Black Phoenix Heir

Chapter 9: Chapter 9 — Instinct

Chapter 9 — Instinct

Victor stared at the crack in the wall.

For a moment, he simply stood there, wondering how deep it went. The opening was small, but there was clearly empty space behind the stone.

”It looks like there’s something behind this wall.”

Curiosity won over caution.

Victor tightened his grip on the pickaxe and swung again.

Crack!

Another chunk of stone broke loose.

He glanced over his shoulder.

Jacob was still busy mining a few feet away, completely absorbed in his work. Nobody else was close enough to notice what Victor was doing.

Victor looked back at the wall.

He swung again.

Then again.

With each strike, the opening grew larger. After several more hits, it was finally wide enough for a person to squeeze through.

Victor paused and looked into the darkness.

He couldn’t see much beyond the opening. The light attached to his pickaxe illuminated only a small area in front of him.

He carefully pushed the pickaxe through the hole and moved the light around.

Nothing.

No movement.

No sound.

Victor waited another few seconds.

Still nothing.

Probably safe.

Probably.

He crouched and squeezed through the opening.

On the other side was a small cavern. It wasn’t particularly large, but the darkness made it difficult to judge its actual size. The light from his pickaxe revealed uneven stone walls, several narrow openings leading deeper into the rock, and strange patches of glowing mushrooms scattered across the ground.

Victor slowly turned, taking everything in.

Then he saw something else.

A small green plant grew from the stone several feet ahead.

It had several thin leaves extending from a short stem, its color almost resembling fresh mint.

Victor’s eyes narrowed.

Is that valuable?

He didn’t know.

But after everything he’d learned about cultivation, he knew that plants growing underground weren’t necessarily ordinary.

Curiosity got the better of him.

Victor walked toward it and crouched down.

He carefully pulled the plant from the ground.

The moment it touched his hand, it disappeared.

Victor froze.

”...What?”

He stared at his empty palm.

The plant was gone.

There hadn’t been any flash or explosion. It had simply vanished.

Victor turned his hand over, as though the answer might be hiding beneath his fingers.

”What happened to it?”

Then he felt something.

A faint stream of energy moved through his body.

Victor’s expression changed.

He immediately focused inward.

His inner world appeared before his awareness. His Core was still quietly rotating, but something else had changed.

The energy from the plant was moving toward the Black Flame.

The tiny black flame flickered.

It seemed to pull the energy toward itself.

Victor watched as the strange spiritual energy entered the flame and began breaking apart. Whatever impurities or useless properties the plant possessed seemed to be burned away, leaving behind only the energy that the flame could use.

Victor suddenly understood.

The Black Flame can absorb resources.

The realization made him pause.

The cultivation manual had mentioned that the flame required external resources to grow. Herbs, minerals, and other materials containing spiritual energy could be used to nourish it.

The Black Flame would refine them on its own.

Victor looked at his empty hand.

So that’s what happened.

The plant hadn’t disappeared.

It had been absorbed.

Victor’s eyes widened slightly as another thought entered his mind.

Then his expression changed.

The bracelet.

Victor looked down at his wrist.

The warning from Chad immediately returned to him.

If you steal anything, your bracelet will know. You’ll die instantly.

Victor’s heartbeat quickened.

He stared at the bracelet.

Nothing happened.

He waited.

Still nothing.

Victor swallowed.

I’m not dead.

He looked back at the spot where the plant had been.

Then at his hand.

Apparently, the artifact hadn’t considered what happened to be stealing.

The plant hadn’t remained in his possession. It had simply disappeared the moment he touched it.

Interesting.

Victor wasn’t about to trust that conclusion completely. There was too much he didn’t know about the bracelet.

But if he was right...

There might be a loophole.

His eyes narrowed.

I need to understand how this works.

He looked inward again.

The energy from the plant was still floating around his inner world, partially refined by the Black Flame but not yet completely absorbed.

He couldn’t cultivate it now.

Not while he was supposed to be working.

I’ll deal with it later.

Victor’s attention returned to the cavern, but his mind was still occupied with what had just happened to the strange plant. He wasn’t paying much attention to his surroundings anymore, his thoughts focused inward as he tried to understand the energy moving around his Inner World. Somewhere behind him, there was a faint rustling against the stone. Victor’s instincts told him something was wrong, but by the time that feeling reached his conscious mind, it was already too late.

Something clamped down on his leg.

Pain shot through his body so suddenly that Victor couldn’t even process it at first. His muscles reacted instinctively, causing him to stumble forward and fall against the stone floor. The pickaxe slipped from his hands and landed several feet away. Victor gritted his teeth and looked down, finally seeing what had attacked him.

A four-legged lizard was latched onto his leg. It was nearly the size of a German Shepherd, with rough green scales covering its body and a mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth. Its beady eyes stared directly at Victor, carrying a viciousness that made his entire body tense. He had never felt killing intent like this before. It wasn’t something he could explain, but every instinct inside him understood the same message.

It wants to kill me.

Fear began to rise inside him. Victor wanted to run. Every rational part of his mind told him to get away from the creature as quickly as possible, but something deeper refused to let the fear take control. The strange bloodline inside his body seemed to stir, suppressing the panic before it could overwhelm him. Victor didn’t know why it was happening, but he understood one thing clearly.

He couldn’t run.

The lizard suddenly released his leg and lunged forward again, its claws tearing across Victor’s arm as he tried to move out of the way. Pain flared through his skin, but Victor reacted quickly. He grabbed the creature with both hands and kicked it with all his strength. The blow sent the lizard stumbling backward, giving Victor a few precious seconds to think.

His eyes immediately searched the ground.

The pickaxe.

Victor lunged for it and grabbed the handle, quickly turning toward the creature. The lizard had already recovered and was staring at him again, its body lowering as it prepared to attack. Victor tightened his grip and raised the pickaxe, his heart pounding as he waited for it to move.

The lizard charged.

Victor swung with everything he had.

The pickaxe struck the side of the creature’s face with tremendous force, the metal head tearing through its scales and sinking deep into its flesh. The lizard’s momentum carried it forward, leaving its body momentarily hanging against the weapon. Victor stared for half a second, almost surprised that the attack had worked.

He quickly planted his foot against the creature and pushed it away, pulling the pickaxe free in the same motion. The lizard collapsed onto the ground, but Victor wasn’t willing to take any chances. He raised the weapon again and brought it down onto the top of the creature’s head.

The lizard stopped moving.

Victor stood over it, breathing heavily. His hands were still gripping the pickaxe tightly, and his eyes remained fixed on the creature as though he expected it to move again. Slowly, he raised the weapon one more time.

A hand suddenly landed on his shoulder.

”Victor. Victor, it’s dead.”

Victor froze.

The pickaxe remained raised for a moment before his strength finally left him. His fingers loosened around the handle, and he dropped to his knees.

For several seconds, Victor simply knelt there, staring at the ground as his breathing slowly began to settle.