Rebirth of the Phoenix God

"And that's why they are like that. Just make sure you won't rat me in. I can tell Mark would prefer to appear as this saint-like figure to you, but hearing how he focuses more of the booze than helping you out, makes me believe he lost the right to act like that."

Sitting in the exact same place as when Fen had his first private meeting with Kaisha, the young man couldn't help but assume that this specific pastry shop had some underlying popularity going for it. But whether it was the quality of its wares or just the comfortable atmosphere, it didn't really matter at all.

"Sure thing. It's not like I would dare to utter a word about it anyway."

Nodding his head, Fen dug his fork into the same piece of sweet that he ordered back during his first visit here. While he was really curious about other products that this shop had to offer, with how this was a rare chance to have a talk with this old sage, the young man just ordered the first thing that came to his mind.

"But to think that they would still argue about it after two damned years… But quite honestly, I can't fathom how come Firo is still working there, with how she was the reason for the two of them splitting up…"

Hearing the familiar name, Fen suddenly felt his cheeks starting to itch. Sadly, despite his utmost efforts, his blush didn't escape Hekarion's attention.

"Don't tell me, you slept with her too?!"

Suddenly flaring up, Hekarion nearly stood up from his seat. Or rather, that was the vibe that the slight change of his eyebrows position gave to the young arcanist. At least, the question was not as cornering as he was worried it would be, with how his history with that horny maid was limited to just some shenanigans in the bathroom only.

"No, I did not. She nearly assaulted me back when I took my first bath in the archarity. You might not know, sir, but it was your arrival that saved me from her clutches."

Despite the old man pushing for the informal atmosphere during their talks, Fen still found it difficult to shed the layer of respect towards this man from his words. In this very moment, it was truly a blessing that nothing really happened back then in the bathroom, otherwise, Hekarion's disappointment or agitation might be a bit too much for the young man to handle.

"That's good… Anyway, now you know why they broke up. I won't advocate who was right and who was wrong. Although Mark's was confirmed to cheat on Nadia with Firo, I'm quite positive on Nadia jumping sideways for a while as well. But let's drop this topic now. Tell me, how did you manage to achieve control so quickly? Most of the times, if someone has a problem with it, it takes a long time to overcome it."

Putting his hands down on the table, Hekarion grabbed the ear of the cup he had ordered before sipping on some kind of beverage.

"Well… I don't think you will like how it happened… But a classmate of mine that I was paired with, a girl who is aiming to become a priest in the future, used some kind of ritual to help me out."

Not really sure whether visualisation of the sea of fire was something common for the others, Fen decided that pushing the focus of the revelation on Kaisha's person was a safer choice.

"A young, priestess apprentice? Tell me, how did that ritual look like?"

With a momentary glint appearing in Hekarion's eye, Fen could breathe out with relief. Due to everything that happened during his bath in that Cathedral holy pool or something, not to speak about his previous encounter with the inquisition that his new friends were oblivious about, the young man expected that just by bringing the name of the church, Hekarion would jump into a rage. Yet, as surprising as it could get, nothing of that sort happened!

"I lost my consciousness halfway through, so I'm not really sure about the middle part. As for what I know that happened, it all started with that classmate of mine leading me to a circular dark room, leaving me there for a moment and then coming there herself. From what I remember before I lost consciousness, all she did was gradually light up all the candles that lined up against the wall of the room."

This time, Fen didn't need to hide anything. With how little he knew about that ritual itself, how it worked or what was its real purpose, anything that Hekarion would ask about it would be a hint for the young arcanist in itself!

"Dark, circular room and candles… Well, that how most of the church rituals happen, so I can't really learn anything from that…"

Muttering to himself, Hekarion endorsed himself within the stream of his own thoughts, ignoring the young man in front of him for a long moment while carelessly sipping on his drink.

"Wait, if my guess is right… Tell me, did you get to see the fire ocean?"

Suddenly waking up from his daze, Hekarion sharply raised his sight on Fen's face, once again reminding him of the time where his eyes seemed to penetrate every last bit of the young man's body and soul altogether.

"Fire ocean?"

As risky as it was to use this tactic against this old sage, Fen still attempted to play dumb.

"Ah, you might don't know the proper nomenclature. For you, it should look like a huge pond filled with nothing but fire. If I were to guess, about twenty times the size of the pond you saw back in the cathedral?"

Hearing the explanation, Fen went into a panic mode for a short moment, before his young new self managed to calm him down. Given how the old man knew about the existence of that place, attempting to hide his experiences would only prevent Fen from potentially learning a little bit more about what that place was.

"I see. Yeah, that's more or less what happened. Striking back to your initial question, sir, it was thanks to seeing how that wild place looked, that I somehow managed to come to the realisation how to properly control it. Sadly, it's really hard to put it in the words, so I hope you won't expect me to properly explain it. Also, what is that fire Ocean in the first place?"

Rather than just hoping that Hekarion would tell him something more, Fen decided to go on the attack. After all, he couldn't always rely on the carelessness and kindness of others to learn more, could he?

"Eh… This question brings back some bad memories…"

Initially pushing his answer away, Hekarion shook his head before focusing his eyes back on Fen's face.

"You see, initially archarities were all just branches of the entire arcanist guild, aimed at deepening our understanding of what that Ocean is, and how can we use it. The fact that they turned into some sort of factions is a testament to how low we have fallen as the whole group!"