

"Do they like each other or not?" Agemo whispered to Jasper as Karen chased after Bakura, trying to smack him again.

"They're not mature enough to know their own feelings yet. You could say it’s a complicated relationship. We’re not teenagers, though this is their lovey-dovey behavior. I really hope the girl I like someday isn’t like that," Jasper shrugged. "Oi! Karen! Stop, will you? Bakura’s holding the phoenix egg."

"Um, Agemo? How will you fight?" Kairi asked.

"Ah, right. I’ll be using a bow and arrow," Agemo replied as he pulled out a silver bow from his storage bag and slung a quiver of arrows over his shoulder. "I normally don’t use them, but we’re going hunting. It’s best to ambush the prey and target their limbs before engaging in close quarters. I only have a limited amount of arrows though."

"Take this," Kairi said, handing him a black quiver with two jade lines running down its length. "It’s a magical item. Once you place a type of arrow in, the quiver automatically replenishes it. Archers in guilds who can’t be Practitioners often use it. I don’t know how to use a bow and arrow, so you can keep it."

"You sure?" Agemo asked. "Thanks. I’ll put it to good use."

"I was in the archery club in college," Agemo thought, as memories of shooting targets with a compound bow and later a recurve bow flashed through his mind. "The Sentinel Bow is different, though—it shoots straight like a bullet."

"We’re going to the outer edge of the forest to observe how others fare in the mountains first," Jasper said as Karen and Bakura returned. "Bakura, you’ll stay in the back with Karen. You better not fight at all, Bakura. Karen, your priority is healing magic and barrier magic

around you and Bakura. Don’t let anything near him. Kairi and I will take point with her spear and my twin swords. Agemo, I’m pretty sure you’re the strongest among us, having defeated a third-stage Spirit Shaman. You’ll provide support with your arrows and take out anything that slips past Kairi and me. A sneak attack on any lone magical beasts would be helpful too."

"Solid plan, using everyone’s specialties," Agemo approved. "Okay, I can do that. I’ll also use my spirit sensitivity to detect any nearby dangers. I’m pretty sure the proctors are the source of all the faint spirit energy."

Agemo and the others ventured deeper into the forest. Jasper pulled out steel wires, and Agemo helped him set them. The wires were as thin as a hair but could cut like the edge of a sharpened steel sword. If someone or a magical beast moved quickly enough, they would be sliced without even knowing how. Bakura and Kairi watched as Karen used plant magic to conceal the steel wires on the ground. Agemo suggested using bear traps, and Jasper grinned evilly as he set them all around the forest too.

"Why go to such extremes?" Kairi asked.

"Well, we need to protect Bakura. If the traps don’t kill, they should wound enough to make them bleed. Animals are sensitive to smells, especially blood. Some herbivores can even detect bloodlust. The scent of blood should drive weaker beasts away while stronger ones tire themselves out killing whatever is bleeding. Then, I’ll shoot my arrow to finish them off. If they survive, you and Jasper can finish the job," Agemo explained.

"The less competition, the fewer people we’ll have to face in the third trial. I really want to avoid elimination matches since we already fight one-on-one during the tournament. I don’t want us to reveal our true strength until then," Jasper nodded. "Good thing my father loved hunting in the mountains. I wouldn’t have so many traps otherwise."

"I thought you were a noble?" Bakura asked.

"I’m not the first or second son. I’m free to do as I please and chose to pursue immortality by becoming a Practitioner," Jasper said as he set the last of his traps. "Hopefully, we can draw some of the rank 3 magical beasts from the mountains."