A new morning had arisen as the early sun shone warmly through the windows of civilian homes within a small village, one of those civilians being Pheo himself.
His eyes slowly opened as his senses came back to him. In contrast to the cold and messy dirt of which Pheo remembered as if it was mere minutes ago, the relatively average bed Pheo now found himself tucked in felt almost heavenly. Grabbing his blanket, Pheo closed his eyes and curled up, debating whether to go back to sleep or see what's actually happening. After a solid minute of consideration, Pheo arose from his slumber, letting out a long yawn before he rubbed his eyes as he looked around.
He found himself in a somewhat large room, the walls, ceiling, and floor made of a sturdy wood. Additionally, there was a nightstand next to him with a lamp on it, in the right corner of the room there were some dressers but besides that, it was almost completely bare.
Pheo sat motionless for a moment as the rusty gears in his brain had started to turn once again as he began putting two and two together. He was transported to a medieval world, found by a mage, and passed out in front of her… Given how bare but also large this room was, it was probably an inn. After using the most brain power he's had to use in a while, Pheo smiled proudly, satisfied with his conclusive problem-solving ability. Pheo stretched and began to walk towards the door of his room.
"I hope the mage is still here… I have no idea how this world works" He muttered with a tinge of pathetic sadness at his absolute cluelessness. He slowly twisted the door handle and creaked open the door just to be surprised. He jumped back at the sight of the mage's face staring back at him, waiting.
The mage rolled her eyes and let out a sigh, though a small smile flashed across her face before she opened the door all the way and walked in towards Pheo. She placed her palms on the hips:
"How come you seem so strong yet so clueless? Oh, well. Come here, we shall talk more at the tavern. You are likely starving, follow me." she said with a hand motion indicating to follow her.
Pheo felt his stomach grumble and blushed slightly. He bashfully muttered an embarrassed "thanks" before following the mage.
The mage led Pheo out of the quiet inn, not many people were in the building beside them, and the kind-looking innkeeper who waved goodbye as they left. As they stepped outside into the village, Pheo was immediately struck by the bright beams of light from the sun.
However, for some reason, the brightness of the sun was not nearly as painful or annoying as it had been in the normal world. Rather, it was quite beautiful; oddly though, it's not as if the sun had gotten any dimmer or changed color, it was unmistakably the same sun that not so long ago cursed his eyes with obnoxious pain. Yet now, it was simply amazing.
Along with the sun, he could feel the fresh wind hit his skin, the air was nothing like New York, it felt like… Life. As Pheo was bombarded with all these new and refreshing sensations he couldn't help but smile: a genuine smile that even if he wanted, he could never hide.
The mage pet his head and smiled, "You're so odd, it's like you've never been in a village before," she said, though she was more delighted by his happiness than she was intrigued.
Pheo laughed awkwardly. "Eh, something like that" he said, immediately returning his intention to this new world around him. He watched as people in much simpler clothes than he was used to walking around; listened to the men and women shouting out advertisements in item and food stalls. He observed the horse-drawn carriages: how elegant the large and strong horses were as they carried loads of items or many people.
It was so refreshing… It had an odd nostalgia to it as he reminisced his old video games he used to play and shows he used to watch. However, this was real! He could smell the scent of the food sitting in stalls and the sweat of the hard-working men who cut trees and mine ore, all with their simple handheld tools. Pheo was never the type of person to regret technological advancements and reminiscence on the "good ol' days" but seeing the labor of hard-working people did give him some sense of pride in them.
After Pheo finished scanning the village with all of his senses he realized the mage had already started walking ahead, he turned and almost stumbled as he shouted "Wait!" before starting a light jog to keep up. He had expected to be rather tired by the time he caught up to the mage, who stopped and giggled at his stumbling. Yet he felt no tiredness at all, even though he was already low on food for an unusually large amount of time. While he didn't waste much time thinking on it as he already knew he had become physically stronger anyway. The mage continued to lead him down the dirt road to a tavern with a sign on it that read "The Five Suns Tavern".
Pheo giggled at the odd name, though he expected no less. The mage walked to the door and nodded to Pheo, indicating to follow her in.
Pheo followed behind the mage and meekly walked inside, looking around, he was immediately assaulted by the smell of alcohol and the sounds of the loud voices compiling together. It was hard to even make out a single conversation among all the talking, though it didn't bother Pheo. The site of everyone laughing and having a good time was actually quite nice.
As he clung to the mage like a child to their mother in a crowded building, he heard a distant male's voice call out to them, "Hey! That's the kid you were talking about? Come on over, let's get acquainted" The mage smiled and walked in the direction of the voice and Pheo followed.
The mage arrived at a small table with three seats, at the table was a youngish looking man, in his early to mid-twenties. Brunette with a hero-like haircut, he was well fit for his rather slender figure that made him stand out just slightly from other warriors and knights. His blue eyes shined at Pheo as he motioned to sit next to him. Pheo did and observed his equally shiny plate armor. The knight noticed of him staring and laughed awkwardly.
"I just finished a mission and didn't feel like taking it off" He explains with a friendly grin, Pheo flashed a smile in return, he could already tell that he'll like this guy. Pheo took a long stretch and looked back and forth between the mage and knight, who are seated on opposite sides of him.
The knight broke the silence as he sighed and smiled, "Well since you two are awkward little beetles, I'll introduce myself first.
I'm Eli, I used to be a top general in the war, so was Liz over here. And I don't know if you asked before, but no, she won't take off the hood. Hell, I've known her for years and the most I've seen is her head, I hardly know what she looks like below the neck!
Anyway, I was a general in the current war, but we both decided the bloodshed was excessive and needless."
Pheo was taken aback, in disbelief he was sharing a drink with two war generals, former or not. Yet, he pushed past his initial shock and replied nervously: "Yeah, thing is, I kind of don't even know what this war is." he said with an awkward laugh and added, "Oh! Almost forgot to mention, my name is Phe-"
As he was about to say his name, he stopped. This was a new world, he was no longer himself. Therefore, he didn't need this embarrassing name anymore.
"Pheonix. My name is Pheonix."
Eli began to laugh as he said through a series of laughter, "Sorry, I'm not laughing at your name, I've just never heard of someone who doesn't know of the war." He explained, trying to be nice, yet the laughter continued until Liz bonked him to seize it and sighed:
"Might as well explain this now. This continent was taken up almost completely by a giant forest known as the Gaia Forest. On this continent, there are 6 main species with their own kingdoms: humans, and elves, dwarves, and fairies, orcs, as well as dragons.
Everything was peaceful for centuries, although humans, elves, and dwarves terraformed the forest a bit for their personal use due to just how big this forest was. The three kingdoms were forced to form a Modernity Allyship when out of nowhere the Fairy king had declared that they were abusing this forest and taking it all to themselves, which is absolute blasphemy. The Fairy king recruited the orcs and somehow even the dragons to their side, calling themselves the Naturalists.
The war between the Modernists and Naturalists has been raging for decades now, with no sign of ending. Frankly, it was a needless bloodshed, but we've tried every peaceful option we have and none have worked…" she explained with a sad face.
Just the thought seemed to have depressed her. Pheo sat in silence, pondering. He had been reincarnated into this beautiful world just to learn it's being covered in needless bloodshed. Though, as much as he tried to approach this situation from a logical angle, there were no clear answers. As the mage said, they already tried peaceful options. However, as Pheo kept thinking, he was struck with an idea!
Since he's gotten here, this has been a large magical world filled with wonder and mystery… Things that revitalize the fun and silly side of him, that he thought was dead long ago. So maybe he should let that side take over the decision-making.
His face changed from a serious pondering to a sly smile as he slammed his hand on the table announcing his idea, "I know! If the dragons are the strongest as I assume they are, then it's simple really…" As he talked the mage and knight leaned in curious on what idea this seemingly clueless man could come up with.
Suddenly, he shouted out, "I'll marry the king dragon's daughter and force them to surrender!" and then added with concern: "He does have a daughter, right?"
That statement made with an immovable confidence made Eli burst out laughing. Liz simply sighed, "Are you serious?" as she stared daggers at Pheo.
Pheo, though nervous, doubled down, "I guarantee you it will work."
Though Pheo knew internally this was dumb, something told him to trust himself, to let go, and so he did. Liz shook her head, "Even if, perchance, that somehow worked, how would you pull it off in the first place?" she rightfully questioned.
Pheo's confident smirk grew wider as he placed his hands on his hips, "I have no idea!"
Liz bonked Pheo on the head with her staff and muttered, "Forget about it." However, Eli interjected, "Y'know it is crazy but… Theoretically, it should work."
Liz rolls her eyes, "Yeah, if you ignore a thousand and one issues."
Eli just shrugged in return: "I mean if we want to save lives it's either this or back to the army. Also, I don't know Liz, there's something special about this kid, I just know it, y'know?"
Liz sighed, as she was considering it, "Yeah this kid's definitely odd, but I don't know if that's a good thing… Still…" She stared at Pheo with some kind of sad and longing look in her eyes, let out another sigh and muttered, "Fine, whatever. We'll go along with your stupid plan. But first you need to eat, and then we need to teach you some things."
Though Pheo didn't recognize most menu options he did recognize lamb, a delicacy he's had before, he ordered it immediately and once it came it was exactly as he imagined. The normality of such a meal was soothing as he devoured it with no hesitation.
Once everyone had finished eating, Liz got up and began to walk away, both Pheo and Eli stumbled out of their chairs to follow before falling over each other and laughing.
Liz led Pheo and Eli through the town as Pheo inspected even more than he had previously noticed, many types of stores and locations. Then they existed the town itself, heading into a forest.
The last time Pheo was in a forest he was hungry, exhausted, and tired. But this time was different, he was more full of life than ever and had time to fully appreciate the beauty of the forest, the way the sun shone through the leaves onto the grass so full of life. The way the many animals scurried around, ever so cautious around human life. It was quite beautiful and forced a gleeful smile across Pheo's face.
Soon they got to a small clearing and Liz stopped with a sigh, turning to face Pheo "Do you have any clue how to fight?"
Pheo shrugged with an awkward smile, "Well I've definitely seen a lot of combat and imagined it in extensive detail."
Liz rolled her eyes, "Well I suppose that means with your relatively high stats, teaching you shouldn't take too long. At least, how to swing a sword efficiently. So what weapons would you prefer to learn?"
Pheo looked into the sky as he thought for a minute, "I suppose a sword and shield would work just fine." he said with a thoughtful nod. Liz held her hands forward as light in the shape of a sword and shield formed in each hand, as were fully conjured as a sword and shield.
"No, I can't create matter, I simply conjured these from my storage." Liz clarified before she tossed them over to Pheo, who hardly caught them. Pheo was surprised by how lightweight they felt, though he remembered his strength is rather high. He swung around the sword for a bit with one hand, rather clumsy.
Eli sighed, watching his sad attempts and came to Pheo, "Put the shield down, let's try two-handed sword swings first." he suggested. Pheo nodded, putting the shield down as he gripped both hands on the sword and Eli held his hands, instructing him patiently.
Liz sat down watching them with a raised eyebrow and muttered to herself, "That Pheonix kid seems like an idiot, but I can tell he's really trying. The look on his face is that of someone who feels so incredibly outmatched. Still, he yearns to try to become great, yet not necessarily the greatest."
She sighed and stared into the sky:
"I know so much about this world. I know almost every form of magic and can cast nearly any spell. I can tell a fighting style instantly from one's stance, and I've faced thousands of warriors and dungeons. Yet… something about Pheonix is simply different, he doesn't make sense.
Frankly, whether Eli wanted to or not, I could have never declined Pheonix's idea, I'd follow him into a death dungeon if need be. Simply because he perplexes me in a way nothing of this world ever has, as if he isn't even of this world at all. I must know more… That being said, it isn't the only intriguing feature of him, there's a sort of charm to his foolishness."
Liz looked back at Eli improving Pheo's form. Pheo definitely had a lot of going for him: being taught by a war general was a no joke, even if one's already witnessed a lot of combat before.
Liz continued to watch, thoughts left her mind as she solely focused on those two. It was as if their own determinations were battling for who could stay and train the longest. Soon they both were tired and sore, yet they continued on nevertheless.
As minutes became hours, Liz left to bring them food and water. Her expression of interest became more gleeful as she began to find it rather silly, yet, somewhat cool how they kept improving and bettering without a break. As time passed, more and more their determinations battled, hours turned to days. Days and days of focus on nothing but the sword, just because he was gifted the privilege of training by a general did not make it any easier for Pheo, only more intense.
Liz would smile as hope would rekindle in her heart at this promising sight; perhaps this Pheonix can truly shine.
Suns would set and moons would rise
Agape still dreary eyes
Through pains and sores
Fatigue and hunger
They'd train for days more
As they may not see another
Rain, snow, and sleet
Brought no defeat
Their determination burned
For honor did the phoenix yearn
His ash was whisked away
Now all that's left
Is for the Pheonix to rise
And embarrass the thought of death.