Rebirth of the Phoenix God

If the first day was filled with nothing but walking, the second day was different only in one regard. After nearly the entire day spent on this beloved activity of the mercenaries, just as Fen was starting to get the grasp of this specific, strange-looking technique of walking that all the mercenaries used, his landlord suddenly called all the men to a single group before pointing at a direction different to what we were following the entire day.

"Okay, everyone. From now on, we will be stepping off the road and entering the wildlands. Say your prayers now, as later there won't be any time to do so."

Contrary to the expectations that his words could arouse, the area that Fen's landlord pointed out at was actually pretty empty! All the way up until this point, their group was travelling on the borderlands between an open plain to the left and dense forest just in the comfortable distance to the right. But now, the leader of the entire quest group decided that instead of plunging into the forest to reach the hidden site he had an interest in, the entire group would enter the plain instead!

"Since everyone seems to be ready, let's pick up the pace. If we push ourselves a bit, we will get it over with by today, leaving only the journey back for the next two days."

Shaking his head with no emotion, as if the insane discipline within the unit was something extremely common and nothing to be awed at, the burly leader of the entire group made the first step of the road. Soon, the entire group followed while Fen couldn't help but click his tongue at the wording the man used.

'Everything will be all right? You could ask the gods to send a great misfortune on us just as well!'

Shaking his head with disappointment, Fen could already tell how the entire event would most likely end. Just like back in the forest under Akhaz his teacher claimed Fen will only have to practice his basic skills, that situation in the past also quickly turned out to be way different from what the leader of the expedition expected. 

And given how Fen was the only arcanist in the entire group, what's more, he was tasked with most likely the crucial element of the entire expedition, all the misfortune that would befall the entire group, would focus its impact on him and him alone at first!

At least, it didn't happen right away. With the sun already on its way to hide behind the line of the distant horizon, it still took the entire group over an hour to reach the area where travelling turned from normal, daily task to an actual challenge.

It was at this point that Fen also understood how the heck such a valuable site could remain hidden despite a small town lying as far as the eye could see from the point where his group moved out of the road. Just the hills that surrounded the place were already placing a huge burden on anyone willing to conquer them, only to be replaced with marshes, more hills and deep ravines later on. 

Thankfully, the group seemed to be prepared for all the situations that we were about to encounter. After all, Fen's landlord was leading the entire exploration team without any signs of hesitation, hinting at the fact that he already went through this route at least once in the past.

To conquer the hills, all the entire group had to do was to strain their muscles a bit. But once the entire team reached the marshes, everyone took a slight stop to pull out some kind of special shoes from their bags, quickly proving that no matter the terrain, the group was prepared to cross it!

But even after passing by those wet areas where one could never be sure whether his next step would fall on solid ground or just an area that seemed like it, always willing to pull the uncareful victim into the depths of the ground, the next obstacle turned out to not be that easy to cross.

The ravines.

Each deep for at least several tens of meters, wide for only fewteen meters across, but stretching as far as an eye could see to both sides. While for Fen conquering this kind of small obstacle wouldn't pose any troubles, as just two sets of consecutive explosions below his feet should be enough to carry him all the way over, the way in which the mercenaries solved the problem turned out to be… quite problematic.

With each of the burly veterans picking up otherwise simple, a wooden plank with sets of strange carvings at both of its ends, Fen had to stand still for a moment to see how the heck those punny little pieces of wood would allow the group to pass this obstacle.

"Woah…"

Soon, the group proved to the young man that travelling in this kind of hard territory wasn't something new to them. One by one, mercenaries kept connecting each of the planks that one carried so far, locking them against each other by using exactly those strange carvings that made the young man so puzzled a moment ago!

In just a few moments, the entire group came up with a long footbridge, only about half a meter wide. Placing its one end on the one end of the ravine, a connection was made to its other end, allowing for everyone to safely pass the dangerous fall on a stable foothold. 

But the further the entire group went, the width of the consecutive ravines only continued to increase. By the time only two obstacles were separating the entire group from the area that the group leader called as their target, the mercenaries actually had to use their hand-axes and other weapons to cut the nearby vegetation, as the footbridge made out of their planks turned out to be just a few meters short!

"We are here… Finally…"

Only once the last ravine was left behind the group's backs, the leader of the entire group dared to relax. On the other hand, Fen could feel the atmosphere around him tensing up. The time where he would have to prove his worth was coming soon.

"Fen, do you see that hill?"

Pointing his hand at the small earth rise about half a kilometre away from the group, the young man's landlord approached the arcanist.

"Yeah."

While Fen was more used to straining his eyes while in the forest, the long years spent in the wild still allowed him to develop his sight to its limits. And with such a close distance, only someone who never used their eyes would fail to notice the hill!

"As soon as you enter its peak, you will see the place where the flower grows. Starting with the descend, the area turns so hot that none of my men could even approach walking it. So, without further ado…"

Lowering his head in a fake bow, the burly man gestured at the hill nearby with the obvious meaning behind his actions. Taking a deep breath, Fen dropped all of his bags before pulling out the spear and sturdy knife out of them, exactly the same ones that he received back in the academy. Grabbing a small piece of salted meat that still lingered in the depths of his backpack, the young man quickly swallowed this small meal of his before shaking his head and starting to move forward.

After two entire days of travelling safely in the very middle of this group of veterans, going somewhere on his own seemed far more dangerous than even living in the damned forest. The only advantage that this place had over lived amongst the woods was that no matter which direction he looked, Fen was able to see far further than the trees in the forest would ever allow him to!

Climbing up the hill didn't prove to be challenging at all. The incline was low enough to make it hard to distinguish the moment when the young man stopped moving on the flat ground and actually started climbing the hill. Only when Fen could gaze down at the peculiar sight on the other side of the hill, did he realise that he already reached the top of the elevated point.

And there was definitely a lot to be awestruck there.

Starting right past the top of the hill, the ground was quickly turning from lush green to brown, as if plants only barely held to their lives. Even further, the ground turned completely back, as if the entire area was a fireplace that some giants made here in the past, turning all the green to the pitch darkness of the soot that was the one thing remaining from said huge campfire. But the truly peculiar thing started only beyond this barrier of black!

Starting to descend the hillside step by step, Fen quickly learned why the mercenary didn't dare to do it all by himself or even with the entire group of mercenaries. Each step that Fen made, turned the atmosphere around him hotter and hotter. With only ten steps separating him from the top of the hill, the young man already had to cover himself in his own fires to counteract the intense heat that the entire area was permeated with!

Yet, while the air grew so hot that it would spontaneously combust when Fen reached the part where the ground turned to a charred black, just a single step that took him beyond this barrier of everything burning to the crisp suddenly changed everything.

Fen's surroundings were still hot. There was no denying it, as just by removing his own flames for a moment was enough to cause his skin to scream in pain. Yet, for some reason, the vegetation in this place was actually thriving, as if it was feeding on this demonical heat!

And what was actually way more important, was that right in the middle of the huge open plain filled with greenery, a single, huge flower was growing directly out of the ground. But what's more, it was actually surrounded by a small puddle of water so clear, that even someone living in the wild for the majority of his life like Fen had to admit that they never saw such pristine liquid in their lives ever before!

"I guess its time to work now…"

Shaking his head to dismiss all the idle thoughts of awe caused by the beauty of this area, Fen approached the flower carefully. Step by step, the young man was prepared to invoke his entire power, both using the means he learned in the akhaz and the ones that Nadia taught him, yet… no monster dared to appear! 

"Just what the heck is wrong with this place…"