11 Chapter 11: Summoning (1/2)
”?!”
If I could have seen Hal Gunther, I would have spotted him jumping back in fear when the whole world transformed.
”What…what the hell is this?!”
”You never bothered to find out what kind of mage I am, did you?” I asked, even as his Hunter's Forest caught fire. The entire Artificial Reality was enveloped in an inferno, with the trees and grass instantly rendered into ash and flaking away, revealing the sterile ground of the stage.
”What's this?”
”I have no idea…”
”This is the first time Student Richard Huang has ever completed his summoning spell…”
”Yeah, I've never seen it before…”
The spectators were whispering to each other again, in that irritating manner that pissed me off. But I couldn't attack them, not when I was locked inside the boundary field of the stage – the same boundary field that would keep me alive no matter what kind of damage I sustained in the arena. So I chose to ignore them.
”Fucker!”
Roaring in fury, Hal Gunther unleashed a volley of arrows, but a wall of fire burst out in front of me and incinerated them.
”!!!!”
Hal Gunther skidded backward. When his Artificial Reality had been wiped out, when his Hunter's Forest had been razed to the ground by the inferno, he had reverted to visibility. He was pale and perspiring profusely, and not just from the intense heat of the flames.
”Answer me!” he hollered, his voice almost cracking from fear. ”What the hell is this?! What spell did you just cast?!”
I merely smiled at him. ”I have no obligation to tell you.”
Even though I remained cryptic about my magic, there actually was no use in keeping it a secret. Everyone could see the gigantic phoenix that was emerging from the blazing ground, almost as if the burning floor had turned into an interdimensional gateway.
”That's…a Phoenix.”
”Holy Molly! Richard Huang is actually a master of a Phoenix?!”
”Isn't that a legendary beast?! How did he…?!”
”No wonder his summoning spells take so long to cast. This isn't something you can summon in a couple of minutes!”
The spectators were gasping in awe and fright. Once again, I ignored their annoying side comments and focused on the battle before me.
By the way, they were wrong. I didn't summon just any Phoenix.
I had summoned the Vermillion Bird (apparently that was the official translation and not Red Phoenix, but who knows why Wee Tian Beng and TCZ Studio translated Zhu Que into Red Phoenix instead of Vermillion Bird?). Well, Vermillion Bird sounds a little silly, so I'll just leave it as Vermillion Phoenix. The celestial guardian of the south.
The Vermillion Phoenix spread its wings as it emerged from the ground, its wingspan almost twenty meters in length. The size of a house, it took to the air, raining down fiery feathers upon the scorched earth.
”What the hell is that thing!?” Hal Gunther wailed, almost on the verge of breaking down. He realized that I was right – he should never have toyed with me, should have finished me off when he had the chance.
But no, he had to savor my suffering, prolong my agony and bully me. Thanks to his idiocy, he had given me all the time I needed to summon my Vermillion Phoenix.
”As long as I finish off the summoner, the summoned beast will disappear as well!”
Even though he was a despicable bully, Hal Gunther was still a competent combat mage. He knew how summoning spells worked. Once again, he notched multiple energy arrows to his bow and fired upon me.
However, another wall of fire erupted between us, incinerating all of those arrows into nothingness.
”!!!”
”What's the matter?” I asked snidely. ”Are you no longer able to give your best shot?”
”UGH!” roaring, Hal Gunther shifted his aim. ”I don't believe I can't shoot down that gigantic bird of yours!”
Conjuring multiple arrows, he bombarded the hovering Vermillion Phoenix with a barrage of energy arrows.
The Vermillion Phoenix didn't even bother to defend itself with a barrier of flames as it did to protect me. Instead, it merely held its position and allowed the arrows to slam into it.
However, the moment the energy arrows made physical contact with its crimson body, they spontaneously combusted and faded harmlessly against its fiery feathers.
”No way…”