Saintess Summons Skeletons

Although Sofia was eager to add another skeleton to her collection, she did not rush to enter the room, crouching in the hole in the wall she had just created, observing the ever burning skeleton on the altar.

If there was one field Sofia was starting to be relatively knowledgeable in, it was the notable high level creatures griffins, basilisks, hydra, drakes, Kleptran drones, and of course, the mythical Phoenix. It was already something she had some interest in since the time she was an orphan, and now that she had easy access to more books and knowledge, it was naturally something she did some research on when she had a little free time. That was especially after she encountered multiple of them in her previous trial. The Phoenix in particular stood out, because despite it being the namesake of Alith’s hero blessing, and present in many legends, apparently both in Veliadren but also in all the hero worlds, there was no account that Sofia could find of them actually existing. The research had cemented them as a very likely completely fictional species in Sofia’s mind.

Yet now the skeleton in front of her could hardly be called anything else.

That being all said, despite there being very little and often conflicting information on what the legendary birds of fire were exactly, all myths converged in one point, the Phoenix was an immortal creature.

Not the kind of birds you randomly find a skeleton of.

Sofia’s gaze was naturally drawn to the black claymore piercing the bird’s skull. It was a truly impressive weapon, forged in some kind of black steel, the guard sculpted in spiky shapes, bones, and strange skulls. It pierced that altar so its exact length was hard to estimate, but it couldn’t be less than two or three meters.

If the Phoenix truly is immortal, this sword must be what is keeping it in place.

Observing the weapon with attention, Sofia noticed some odd mana movements around it. Like a faint vortex of swirly mana strings coalescing around the blade.

Cursed?

It does match the appearance.

Now I’m wondering if we might have gotten things reversed. This one certainly looks even more like a prisoner than the ice wraith thing. Is it not the heat suppressing the ice but the ice suppressing the Phoenix? Worst case it could even be both. Two prisoners, incapable of going close to each other, let alone communicating, the mere presence of each other keeping the other one in check.

Doing anything here could topple a fine balance.

And there’s still no exit anywhere in sight…

Am I going to be the one fool destroying a carefully crafted prison that has held two disasters caged for uncountable millenium?

Yeah. Sofia nodded to herself.

Chances were that she was just overthinking things anyway. The entire prison narrative might have made sense on the surface, but ultimately, the original owner of that black sword was probably the only one who really knew, and they were likely long gone from this world.

In the end, loot was loot. Especially bones.

Sofia tapped the book at her waist. Bookie get your sacrum over here, we’ve got work to do.

A few seconds later, Bookie summoned himself, looking a bit dizzy.

“Uuuuu, Sofia, I don’t like this…” he weakly complained, holding his skull.

What’s wrong?! Sofia asked, grabbing his shoulders. Is it the heat?

Bookie shook his tiny skull, “No, no… It’s… The merging. I was too far apart from myself so the thoughts were all splitty, and then you called and… My head is spinning…”

I see… Sorry about that. Take your time. Sofia thought, hugging Bookie. Is it getting better?

“Yes,” Bookie confirmed with a weak nod, reciprocating the hug with his short arms.

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After hugging a bit more, Bookie let go of Sofia, and turned around to look at the ‘dead’ bird on the altar.

“Is it really a Phoenix?” he asked, the flames in his eyes flickering with faint excitation.

It certainly seems so. Can you eat it?

Bookie stared at the skeleton for a bit, then back at Sofia, “I… I don’t think so,” he shamefully admitted.

I expected as much. It’s probably not quite dead.

“And… The sword is in the way. It’s… Not good.”

Not good? It is a cursed sword, yeah.

“No, I mean, really not good! Like evil! Evil evil sword! I can feel it!”

Oh, oh? I was already going to take it, no need to convince me further. Sofia thought in the tone of a joke, although she was completely serious.

I can’t even begin to imagine how much Valeure or Mornn would be willing to pay for that one.

One filter earlier Sofia might have been wary of the cursed evil sword, but now with the philosopher’s stone to protect her, she was already planning on how to get the most money out of it.

Alright, give me a second, Bookie.

Mr.Scribe, hello?

[You are talking to your own brain. Why act like it might not answer?]

Sofia softly chuckled. My brain has a bad habit of not warning me of things unless I ask it directly. I wonder whose fault that is. Are you done?

[The systemless Identify is about ready since that is what you want to know.]

About ready?

[I will need to read a lot more books to expand our knowledge database.]

[Basic scan will be functional, but limited to magic patterns we can understand.]

Better than nothing. What about the other things?

[The next leveling method might be complete by the time we return home. Many calculations to run, still.]

[As for the other thing, I had no luck. We will need to have that nightmare again if we want a detailed recollection of it.]

[It being what it is, only fleeting impressions have made it to our long term memory. The helmet is of no help to recover lost data.]

Alright, good to know. I’ll let you handle the new Identify casts. I will need to directly touch the sword, I assume?

[Effective range is anything within our close aura.]

So a few centimeters at the moment, got it.

Sofia let go of Bookie, gave him a light pat on the shoulder, and stood up.

Stay right here for now, fuse with the priest. Be ready to summon Pestle and Crowie if I ask for it.

Bookie gave Sofia a resolute nod as she fully regrew her armor before stepping into the altar room. The Phoenix had shown no signs of life so far, but Sofia was on her guard. No matter if it was originally dangerous or not, and whether it had any bits of sanity left or not, she would not bet on it happily entering her skeleton army.

In a few steps, she crossed half the distance to the huge altar, and suddenly stopped.

I’m getting second thoughts…

Bookie, get an Ant out in the room behind.

Asking no questions, Bookie summoned a leyline ant outside of the Phoenix’s room. Sofia turned back, and summoned a piercing bolt, her strikes left burned marks on the stoic ant’s bark until her avatar form skill was fully charged. Aside from that, the ant seemed completely fine in the hot environment, just like the one holding the seed on Sofia’s back. Thinking so, she left the small ant with Bookie as she approached the Phoenix again.

She walked up to the altar, seeing no reaction. The heat was getting a lot more intense with every step, but Bookie’s healing coupled with her regeneration let Sofia stay at full health. She climbed on the altar, approaching the Phoenix from the side, and marked an involuntary stop a meter away from its wing bones, lying flat against the group. From up close she could see each feather of flames clearly sparkling with power, heat and mana melding together. It was truly a spectacle to behold, and a true eye opener.

No wonder they’re called immortal…

Each feather was a small mana heart. Even when the physical feathers had long rotted and disappeared, their outline remained in mana and spirit. Mana flowed silently to and from tiny four-pointed stars in the center of each feather, emitting blistering heat and white flames.

And this faint resonance… They might also exist in the divine planes.

But… How strange…

Sofia observed the bones from an arm’s length. Not only did she have absolutely no idea what these bones were made of, but she couldn’t feel the creature’s spirit. With what she understood now, she would have expected to have at least roused the Phoenix’s soul, but she was keenly familiar with the plane disturbances a ghost caused, and she currently felt none of that.

It’s clear from the feathers that its spirit body is still intact and directly linked to the physical… Logically this should be a ghost. Yet no ‘presence’. Either the soul is dead…

Sofia looked up from the skeleton, her eyes landing on the black claymore once again.

Or this ‘evil’ sword is suppressing it.

She walked closer to the skeleton’s head. Just the skull was almost as tall as she was. Sofia was about to take one more step forward, and reach out for the sword when she abruptly froze. She had felt a faint spatial disturbance. Internally she voiced a third option.

Or it’s playing dead.