It was Vivianne who started it all!
Brennan did suggest going to steal phoenix eggs before, but his idea was rejected by Adrian and Vivianne at that time, and he never had a chance to carry out the plan later.
However, Vivianne was different. When the war between the Astralrealm Kingdom and monsters just broke out, she had left the capital city with her companions for a mission - teaming up with Yulanda and others to join the large-scale monster clearing operation in the Dona Mountain Range, near the Sulide Volcano where phoenixes nested yearly.
The original target was a nine-headed snake, a high-level monster that had recently appeared in the forest at the foot of Sulide Volcano. As it had destroyed a local village over a month ago, someone issued a high-paying mission to the Adventurers' Guild. Considering the small scale of the nearby Jethrobaines branch and lack of talents there, as well as the difficulty of the mission, the Adventurers' Guild had no choice but to release the same mission in the capital of the neighboring country Norvale as well.
The process went quite smoothly, although it took nearly a week to reach the destination. Despite the nine-headed snake being a formidable water elemental monster of the sixth rank, it was no match for the large team.
Reportedly, eight people were recruited for this operation to be on the safe side, forming a complete small squad! Unfortunately, with the fixed total reward, each person's share became less.
So shortly after completing the mission, Vivianne seized the chance to propose a new suggestion - going up the mountain to steal phoenix eggs.
It was the phoenix egg-laying season on Sulide Volcano these few months. Usually, a female phoenix could lay three to four phoenix eggs, which were extremely expensive in the market, at least 50,000 silvers each, mainly because of demon tamers like Brennan who craved for them!
If they could steal one or two eggs, even splitting the profit among eight people would be way more than the mission reward.
Vivianne's proposal immediately won most people's approval. However, problems followed one after another, for phoenix eggs were not that easy to steal...
Though both ranked at the sixth level like the nine-headed snake, there was a huge power gap within the sixth rank itself. The entry, middle and full sixth ranks were completely different concepts.
For this reason, phoenixes, being at the same sixth rank, were much stronger than the nine-headed snake, which was why locals called them divine beasts.
Plus, they could fly, so even with eight people cooperating, they might not be unharmed under a phoenix's attacks. After all, the highest rank in the team was just at the entry sixth rank, with only one person.
The only way was stealing, and whether they could succeed depended on their skills and prior arrangements.
"So why did Vivianne insist on taking the field herself? For stealing, shouldn't they let a thief or at least an archer do it instead of a lancer?"
I really couldn't understand. Just thinking about her job made me feel a headache. Wasn't she raising a huge red flag for herself?
"We had no choice. Although our team looked big in number, she was actually the most suitable one. Half of them were mages, and apart from the paladin and warrior for close protection, only Vivianne was the most agile."
Yulanda explained helplessly.
"Besides, it was her suggestion in the first place. So to boost morale and make everyone more confident, Vivianne volunteered to implement the plan herself, while the others would provide support from a distance. Of course, due to the high risk, the condition was that if they got multiple phoenix eggs in the end, she would take one for herself..."
"Brennan, do you know why Vivianne did that?"
Hearing this, I could no longer hold back and gave the redhead a hint. Obviously, the reason seemed to be what Yulanda said on the surface. But in reality, Vivianne took the field mainly for Brennan!
Knowing her innermost feelings, her actions seemed so apparent to me. It's just that this guy Brennan didn't seem to know at all.
Of course, it doesn't mean that Brennan had to accept Vivianne's affection just because she was willing to take risks for him. But I think it was still necessary to let him know this.
"I know, Adrian told me later. I really didn't expect her to..."
Brennan answered with his head down, looking quite dejected.
"But now even Adrian is in the same predicament, I really don't know what to do!"
Despite the meticulous arrangements they made, including a series of measures to lure the target away from the nest and then seize the chance to steal from home, an unexpected change happened that no one foresaw.
First, the female phoenix was unwilling to leave the nest too far. Second, the phoenix nest was extremely difficult to approach, located on the cliffside inside the volcanic crater of Sulide Volcano. When Vivianne seized the chance to sneak towards the nest while the female phoenix was temporarily lured away, another male phoenix suddenly charged out from the volcanic crater, leading to the eventual failure of the plan.
Usually after mating, phoenixes would separate again, with the male leaving the female to seek other mates elsewhere. The situation of them sticking together for months was very rare, but unfortunately, Vivianne encountered exactly this case.
Soon, summoned by the male phoenix's calls, the female phoenix rushed back too.
This was bad. Who could withstand the attacks of two phoenixes at once? The plan was made only for dealing with a single phoenix. During the reconnaissance, they didn't see the other one hiding inside the volcanic crater either!
Chased by two phoenixes together, Vivianne couldn't lure them towards her teammates, or it would lead to complete annihilation. So she fled alone towards the mountain foot, as going downhill was much faster. Eventually she was trapped in a forest area halfway down the mountain.
This was deduced by her teammates from seeing the two phoenixes circling above that area. But they dared not approach, so the specifics were unknown. The preliminary judgment was that she might be hiding in a cave there, which Adrian and Brennan later confirmed upon arrival.
"They were so unreasonable!"
Mentioning her teammates, Yulanda became furious.
"Not daring to rescue was one thing, but they even stole all the phoenix eggs from the nest when the two phoenixes left! It was only after I persuaded them that they agreed to seek help from the Adventurers' Guild in the holy city nearby. But those guys waited less than a week before leaving impatiently, saying that after so long, Vivianne must have either starved to death or been burnt by the phoenixes, and they had done their utmost duty!"
"But at least they informed Adrian and Brennan..."
I said with a wry smile. These people went back to Norvale and naturally told Adrian and Brennan what happened, which did seem a bit like kicking someone who was already down but was still within the normal judgment.
After all, except for Yulanda, none of them were permanent teammates, perhaps not even acquainted before. It was just a temporary team formed for the mission. Their self-interest surfaced at the critical moment.
What happened next was on Brennan's side...
Adrian and he rushed over overnight. When they arrived at Sulide Volcano, those two phoenixes were still circling above halfway up the mountain, as if they would not stop until finding Vivianne's corpse, probably angered by their nest being emptied.
"After a short reconnaissance, we found the cave the phoenixes were guarding. To lure the two phoenixes away, Adrian had no choice but to use a light elemental magic arrow."
Brennan described his experience, afraid I might not understand.
"The effect was quite satisfactory. The male phoenix was hit and then struck by my Light Dragon, scaring it to flee westward towards the Astralrealm Kingdom. However, the female phoenix seized the chance to launch a fierce attack on Adrian, its fire breath burning down a large area of forest. With nowhere to hide, Adrian plunged into the cave. That phoenix has been blocking the entrance ever since. I'm the only one left unable to do anything, so I had to go downhill for reinforcements as planned, and meet up with Yulanda who stayed behind..."
"Huh? Feliciana, why are you so surprised?"
Yulanda called out to me, seeing my mouth agape in disbelief, and asked puzzledly.
"Er..."
I shook my head, not responding to her question for the moment, but instead checked with Brennan.
"That arrow was really Adrian's?"
"Which arrow?"
Brennan was stunned for a moment, not getting it at first, and explained distractedly.
"Oh, you mean that light elemental enchanted arrow? Come to think of it, it was made by Selene for Adrian during our mission in the Elara Woodlands! Although its damage is not as good against phoenixes as against monsters, at least it won't be easily burned, so its impact on the phoenix is still substantial."
"It's also for this reason that we might face less threat now, probably only one phoenix left! But the problem is that the cave seems rather suspicious. There might be no small danger inside, because judging from the size of the entrance, a phoenix can completely fly in. But for some reason it only dares to stay outside and not enter, which might indicate an even greater danger inside..."
I basically didn't listen much to what he said next. My mind was filled with thoughts about the phoenix that appeared in Makalan City and the arrow found on its body.
I had always thought that arrow was related to Yulanda's team, since there were many people and they might have recruited an archer. But I never expected it to be linked to Adrian in the end! So it turned out I was indirectly saved by Adrian again?
This is way too unbelievable. Two completely unrelated incidents were connected through just one arrow! And based on the Prophet Quintina's theory, could it be that Adrian is also...?