Black Phoenix Heir

Chapter 50: Chapter 50 — The Journey Begins

Chapter 50 — The Journey Begins

Victor opened his eyes slowly.

For a few seconds, he remained completely still, staring upward through the branches overhead. He had no idea what time it was anymore. After spending so long beneath the forest inside the cavern, his sense of day and night had become little more than an educated guess. The underground chamber had never changed. There had been no sunrise, no sunset, and no way to measure the passing hours.

Still, Victor was fairly certain that he had spent the entire night cultivating.

His body felt rested, and the Spiritual Energy within him had settled after hours of circulation.

Victor slowly sat up and looked around the small clearing. Trees surrounded him on every side, their branches stretching overhead and casting shadows across the forest floor. The remains of his small camp were still nearby, while the distant sounds of the forest occasionally broke through the otherwise quiet morning.

By now, he had been trapped inside the cavern and the surrounding forest for at least a month. During that time, he had made progress that would have seemed impossible when he first arrived.

But there was still far too much for him to do. He needed to find a way to repair his Spiritual Core. He needed to improve his Soul Power control enough to successfully complete the process of creating a pill and become a Tier One Alchemist. He needed to master Flashstep.

And that was only the beginning.

So, really, things were going great.

Victor sighed and rubbed his face.

He looked upward.

The small bird was still there.

It had tucked itself comfortably against the branch, its feathers slightly puffed as it rested. The tiny flame at the end of its tail had diminished to a faint flicker, and for once, the strange creature actually looked peaceful.

Victor stood.

Shaking his head, Victor reached down and grabbed the makeshift bag he had carried away from the cellar. He opened it and carefully removed the damaged map he had taken with him before leaving the underground cellar.

He slowly spread the map across the ground.

Most of it was still damaged, and the missing sections continued to bother him. There were clearly locations beyond what remained of the parchment, places that had once been connected to the ruined training grounds and the forgotten cellar.

So Victor focused on what he actually had.

His eyes moved across the markings.

The river.

The ruins.

The training grounds.

The cellar.

And farther away, within the outer regions of the forest, there was another location.

Victor’s gaze settled on it.

A pond.

At least, that was what it appeared to be from the symbol drawn on the map. There wasn’t any explanation beside it, which was mildly irritating. Apparently, whoever had created the map believed that drawing a body of water was sufficient information.

Victor frowned as he studied the distance.

Based on his current location and the direction he had traveled after escaping the cellar, he could roughly estimate where he was on the map.

The pond was farther through the outer forest.

Victor had spent too long sitting in one place. The cellar had been necessary while he recovered and trained, but staying still forever wasn’t an option. If the ruins and training grounds existed, then there were probably other places worth investigating.

And right now, the pond was the closest destination he had.

He traced the route with his finger.

”Three days,” Victor muttered.

Maybe less, depending on how quickly he traveled.

The bird chirped above him.

Victor rolled the map back up.

”I wasn’t asking for your opinion.”

Victor shoved the map into his bag.

Then he stood and stretched.

His muscles tightened and relaxed as he moved through a few basic exercises, preparing his body for the journey ahead. Once he finished, Victor began practicing Flashstep. Spiritual Energy gathered beneath his feet as he launched forward, moving between trees and changing direction whenever the terrain allowed.

His movements weren’t perfect.

But they were getting better.

Victor continued practicing for a while, focusing entirely on the technique. He deliberately avoided summoning the Black Phoenix Flame. As much as he needed the training, he had already learned what would happen if he tried practicing it while the bird was nearby.

Victor sighed.

Then he picked up his bag.

It was time to leave.

He started walking toward the direction of the pond.

After a few minutes, he broke into a run. The trees began passing more quickly as his pace increased, and whenever the terrain opened enough for him to use it safely, Spiritual Energy gathered beneath his feet.

Flashstep activated.

Victor shot forward.

The forest blurred around him as his body moved between the trees. For a brief moment, the ground seemed to disappear beneath his feet before he landed and continued running, his eyes remaining focused on the path ahead.

Victor traveled through the outer forest. He alternated between running normally and using Flashstep whenever he needed a burst of speed, carefully managing his Spiritual Energy instead of recklessly exhausting himself.

The journey was long, but cultivation had changed his body enough that something like this would have been impossible only a few weeks earlier.

Even after hours of running, Victor wasn’t completely exhausted.

The forest continued stretching endlessly around him as he traveled deeper through the outer regions. Massive trees passed beside him while roots twisted across the ground, forcing him to constantly watch where he stepped. The destination marked on the damaged map remained somewhere ahead.

He couldn’t help wondering what the next major realms would be like. If reaching Rank Six had already transformed his body so dramatically, then what would happen when he eventually became strong enough to reach the higher stages of cultivation?

The thought filled him with anticipation.

Unfortunately, reaching those stages required surviving long enough to get there.