With the ceremony over and the newlyweds off celebrating, I said my goodbyes and took the opportunity to wrap a few things up. The Jusenkyo Guide and Plum were temporarily under the protection of the Amazons, so I didn't anticipate it being overly risky for them. I left the live chicken from my inventory with an Amazon family, then teleported to the cave I'd stashed Happosai inside. His presence still felt muted as if in sleep, but I brought myself to full combat-readiness anyway before rolling the boulder sealing the cave out of the way.
The old man was still snoozing, wrapped in chains and various holy talismans, so I took the remaining paper dolls I'd acquired from Gosunkugi and began writing. When I was finished I extracted Pantyhose Taro from my inventory, broke his curse, and set him so he could see the old man but wouldn't be getting out of his own chains anytime soon. After placing a paper doll on each of their backs, I dispelled the sleep effect. They both woke with a jerk, then Happosai declared that Pantyhose Taro's new name was Ron Jeremy [1] and escaped the chains as if they weren't even there. The newly-dubbed Ron looked confused but pleased, so I released his chains too.
Both dolls fell off, their work done and their magic spent. Both men would be compelled to live better lives without hurting or traumatizing others if they could help it, with Happosai given the additional instruction to seek out Hinako in Nerima for the ki-generating ball I'd given her in case he really did need to absorb female ki to live like in fanon. Another teleport brought me back to the Amazon village, where I instructed Ember, Konatsu, and Ukyo to head into the warehouse. I had a few plans, one of which relied on the sole remaining paper doll I'd written on but returned to my inventory.
The Jusenkyo Guide was confused when I asked him for the map of the springs, but complied easily enough and I copied it with a glance and a conjuration spell. I then departed for Jusenkyo with my captive phoenix warriors in my inventory. My physical stats were all pretty close to 500 now, but hadn't quite made it there. It'd have to do. I laid the warriors down on a safe patch of ground near the Guide's hut, cast an overpowered calming spell on each, and revived them. When they asked me what happened, I simply showed them the map and asked to be escorted to their leader before vanishing the chains. One of them tried to snatch it from my hand, and grumbled acceptance when I flew into the air to avoid the attempt.
I was escorted to Phoenix Mountain and approached by Saffron in his early teen form and his right hand Kiima. When he appeared I simply held out the map and asked if he would accept a challenge after his ascension in return for an artifact to help his people in the event he ever needed to be elsewhere. If I won I would collect a vial of his blood to be used immediately and in front of him so he could ensure I didn't curse him, and if he won I would stay for seven years helping his people above and beyond the artifact. He snatched the map from my hand rudely, but hearing that I wouldn't do anything to impede his ascension eased some of the tension on the faces of everyone there.
The bit about his blood he really didn't like, but at my blank look he called for his own sorcerers to check over the artifact I planned to give them and watch the process of using the blood in case he decided to accept the challenge. As we waited I conjured a glass ball about the size of my head, enchanted it to be indestructible, and slowly built of a series of three [Mystical Energy (Generator)]s inside anchored to the structure of the ball itself. He looked on with interest as first ki, then mana, then heat and light began to emanate from the enchanted sphere. Next I added an illusion to show the Mandarin symbols for life, energy, light, and fire on the surface and a stylized phoenix hovering above it.
My final additions to my creation were to tweak it such that the Phoenix People themselves (based on the examples I had around me) and Saffron could place a hand on any of the symbols to adjust the outflow, and that it could only be moved by me, Saffron, or his designated successor if he willed it. The last part was tricky and once again involved more will anything else to achieve, but settled well and gave me an idea of how to do it more efficiently in the future. Since the artifact was indestructible and could only be moved by those designated without breaking the enchantment, it was a fairly safe bet it would last awhile.
The sorcerers, stereotypically robed and hooded, arrived and inspected what I'd created with interest. As they related what they learned to Saffron himself his face went from stoic and skeptical to determined. It looked like he wanted to accept now if only to gain the priceless artifact and the chance I'd make similar things for his people over the next seven years. He could only barely sense my magic and ki when I worked though, and could sense nothing now that I was finished. He accepted my challenge and the orb reluctantly, and I began filling him in on the features his people had missed as we walked.
They brought me to an older bird-person who reminded me of a pheasant, then handed the man the map and asked me to wait outside. I did so, asking one of the guards about their culture and if there was anything I should know to avoid being rude. He answered my questions with reluctance and did his best not to give anything away beyond what I asked, giving me the impression that the Phoenix People were fairly reclusive by nature. That matched what I'd read in the manga, where Ku Lon had thought them long dead. I couldn't help but hear large portions of the conversation going on inside, but it was mostly uninteresting.
As long as he was allowed to specify the challenge was to unconsciousness or yield, Saffron was confident he could beat me since he had damn-near infinite energy and a significant resistance to harm both mundane and magical in his fully ascended form. Limiting us both to avoid killing protected his people, guaranteed they received the artifact, and might gain them the services of an apparently powerful and immensely skilled sorcerer for a number of years. His advisors were wary, but ultimately went along with it. A lackey was sent to show me to a room, where I prepared myself for the battle to come.
I'd learned from my fight with Herb, but hadn't had a chance to put what I learned to the test. I started with my [Barrier]s, carefully weaving them together into a solid composite instead of multiple layers. The would now block physical attacks and reflect supernatural attacks that I didn't explicitly allow through absolutely so long as I had the mana to do so. I set the barrier to allow pure thermal energy to pass both ways since I gained power from extreme temperatures, and for my own attacks to pass outward but not inward. Anything that I did that wasn't considered an attack would be unaffected by the defensive measure.
Part of my mind watched Saffron's ascendance ritual with interest via [Scry]. The sorcerers and advisors present didn't seem to notice anything, but Saffron himself looked around a few times as if feeling me watching but unable to locate the probe when the process was complete. I felt it when the spark of divinity he'd carried since we first met was empowered. It was still weaker than my own, but definitely noticeable. I shook my head. This was my end scenario? Physically at least he seemed less powerful than Herb, but his resistance to magic and other special techniques was higher according to [Observe].
I'd approach this logically, then. My best bet to incapacitate him was to overwhelm his magical resistance and simply put him to sleep. To that end I started charging a massively-overpowered sleep spell. My next best option was to restrain him, which meant keeping him still and unable to fight back despite his ability to control the temperature and possibly other things around him. A pair of [Multi-Focus] threads were tasked with creating a copy of my own defensive barrier but turned inward so as to reflect attacks back on the one inside and to lock both the barrier and the prisoner in place with telekinesis.
If my first two options failed I'd have to overpower the man physically and shut down his abilities with some combination of [Counter/Dispel (Universal Nullification)], [Elemental Bending], [Mystical Energy (Void)], and [Mystical Energy (Drain)]. Just to be safe, I started subtly shifting the internal structure of my body to be denser and more resistant to damage, then did the same for the dragon scales that covered my body under my clothing. I would allow them to cover me completely when the battle started, but would skip the wings since I could fly without them.
An overpowered [Freedom of Movement] that should last about twenty-four hours , [Mana Protection], and [Mystical Energy (Generator)] to fuel [Mystical Energy (Mastery)] and keep my regeneration high enough that my supply was essentially infinite followed. I'd drop a [Haste] on top of all that when we started, and [Active Precognitive Defense] was pretty much always running now. If things got really bad...well, I had a lot of spells up my sleeves now. I'd work it out or spend a few years helping Saffron's people.
-
When we finally faced off it was above the mountains a few kilometers away from anything valuable. There wasn't really anything to hurt out here that would be badly missed. We hovered in the air across from each other with several advisors and Kiima watching with telescopes, far-sight spells, and other such things from Phoenix mountain. Saffron, now in adult form and leaking energy all over the place, looked spooked that he still couldn't feel my aura or any other sign that I was there. My magical items were stored or turned off, but at this point I probably could have kept him from sensing them regardless.
A terrific boom erupted from the observers on the mountain to signal the beginning of the match, and I simultaneously cast [Haste], a sleep spell that cost half of my total unreserved mana, grabbed Saffron with telekinesis, and cast my inverted barrier over him. I blinked. My opponent was slumped over inside the barrier, completely insensate. The sleep spell had overpowered his defenses as if they weren't even there. There was no epic battle, just me being a hell of a lot faster and getting in a technique that instantly ended the confrontation followed by a bunch of non-lethal overkill. Just in case, I flew closer to where he was contained in the barrier and stretched my [Mystical Energy (Sense)] over both him and the surroundings looking for anything even the least bit suspicious. The only thing I found was that one of the goats below had been some other kind of animal before being cursed at Jusenkyo.
With a sigh I started tugging the trapped Saffron back toward the mountain. I could see the disbelief on the faces of those watching from here with my improved eyesight, and briefly contemplated giving them a show of power to justify what they'd seen. It wasn't worth it, though. If Saffron himself contested his defeat maybe it would become necessary, but it was otherwise a useless expenditure of energy that would only harm the local environment regardless of how sparse life was in the area. Also it might be visible from space, and I had no idea when people started monitoring the surface in this world or if someone would mistake such a display for a nuclear test and come investigate. If it came down to it I could create a really big instant dungeon and put on some sort of ridiculous power display there.
The spectators backed away from me and my prisoner in awe, and I woke him up with a handwave when we were back on the ground. The inside of the barrier lit up with fire like a giant oblong light bulb for a moment, then died down to show a confused Saffron studying the barrier around him. He poked it with a finger, bounced some ki off of it, then looked me right in the eye.
"I never had a chance, did I?"
I shook my head ruefully, and he groaned. The others on the balcony seemed not to know how to react to that. I released my hold on the Phoenix Lord and he approached, then clapped me on the shoulder and congratulated me heartily. As he lead me back toward his chambers he asked if I was also the one to humble Herb, and my nod caused him to break out in hysterical laughter. By this point only Kiima was still following us, and she seemed to be trying to choose between feeling curiosity and terror.
When we arrived at Saffron's quarters he instructed me to sit and called for a meal. Kiima stood guard outside the door, and I quietly explained to Saffron that I was in the final stages of preparing to move on from this world to another. He was immensely curious, and I didn't see any harm in filling him in on the Jump-chain and my objectives. It turned out he was a very honorable man, but utterly ruthless in defense of his people. I could respect that, and understood why he'd emphasized it before giving me his blood. The meal was exquisite, though my answer to his question of what I planned to do once I had my reward actually caused him to snort in laughter.
"Truly? You wish to have a phoenix form of your own? With your power? That's it?" He asked incredulously. I nodded in reply, and Guinevere showed up in a fireball to land on my shoulder. She sang something at Saffron, whose eyes widened both at her arrival and whatever she'd communicated to him. Mentally, her presence leaned against mine and squeezed like the best hug ever. I smiled warmly at her, Saffron watching us across the table now with keen eyes.
"I accept both of your proposals. I have not seen a pure phoenix in many thousands of years. Even the more bird-like descendants here are bloated, irredeemably stupid parodies of what they once were. Guinevere will force a burning upon us both, granting you access to both pure and part phoenix forms and me the ability to regenerate fully without the ascension ritual. In return my people will add the both of you to our pantheon of gods. You will also receive your vial of blood, provided you promise never to use it to harm me or mine." I did a mental double-take. What?
"But...I don't need the blood if I gain the form without it." He shrugged, unconcerned.
"You will have it or something of equal value. I will not go back on my word." I thought for a few minutes as we continued to eat. The only other thing I wanted was a way to continue producing Jusenkyo water or a safer equivalent after I left. If I could take or study the source of the springs I might be able to do just that. When I asked him if that was an option he seemed contemplative.
"Let me take you to the source for study before we make a decision. That is easy enough, and may make the question of taking it less important. My people gained their wings from the springs and the Musk relied on them until recently, but other than that they were only important to me for the fact I needed them to ascend. If that is no longer the case then taking the source may be best for all involved," he said thoughtfully. "Once we've finished our meal and had our burning, that is."
Once we'd finished and the table was cleared, Saffron guided me to a cavern with lava streaming far below us. The fumes were only mildly bothersome due to some kind of magical ventilation system below us, and the heat only made me more energetic. Saffron explained that homes for his people were built in caverns like this, pointing out some higher up as examples, for warmth, light, and the updraft to easily leave. Unfortunately there were not enough of them within Phoenix mountain to support the population, so the orb I'd given them would be immensely valuable as it would open up a new place for them to expand without him needing to be there. They could and had attempted to redirect active lava flows, but every time they did threatened the balance of the mountain itself and could cause catastrophic failure in any number of ways.
We stood nude and back-to-back on an undeveloped outcropping of rock not long after, and Guinevere stood on my shoulder. My current form's red hair waved in the breeze generated by the heat coming from below, and I wondered briefly what this would feel like. A piercing cry brought my attention back to the present as phoenix song filled the cavern and silver-white flames started to crawl up from my feet to my legs. It didn't hurt, but I could see the flesh and bone blacken and flake away in motes of light that disappeared not far from where we stood. I didn't fall when my legs burned away, nor did I experience any trouble breathing when my chest and arms followed. When the impossible flames reached my head my sight was lost in a cascade of color, sound, and motion before everything stilled.
I was shorter, and could feel the wings on my back brushing against someone else's. A glance over my shoulder revealed a child Saffron, already beginning to grow back to his adult form before my eyes. He glowed with power and vitality, his pointed ears were slightly more pronounced, and his amber eyes were wide in wonder. [Holy] surged within me and I, too, began to rise in stature. When I reached the roughly nineteen years old my body had been before, another surge of energy (ki and mana this time) flowed through me causing the wings I'd curled around me to turn from flesh to energy and back. A bunch of notifications popped up in front of me and I mentally moved them to the side of my vision as a matter of habit. Such things were best examined when I had time to contemplate them.
A summoning spell brought my clothing and equipment back to me, and I equipped them immediately rather than getting dressed manually. Saffron snorted in amusement behind me, and I patiently waited for him to get dressed while I tested my ability to grow wings of energy and retract them. I'd practice with the physical ones once I'd modified the enchantments on my clothing to adapt to them without ripping. At the moment they only resized themselves to accommodate changes in my form.
-
Deep within the caverns beneath Jusendo and even the Jusen Cave in which Saffron's transformation took place was an ancient mechanism of makeshift pipes and an ugly magical statue fountain. The fountain itself had a central spout that was attached to one of the pipes and a series of pipes leading from the walls of the cave into its basin. It radiated magic such that even the uninitiated would have been able to feel it up close. Examining it with [Mystical Energy (Sense)] revealed an extremely complicated mechanism that converted the excess water in the fountain into pure magical energy, shifted it toward an affinity with life and rebirth, then ejected it from the central spout. The more water there was in the system the stronger the outflow would be, and considering the fact that there seemed to be a large and steady supply of water going it I could only imagine the pressure of what was going out.
I was both disappointed and excited. Disappointed because this wasn't some irreplaceable magical artifact that I could learn a lot from, and excited because while it didn't give me a whole lot of new information on magical techniques it did give me a lot of ideas. Conversion of matter to magical energy and back again was something I'd theoretically figured out a while ago with conjuration and experimentation with the vanishing spell, but a system like this that interacted with nature itself to create a very powerful permanent magical landscape wasn't something I'd considered before. I thanked Saffron for allowing me to study it, he prepared and gave me a vial of his blood, then after a quick conversation I teleported back to the Amazon village to say goodbye and make sure everyone who was coming with me was in the warehouse before we left. I'd asked Saffron about the blood but he'd only smiled and said he trusted me.
[Alternate form attained: True Phoenix!]
[Alternate form attained: Humanoid Phoenix!]
[Barrier has gained two levels!]
[Form template attained: Part-Phoenix!]
[Observe has reached level 100 and become Observe/Divine!]
[Phoenix Rebirth perk added!]
[Multi-Focus has gained a level!]
[Mystical Energy (Mastery) has reached level 100 and become Mystical Energy (Mastery, Advanced)!]
[Quest Complete! Personally defeat Saffron after his ascension!]
[You've gained five levels!]
-
Phoenix Rebirth (Ranma ½ End Reward)
When Wren would otherwise die or be slain, he and all his equipment instead burn away into ash then motes of light. He is reborn in a flash of fire as an egg anywhere he is familiar with in whichever universe he died in or in his Warehouse if it's available. Wren may choose to be reborn near a person or object he's familiar with instead, but won't have get any idea of the location if he chooses this option. He hatches from the egg with equipment intact and rapidly matures over the course of a week to whatever form he occupied when he died. If killed again before the week is up Wren cannot use Phoenix Rebirth to save himself, but may rely on other powers until he reaches maturity.
This perk was earned by defeating Saffron the Phoenix Prince/Kami at full power and augmented by being in a Jump-Chain that allowed retries and Death's Blessing.