My mind was flooded with unanswered questions. Why would the council members take an interest in me? What could they possibly want? But there was no one around to provide the answers I sought. The chamber remained silent, leaving me alone with my thoughts and the weight of uncertainty pressing upon me. I had to find a way to navigate through this tangled web of mysteries and uncover the truth thaty hidden in the shadows.


    Sniff*


    "!!" Sniffing the air, I suddenly detected a strong scent of burning. My attention immediately shifted back to the Kobold''s tail, which had now transformed into a charred pile of charcoal.


    "Well, this is unusual," I muttered. It felt as if I had been absent for a few minutes, yet the Kobold''s tail had been burnt to such an extent that there was no meat left to consume.


    "It''s because your fire has been enhanced," ze exined. "Initially, your fire was... crude, but now it possesses the power of a phoenix fire."


    ze''s statement triggered an immediate question in my mind, so I inquired, "Hey, does this mean I am now half-human?"


    I realized it might sound strange or even foolish, but I couldn''t help asking. ze had previously mentioned that phoenixes only required seven steps to reach the status of Demi God, but I wasn''t a phoenix, right? So, how far could a half-phoenix like me progress?


    "Huh?" ze''s expression turned confused, sending shivers down my spine.


    "Please don''t say something stupid again," I silently prayed, knowing that the silence from this parasiticpanion was usually harmful.


    "Nah, I just wanted to inform you that you are not half-human," ze nonchntly replied.


    *Swoosh*


    A gust of wind inexplicably swept through the chamber, yfully tousling my hair. I stood there motionless, my eyes fixated on the smoky ck creature with a vacant stare.


    Every single molecule in my body urged me to sever the mana that sustained ze and let him dissipate into nothingness. Curses swelled in my throat, ready to burst forth. But just as they were about to escape...


    "Because you are no longer a human; you are a phoenix through and through," ze concluded.


    "What?" My body suddenly experienced a chilling drop in temperature.


    "I mean, you''re not just a snotty human brat anymore. You''re now a snotty phoenix chick, or I''d say more than... well, more than 80 percent phoenix, I suppose," ze spewed out a string of absurd statements.


    "So you''re saying I''m predominantly phoenix now, more than just half or a third?" I questioned.


    "Yeah, any problem with that?" ze retorted.


    "Not actually but is Bloodwell responsible for this transformation?" If that''s the case, it''s an astonishing breakthrough. People couldpletely shed their human identity.


    "Nah," ze dismissed, hovering around me. "It happened because... it was the heart of a purebred phoenix goddess, or rather, partly your mother, technically," he concluded.


    Ah, that exins a lot. A phoenix goddess''s heart would undoubtedly have a much greater effect than a regr DNA sample.


    "Well, *#?##...got her n heir," ze muttered something under his breath, and I couldn''t quite catch it.


    "What did you say?" I asked, noticing ze flinching slightly.


    "Um... nothing, just talking to myself. But look at how it benefits you in the long run. Now you don''t have to worry about hitting a wall in your bloodline potential, and you can surpass many of your future rivals," ze stated.


    Rivals? I highly doubt I''ll have any rivals in the future. And if he''s referring to Adam, as long as I keep my distance from the main cast, everything should be fine.


    My goal is to focus on this ''he'' guy who''s been tailing me.


    "But I don''t sense much of a difference, to be honest," I remarked, feeling a hint of weakness in my body but nothing significant.


    "That''s because you''re at the lowest point now. You won''t be able to perceive any internal changes at this stage," ze exined.


    "Internal changes?" I couldn''t help but hang onto each of his words, curious about the details.


    "Hmm... I must say, you do look slightly more aesthetically pleasing on the outside now that you''ve undergone Bloodwell. Not that it matters much, though," ze blurted out.


    I couldn''t care less about my external appearance at this moment. It held little importance to me in my current state.


    "Well,We should start moving now. It''s a good thing you have your legs back, but I''ll still miss seeing you crawl on the ground," ze sighed.


    "Yeah... it''s great that it built a new body, but-" something just crossed my mind,I paused in the middle of my sentence, a peculiar thought racing through my mind at lightning speed.


    "Hey, can Bloodwell create an entirely new body for something that has lost its physical form?" I asked, genuinely curious about the capabilities of this ce.


    "I don''t know. Falkor and I never attempted it because we never encountered a creature that had lost its physical form but remained alive in the mortal world," ze shrugged.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Hehe... hahahahahahahahahahah," I burst into uncontrobleughter, realizing I had the perfect subject to conduct this experiment on.


    Someone who had been forcibly divided into two forms and still existed with consciousness.


    Perhaps sensing my thoughts, ze interjected, "No, absolutely not! There''s no way, how could you even suggest that? But... no," he stammered, clearly frightened.


    "Smokeball!" I called out to him, treating him like a pet. "Jump into the pond right now!"


    "I won''t!" ze resisted.


    "Okay then, I''ll disperse you," I threatened as I began withdrawing the mana from our bond.


    "H-Hey, stop! I can''t... I mean, I won''t be able to. Don''t we need a specimen or DNA of something for me to take physical form? Yes, that''s why I can''t do it," ze argued.


    "..." Well, he was right. It was pointless if he didn''t have a DNA sample of...


    *Pull* Tuk*


    "Fuck you!" ze cursed as he saw me retrieve the Winged Pardus''s locket from around my neck. It contained the tooth, which should be sufficient.


    "DNA sample obtained," I dered.


    "But... isn''t it an heirloom of your family? Your mother gave it to you," ze wouldn''t back down so easily.


    "And she also said I should use it wisely when the timees. I believe the time hase," I responded, determined to proceed.


    "Actually, listen to me... I remember now! Yes, there''s nothing for me to focus my mana on. I won''t be able to survive like that since every mana beast needs to harness mana through their body, you know, the anatomy that God created. We can''t deny thews of nature, can we?" ze''s excuses came to a halt as I pulled out a hexagonal crystal from my bag.


    "..." A hard, straight expression formed on his face as he recognized the lightning elemental dragon''s core that we had obtained on the fifth floor.


    I had nned to sell it once we left the dungeon after altering our Bloodline potential. It would fetch a substantial amount of money all at once.


    "So, you expect the mighty shier to use a mere elemental dragon''s core, which was in by a teenage boy from another world?" ze''s tone was chilling, but I remained unfazed.


    "Yeah," I affirmed.


    "But why-" ze was clearly unwilling.


    "Listen up, you pathetic parasite. Right now, you''re nothing more than a leech sucking the life out of me. I have no use for dead weight or useless baggage. I need someone who will actually be of value in the long run. If you can''t offer even the tiniest bit of assistance, then I have no use for a worthless, so-called mighty dragon like shier." I said.


    After my words, a silence of insult hung in the air.


    "Wow, that was... harsh," ze remarked. "Okay, fine. I''ll do it! I''ll do it. No need to be a foul-mouthed jerk." Finally, he agreed, albeit reluctantly.


    I strode purposefully to the edge of Bloodwell, clutching the locket tightly in one hand while firmly wrapping it around the hexagonal crystal. There was no way ze would be capable of grasping it himself.


    With a swift motion, I propelled the fused objects into the air, watching as they ascended above the reflective surface of the obsidian water.


    ze swiftly soared towards the hovering crystal, his ethereal smoke trailing behind him. As he reached it, the mist enveloped the crystal, shrouding it in a hazy veil. In perfect synchrony, both ze and the crystal descended into the water, causing a small ripple to ripple across its surface.


    As I observed the crystal and ze submerging into the water, a faint glimmer of lightning flickered within the depths. It was a fleeting sight, too minuscule to hold its form, as the electric energy dissipated into the surrounding liquid, dissolving into the unseen currents of Bloodwell.


    "Hope you have a nightmare-filled existence, ze," I whispered, my words carrying a touch of vindictiveness.


    *Silence*


    The entire chamber was engulfed in an immediate stillness. Despite my insult, I couldn''t deny that having ze around all the time prevented moments from bing dull, thanks to his incessant chatter.


    I didn''t regret insulting him. It was true that I couldn''t constantly rely on him, feeding him my mana. If my mana depleted or, worse yet, if I lost my mana core, he would vanish. It was better for him to have his own source of power to sustain himself. And it would be better for me to have someone I could truly trust.


    *Chuckle*


    "Man, now I''m actually worried about him," I chuckled to myself. It seemed like I had formed a genuine friendship.


    I settled near the shore, not wanting to sever the connection between us. I could feel ze delving deeper into the water.


    How many days would it take for him to emerge? What form would he assume upon resurfacing? It''s a Winged Pardus so, I held onto hope for something remarkable.