"Son, forgive me for being frank, but how did you survive?"
Alistair's gruff voice echoed. Contrary to the gravelly sound, his face held a gentle expression.
The older man sat with his wife and daughter at the dining table.
He faced the white-haired young man.
Elara sat beside him, while Celeste took a seat beside her dearest love.
Alistair inwardly laughed at the tenderness his daughter and Alden showed when they spoke to each other.
It reminded him greatly of his youth when he and his wife had been in the honeymoon phase of their marriage. The Guildmaster shared an amused glance with Elara, sensing that she was also delighted with Alden and Celeste's closeness and greatly approved of their match.
Alistair was glad his son had found a way back home against all odds.
His daughter had been beyond devastated not knowing whether her childhood friend and support was still alive.
A sight… which broke his heart.
He had also missed Alden's presence keenly, the young man's banter lighting up their home with affectionate warmth.
That was why, Alistair's interest was piqued.
He wanted to hear how Alden had survived in the abomination-infested wilderness as a mundane human.
Alistair's eyes roved to the small phoenix perched on his son's shoulder.
He could feel its heat waves from afar, small currents of heat warming his skin.
His curiosity deepened.
Alistair also marvelled that the creature's flame did not affect his adopted son.
At first, it had come as quite a shock to find such a rare creature casually relaxing in his home.
However, the surprise swiftly subsided, replaced by a sense of wonder and scrutiny as he felt the bird's intelligent stare meet his own.
"Ah, well…"
Alistair listened to Alden's narration with great interest.
His brows rose several times, not quite believing that his son had survived being chased by a mob of Dryads, rescued a baby phoenix from a skeletal Defiled and found an outpost on the same day.
He exchanged a significant look with his wife.
Of course, the Guildmaster's sharp eyes had long since noticed Alden's awakened state.
Inwardly, he felt elated and a little ashamed.
He was happy that his son had finally embarked on the road that would help him survive the tribulations of this accursed world. However, he also felt a little guilty that he couldn't provide Alden with a good-quality beast core.
He had barely pooled together enough funds for Celeste to awaken, using all his savings and a sizable portion from the Guild's treasury to help. In the end, that decision had not been a bad one, considering that his daughter was now a Chosen of the Divine Sovereign.
Still, Alistair rued that he had not helped his orphaned son further. Even when the older man had approached the young man, offering to buy a core for him, Alden was resolute that Celeste be the one to awaken.
Idly, Alistair wondered how Alden had managed to purify the beast core and remove the remnants of Defilement. It was well known that attempting to awaken using an unpurified core resulted in immediate corruption, and shortly after, death.
He theorised that perhaps the Outpost had miraculously contained some purifying equipment.
However, Alistair was soon proven wrong.
Unable to hide her curiosity, his daughter asked Alden how he had awakened in the middle of the Wilderness.
The young man's answer surprised Alistair.
Usually, the Ember Clan was responsible for purging any item that had come into contact with the Defilement - using a divine flame that burned as hot as the sun. If one could not afford their services, the alternative was to sacrifice a mana crystal to fuel a specific heating instrument - the bunsen.
Part of the enormous cost associated with his daughter's awakening had to do with procuring a significant amount of mana crystals - the greater the rank of core one wanted to use when awakening, the greater the number of mana crystals required.
The other part involved hiring a Master of the Ember Clan to oversee the process and control the flame, lest an accident happen.
Alistair remembered the obscene price the flame wielders had initially demanded in return for purifying the core. He also vividly recalled being flabbergasted and very irked. When questioned, the Ember Clan revealed a significant amount of effort was required to clean such a high-level core brimming with Defilement.
Thus, resigned, Alistair settled for the cheaper option - having one of the Masters manipulate an already lit flame.
Alden, however, followed none of those steps and even dared to swallow a beast core whole.
'How fascinating…'
The Guildmaster's scholarly senses tingled.
He suddenly had the urge to propose a new theory regarding the awakening process. He envisioned himself seated in his study, listening to the calm tunes of the Territory of Earth as he focused all his attention on his work.
Alistair's gaze wandered to the small phoenix once more.
Now that he knew it could rid a core of Defilement, the creature's worth increased in his eyes.
…Not that he had thought the little bird was useless.
Alistair would be foolish to dismiss one of the last living remains of the Age of Prosperity so easily.
Still, aware that it was just a baby, the Guildmaster had relatively low expectations of the fiery creature. He was pleasantly surprised to find that it had exceeded those.
The gears in Alistair's mind spun rapidly as he scrutinised Ignia more closely.
This was his first time coming across the existence of a pitch-black phoenix.
As far as he knew, most phoenixes ranged from fiery orange to fiery red. Witnessing such an anomaly first-hand caused Alistair's boundless curiosity to grow even further.
'Does its colour have a deeper meaning?'
The Expert mage wondered to himself.
Staring at its glossy black feathers that seemed to suck specks of light in, Alistair couldn't help but feel that it gave off the impression of a bleak void, almost resembling the Abyss in some form.
'Curious.'
Alistair listened to the rest of Alden's account intently.
Overall, he surmised that his son had been very fortunate to come across the Outpost, which helped guide him home.
Not that being lucky was an awful thing.
Sometimes, one needed a bout of good fortune to aid them on their way. It was nothing to be ashamed of.
"... After encountering a particularly dreadful horror, me and the three scouts arrived near the barrier of the Sanctuary. It was at that point that I ran into a bit of trouble. Although I dealt with it, it was still pretty troublesome in the end."
Before the Guildmaster could ask his son to clarify what he meant by a "bit of trouble", he heard a sudden knock echo from the door to their home.
He saw a brief shadow fall across Alden's face.