56 56. Doting Parents and Evolving Powers.
Spirit Realm
Omniscient POV
In a vast, ancient, burning castle, a cheerful young girl of around 15 years old strolled down the aisle. Her long blue hair with a red underside cascaded around her, and her fierce yellow eyes added to her captivating presence. Adorned in a modern, sleeveless dress that gracefully hugged her figure, intricate lace patterns adorned the bodice, delicately highlighting her shoulders. The dress flowed elegantly with a subtle A-line silhouette that accentuated her generous curves.
Crafted from what appeared to be a blend of silk and chiffon, the fabric gently swayed with each step, creating an ethereal movement. The neckline was modest, framing her collarbones, while the back dipped into a tasteful V-shape, adding a touch of allure. The mesmerizing blend of pastel hues in the color palette complemented her radiant aura. She had a modest bust size, and her attire accentuated her curvaceous figure as she moved gracefully.
She was Krystelle Emberfaust, the only daughter of the Phoenix Emperor. Usually, she stays within the palace grounds, rarely venturing outside. With only a few friends, she often finds herself bored and craving change. Today, however, is a special and joyous day for her.
She was summoned to a different world, the human world, to forge a contract with a human. She felt an overwhelming enthusiasm at the prospect of freely roaming and exploring the human realm—a luxury denied to her previously. Much like humans requiring astral forms to enter the Spirit Realm, spirits like her needed some form of physical body or an anchor to access the human world.
However, unlike her, powerful beings like her father, the Phoenix Emperor, could effortlessly traverse these realms. Even if prepared to accept the contract immediately, she, as a noble, couldn't easily reveal such eagerness. Hence, she set a condition for the contract. Even if the human were to lose, she would have pitied him and formed the contract.
Unexpectedly, he fought remarkably well, displaying a powerful regeneration she had likely only seen in her own parents. Eager to share the news, she couldn't wait to tell them about her new contractor!
After a while, she arrives in front of a large door guarded by several knights in full armor. They salute her as she comes into view. Without waiting any further, she slams the door open before one knight can ask for permission to open it for her. Unceremoniously, she enters her parents' bedroom.
"Father! Mother! I will be leaving to live in the human world!" declares Krystelle.
Inside were her parents—a handsome man in his late 20s with blood-red hair and yellow eyes like his daughter, the Phoenix Emperor, a normal fire phoenix who reached this stage with only hard work and unmatched talent. The other one is a beautiful woman in her early 20s with ocean-blue hair and crimson eyes, a rare ice phoenix whose ice can easily freeze time, the Phoenix Empress.
The Phoenix Emperor and his wife hastily covered themselves with a blanket and clothed themselves properly before her arrival. Thank goodness, they have such powerful sensing abilities and are used to their daughter's unexpected visits. Otherwise, just like that one time...
Their beloved daughter can be quite oblivious to many simple things.
"W-what?!" the always awe-inspiring and domineering Phoenix Emperor exclaims, unable to believe his baby bird would be leaving her nest so soon.
"Ara, you look so happy, dear. Did something good happen?" says her mother, resting one side of her head on her hand.
"Why would you be living in the human realm?!" asked the Phoenix Emperor, emerging from his initial surprise.
His wife sends him a silent glare and stops him from any further overreacting.
"I went to the human realm today!" says Krystelle excitedly.
[A/N: She didn't actually go there. It was just inside the slime dungeon.]
"Ho? How did you go there? Were you summoned by someone?" asks her mother, curiously.
"Nn," she nods.
"If you want to live there, did you make a contract with someone, dear?" asks her mother as the surroundings start to get icy cold.
"Yes! I made a contract, and now I can go to the human world as much as I want!" says Krystelle, oblivious to her surroundings as she was not being affected at all, but the poor soldiers standing outside were crying blood.
"W-what!? WHO IS THAT BASTARD?! Give me your contractor's name!" says the Phoenix Emperor as the surroundings get hotter and hotter without affecting her. The soldiers' cries of plea go unheard as they experience an icy cold aura from the Frost Phoenix Empress and a burning hot aura from the Fire Phoenix Emperor.
"His name? I believe he called himself Kouske Miyamura. And he even has awesome regeneration power, just like you guys," says Krystelle.
"That damn conning bastard!" mumbles the Phoenix Emperor.
"Ara, ara, ara. Ara? Ara, ara, ara!..." mumbles her mother dangerously.
"..."
??
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After a while, they calmed down and managed to persuade their daughter to only visit the human realm occasionally. They sent her back to her room for now, pondering whether Kouske was truly human and just deceiving her.
"Felix! Find out the bastard who's trying to con our daughter; otherwise, I will go down there myself!" says the Phoenix Empress.
"Y-yes!" replied the Phoenix Emperor nervously while he was still moping, realizing his daughter was growing up so fast without his knowledge.
Just ten years ago, she was just a cute little munchkin, always saying that she would never leave her daddy and the spirit realm. While he was shedding tears in the corner, his wife's words brought him back to his senses.
He sweat-dropped, thinking about what his enraged wife would do if she went down to the human realm right now. She might casually freeze a few countries to death in her fury!
While now known as one of the most benevolent Empresses, deep down, he knows how much of a troublemaker and a tomboy she was when they met eons ago. And people wonder who their daughter takes after!
*sigh*
"Ara? Were you thinking of something rude, dear?" his wife asks with a smile that doesn't reach her eyes.
"N-no! It must be your imagination!" says the Phoenix Emperor.
"Nn.... It must have been my imagination. But you would still be sleeping on the couch outside for the next week," she says innocently.
"W-what!? Dear, there are already recruits who admire and respect me so much. What would they think if they saw me sleeping outside like that?" he says nervously.
"Why would that be a problem? They would know sooner or later about you. And don't you dare leave to stay in other places," she says with her eyes closed.
"Y-yes!"
"And get all the information about that bastard!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
*sigh*
As he was kicked out of his own room, he looked at the state of his soldiers. He quickly heals all of them with a phoenix tear of his own. Unlike the fake phoenixes from the Underworld, he, a true phoenix, can make phoenix tears as easily as breathing.
When his soldiers wake up, he instructs them to send someone to the human realm and gather all the information about Krystelle's first contractor.
"Yes, sir!" replies the soldiers simultaneously.
His half-broken ego mends seeing the level of respect he's getting as he smiles.
After that, he unceremoniously goes to the couch to sleep, leaving the recruits confused, while the older ones clarify how and why for them, this has become normal over the years.
*sigh*
The mighty Phoenix Emperor goes to sleep, trying to ignore the talk his soldiers are having about him. Unfortunately, even if he's so mighty and strong, he cannot win against his wife. The last time he retaliated and just slightly used his aura, his wife sulked and went to her mother's house for a whole three hundred years.
In her own words, she can even kill him half to death, but he still shouldn't retaliate if he truly loves her. Only after coaxing her so hard did she come back and still complain about why he couldn't bring her back earlier. She started hitting him in the chest softly while mumbling cutely, 'baka' 'baka'. Well, at first, it was soft. As he tried to get intimate with her after so long, but then the power increased and broke several of his bones because of her feeling shy. Women are so damn unreasonable!
*sigh*
He just hopes for the best for his future son-in-law, as his daughter is starting to act more like his wife. But then he starts sobbing, thinking about how his baby daughter will have to leave his nest one day, further confusing the recruits as the older ones explain to them.
In his sadness, he temporarily forgets that his own daughter cockblocked him!
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Kouske's POV
After a day, in the morning, Krystelle returned to the house.
"Hi, Elle," I greeted her as she teleported into the hallway.
"Elle?" she asks, confused.
"Your name's Krystelle, right? Elle's just a nickname of sorts," I replied.
"Whatever. Call your older brother. I need to talk to him," she says.
??
For a moment, I was confused, then I remembered I was in my adult self when I summoned her, while now I looked the usual.
"I am Kouske," I replied, which confused her.
Then I transformed into my older self, eliciting a reaction from her. I proceeded to explain a bit to her.
"You are weird," but that's all I got in response.
Sakuya and Lavinia also came to the hallway as they felt her aura. Fortunately, there was a barrier around the house; otherwise, she would have spooked all the devils in town. Sakuya already knew about barriers before coming here and is also practicing more of this world's barrier system after acquiring the necessary magic books on barriers. I and Lavinia are also learning about barriers. But I think at some point, it would be better for us to acquire some kind of Space Manipulation skill. Time and Space go well hand in hand, right?
"Woah! A real phoenix!" exclaims Lavinia as she sees Elle for the first time.
"Kouske-sama, is she...?" asks Sakuya.
"Yes, she's the one I made a contract with last night," I replied.
"Nn. I am Krystelle Emberfaust! Remember my name," says Krystelle... smugly(?).
"Hello, my name is Sakuya Izayoi, Kouske-sama's maid," Sakuya introduces herself.
"And my name is Lavinia Reni," says Lavinia.
"Nn," nods Elle.
"Can I touch your feathers?" asks Lavinia innocently.
"Reni-chan, you shouldn't. You could get hurt," admonishes Sakuya as she looks at her half-burning and half-cold body.
"Mou~. But they look safe to touch!" says Lavinia as she pokes Elle's half-cold body part.
"See?" says Lavinia proudly.
Perhaps due to her affinity for the ice element, she doesn't appear to be greatly affected by the cold, but in reality, she radiates both intense heat and cold.
Elle was struggling with Lavinia as she was hugging her feathers and feeling her up(?). But after a while, she relented. Lavinia was in pure bliss.
"They are so soft," says Lavinia with a goofy face.
I would also like to get a chance to feel those mofu-mofu feathers of hers' one day. But if I say something now, she's going to get mad, for sure. Sakuya had a stoic expression, but with the subtle change in her facial features, I could tell she must be thinking the same.
"So, what did you come here today for?" I asked, getting back to the topic.
"You previously said we could share one of our abilities with each other, right? That's why," she said as she finally got out of Lavinia's hug.
"Yeah."
"First, you should try to reel in your powers a bit. It's leaking a lot," says Sakuya, reminding us how it would have been troublesome if not for the barrier that Sakuya has always put up surrounding the house.
Then she slowly but surely reeled in her power. Afterward, I started giving her a brief description of my other powers.
After a brief deliberation, she chose Plant Manipulation (E+), even though I tried to convince her to take Wind Manipulation or Gravity Manipulation (C). She wanted to create burning and freezing plants that she could command and control manually for both short-range and long-range attacks.
If only we could share more skills!
[You can actually, as your power increases, in the future,] says Clarice.
'Oh, that's good then,' I replied in my mind.
I obviously chose her Frostfire Fusion (C-); it complements my Blaze Black Flare, enhancing its overall power and ability, making it far stronger than before, and giving it the power for more heat and even freezing effects. But the color remained the same: purple.
[Author's Note: What did you think of the chapter? Feel free to share your thoughts, leave a review, and even drop some power stones. Add it to your collection if you enjoyed it. I'm open to constructive critiques that help me improve and grow as a writer, so don't hesitate to provide feedback. Thank you for reading!
I am hesitating about whether I should gender-bend Vali or not.
The same goes for Kiba.
I'm also open to suggestions for Pokémon that Kouske should get his hands on. Additionally, I'm still considering ideas for properly using Kouske's Synthesis skill.
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