"Greetings humans."
Mira, Maria, and Celaine heard a majestic female voice go straight into their minds which startled them and caused them to feel somewhat uncomfortable. The three of them haven't experienced anything like that because even Kayda, the Immortal Magma Dragon, and Asherah, the Mermaid Queen never used such ability even if they could.
Mira finally understood why she felt danger looming over her. The being in front of her was the cause for such a reaction. Maria and Celaine also came to the same conclusion as they knew that fighting such a being would be worthless.
"Greetings. My name is Mira and the two beside me are Maria and Celaine. Might I ask for what reason you have sought us out, or more likely me out? I can only think of a handful of reasons why someone at your strength would seek out a couple of Foundation Realm children." Mira cooly said while taking the lead. There was no reason to be so cold and distant since she can't sense any killing intent, but that doesn't mean she'll just simply roll over like an obedient dog.
On the other side, the Frost-Fire Phoenix was somewhat surprised at the tone this lowly human spoke to her in and this interested her. She knew that this human wasn't as simple as she seemed. Not only was she crazy strong for her Realm, but also had a cold and domineering personality, similar to herself.
"It seems you are smarter than the other humans that I've met. Let me introduce myself. My name is Elenei and I'm a Frost-Fire Phoenix. My father was a Fire Dragon and my mother was an Ice Phoenix. Phoenix's can only give birth to females so I ended up taking both attributes from my parents causing me to become an extremely rare Phoenix variant. I have come here to discuss something with you, Mira." Elenei introduced herself to Mira and the others, but this greatly shocked the three of them.
Even Mira could barely hold her shock. She suspected that this beast was some type of Ice Phoenix, but she didn't think that it was actually something much rarer! She's never even heard of a Frost-Fire Phoenix and just assumed that this giant bird probably had some Phoenix blood in it, but wasn't a full-fledged Phoenix.
While Maria and Celaine were still gathering their thoughts, Mira had calmed herself down enough to start having a conversation with it.
"First, let's discuss what exactly you want from me. Let me be clear, even if you were to kill all three of us and loot everything we have, you would find nothing that would be of use to you. But I assume you didn't come for that. If I were to guess it's either because of my Dao or my Physique and/or bloodline. Is that correct?" Mira said calmly while talking to such a legendary creature that probably doesn't even exist in legends!
"You are correct, but slightly off. I came because of all three of those factors, not just one of them. Well, there is also another reason, but I was only able to determine this after meeting with you face-to-face; your personality. Needless to say, you have exceeded my expectations!" Elenei said indifferently with a hint of satisfaction.
Mira didn't say anything and waited for her to continue speaking.
"First, let me give you a bit of background so you understand my situation. Don't worry, I'll try to keep it brief so we can get back to our discussion. So, you already know that I'm a Frost-Fire Phoenix born from a Dragon and a Phoenix, but you don't what implications this brings. You should be aware of how dominant a bloodline from either a Dragon or Phoenix is and normally this wouldn't be much of a problem in normal circumstances. Dragons and Phoenix marry or procreate with one another all of the time as they are able to produce strong children and the Phoenix race are all women so they are forced to mate with others outside of their species."
"Both the Dragon Race and Phoenix Race are primarily of the Yang element, especially the Phoenix race. Rare variants are occasionally born, but the chances of that happening are extremely rare and only happen under certain extreme conditions along with a lot of luck."
"Normally when a Dragon and a Phoenix have a child together, either a female dragon with some Phoenix blood is born or a female Phoenix is born with some Dragon blood. Usually, whichever parent has the highest cultivation will determine which bloodline is more dominant and if they are the same, then it will most likely be born as a Dragon with Phoenix blood."
"Now, onto why my situation is a bit more complicated. So, I told you that my Mother is an Ice Phoenix which is already extremely rare, probably one of the rarest creatures in the universe. Naturally, my mother's bloodline is extremely strong and dominant. When my mother gave birth to me with a Fire Dragon, a problem occurred when I was born. I gained both the innate bloodline properties from both of my parents, Ice and Fire, which was all well and good, but these two elements wouldn't submit and merge together due to the qualities of both bloodlines that I gained. Instead, the two elements(bloodlines) are constantly fighting for supremacy causing my cultivation to stagnate."
"Due to this, I was born only as a Rank 2 Frost-Fire Phoenix, when I should've been born as either a Rank 9 or 10 Phoenix or even an Immortal Frost-Fire Phoenix due to my parent's cultivation. Needless to say, both of my parents were shocked to find out how weak I was and searched for anything that could help. The only problem is that because I was so weak, yet had one of the rarest bloodlines in the universe, there is almost nothing that can assist me."
"I've thought about many solutions, one of them is going through nirvana, and being born anew. But I knew that just this wasn't enough to overcome my situation. I also tried to find a Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf, but one of those hasn't been spotted in millions of years. It's more likely that I swallow some random pebble that turns out to be a peerless treasure than it is for me to come across a Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf. This is until I met you."
"When I first felt you enter this world, I was surprised as I haven't seen a human enter this place in a long time, but I thought nothing of it and just let you be. It wasn't until your fight with that Tiger that I was able to feel your Bloodline, see your unique Physique, and your incredibly domineering Ice Dao. I knew that you are probably my only hope in helping me overcome this ordeal so I waited until your friend healed and immediately rushed over here once I sensed you coming out of seclusion. I seek your assistance in this matter as my time is limited before I am forced to go through Nirvana and be reborn." Elenei finally finished speaking which left the three of them speechless.
Mira didn't think that this situation would turn into such a mess, but she also understood why Elenei sounded somewhat desperate. Sure, she was the legendary Immortal Bird, but who wants to just spend their life as a weakling, constantly being reborn into a weakling while at the same time having limited control over your own powers? Not many may be able to understand Elenei's situation, but Mira had a pretty good grasp over it as she's in a similar situation.
This didn't mean that Mira felt any pity or sympathy for Elenei though, she merely understood her situation.
"I see. I understand your situation, but I'm not sure what you want me to do. Even though my Ice Dao is somewhat special, its strength right now is limited. I bet even though you don't even have full control over your powers, they are still stronger than my Dao by many folds. Sure, I also have a unique physique, but this won't help you and I also have no idea what's going on with my bloodline. It's similar to my physique and seems to be somewhat tied to it, yet is slightly different. I doubt all you'd need is just a drop of my blood as well if that's what you're after. You'd probably need enough blood from me that it would leave me dead 100 times over. Also, I have no idea how I'd even help other than providing you blood."
"Now, let's say that I was somehow able to assist you. What can you provide me in return?" Mira countered while getting down to business.
"Let me say this first, for this to work I'd have to go through nirvana which will revert me into an egg. From that point on, you'd need to provide me with ice made from your Ice Dao, your blood, probably even that blue magma stuff that you can control, and of course a ton of Qi. I will most likely have to become your Beast Companion for this to work, but I'll warn you right now. I won't be forming a Life and Death Contract. I'd like to stay alive in case you do die." Elenei explained.
This caused Mira to have to seriously think about her words. She knew that it wouldn't be that simple. While Elenei is back inside her egg, her blood isn't just going to magically fix everything like some sort of panacea. She'll probably end up having to help infuse her blood into Elenei's body even if Elenei is still conscious while inside her egg.
She'll have to bleed herself dry hundreds or even thousands of times, provide so much ice that it'd be enough for worlds such as Earth to live off of for years, she'll probably have to find a way to control fire separately from her magma, and there is no need to mention how much Qi this stupid chicken will absorb!
Is doing all of that worth having this Phoenix as a Beast Companion? Normally, Mira would answer yes, but she also has to take into consideration Elenei's parents and their background. Those two are probably immortals and not weak ones. Who knows what sort of calamity she'll bring herself in the future by contracting their daughter as her Beast Companion.
Also, having a Frost-Fire Phoenix sounds like a huge pain in the ass since once the Dragon race and Phoenix race find out, there might just be a universe-wide man-hunt for her if she plays things wrongly.
On another note, it'd be nice to have another flying mount so she can conceal Rhydian as a Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf which will most likely bring her endless trouble in the future as well.
Elenei was starting to get anxious seeing how Mira hasn't answered in a while and decided to add another condition.
"How about this? I'll provide most of the resources necessary for me when I'm in my egg form and during this time I'll even help you reach the Core Formation Realm!" Elenei said with a hint of anticipation and desperation.
Elenei thought about just kidnapping Mira and trying to see if she can fix her issue without going through a rebirth but seeing Mira express no fear towards her even while knowing her strength caused some doubts to form in her mind. She knew Mira wasn't as simple as she seemed and things would only get more complicated if she went down this route.
She also thought about holding her companions hostage, but she saw how Mira treated them indifferently even when one was on the brink of death and figured this would only backfire. Not to mention if she actually killed her companions then she'd have no leverage over her. As an intelligent being, she knew when to negotiate and when not to. There is no reason to make an enemy out of quite possibly the only person that can help her. Doing that could very well destroy her one day.
Mira's eyes shined for a second hearing that Elenei would assist her in breaking through to the Core Formation Realm, but she instantly calmed down. Her reaching the Core Formation Realm is only a matter of time and she's in no hurry. The thing that was a bit more enticing was her providing her own resources during the time she's in her egg. This will lift a huge burden off of Mira's shoulders.
"Alright, I agree, but I have a few more conditions. Don't worry, they are rather simple and you don't have to do much. One, I want you to gather as many fire element materials or herbs for me to examine so I can have my physique produce and control Yin Fire. Two, during this time we are in this realm, I'd like you to occasionally wash my body with your Frost-Fire flames for me to examine as well as use to temper my body. Three, I want you to be our mount for the next 2+ years while we are in this realm while scaring off any beast that's too strong for the three of us to kill. If you don't want to be our mount that's fine, you can just protect us, but that'll significantly slow down our progress in this realm while looking for lucky encounters. The first two conditions I feel are necessary in order for me to assist you so you'll have to do them regardless." Mira agreed while stating her conditions.
Since she'll be on the losing end of things as soon as Elenei goes back into her egg, Mira wants to make the most of the situation by having this Phoenix helping her, Maria, and Celaine out while they are in this Secret Realm.
Elenei was a bit pissed at first when she heard that Mira wanted to use her as a mount, but understanding her reason for suggesting that calmed her down. This realm is massive and traveling by foot will take forever. She didn't have a problem with the other two conditions as she also felt that they might be necessary.
"I'm okay with that. Alright, now that that's settled, let me bring you three back to my residence so we can further discuss the details." Elenei said and reluctantly squatted her giant body down closer to the ground for Mira, Maria, and Celaine to grab onto.
