Training, huh… at first, Daiko reminded himself that he had just spent almost a month or more travelling around Fiore to strengthen his physical capabilities. Like a monk journeying out in search of ancient knowledge, he had fared in the depths of Dahlia’s infamous forests, climbed the rocky and unforgiving mountains of Sieghart, and swam across a literal sea body from mainland to islands in a chase for tracks of a mysterious fruit without any tools or clues to aid him - even his equipment was temporarily confiscated by his Guildmaster during that period. No, he had himself, his flesh and bones, whatever magical capabilities that were in his possession, and… well, to tone the extremity down a notch, he did have company; other than his birdy bird, Coda, who aided little in command of their Guildmaster (somehow), he was also closely acquainted with a heart-warming friend of guildmate, Kai. The brilliant lady and respected member of his guild was with him in the entire journey, and they were very compatible in their quest to obtain the goals of the Guildmaster’s orders.

When it came to many other things, they were fire and water, but that didn’t mind him too much.

What did mind him was his magic. Rather, it annoyed him that his Fire Magic had so much trouble adapting itself with the surroundings; for the longest time, he had tried to avoid burning down the forests around Orchidia as well as Worth Woodsea, and despite the continuing success of securing the vegetation and wildlife from his ferocious magic, he found it so absurdly difficult to channel magic in general. After having tried so much to limit the fires, he now found difficulty in releasing more of them. Damn it, it always ticked him like this…!

Instead of quitting out of ridiculous rage, Daiko found it as a sign… he was always inspired to observe his own capabilities and see what would happen if things went this and that way. To be fair, it might have been a main factor in a lot of childish shenanigans that he emitted in his younger days, and perhaps he just needed to spice things up with some good-old practice. You know, see where exactly his level of magic reached, and how he should aim for more.

It was cold again, today. He did rest inside his room at the Horizon Apartments, but he could sense the cold hitting the window from outside. He jumped out of his bed and put on a sleeved, dark-green coat as Coda came flying from the other side of the room. She firmly landed her talon-pokey legs on his shoulder and adjusted herself to perch nicely. The Fire Wizard stroked her beak and neck gently before sending her out of the window to watch her fly around the air.

That was because he followed up by jumping down from the window himself…

Don’t worry, a pillow of burning feathers popped out of his foothold to soften the landing. He planted his feet on the ground rather brilliantly and stretched his arms afterwards, partly to call for Coda to perch on him. Sadly… this was new. His coat had ripped itself up, revealing two large, deep-red wings with a heating air current surrounding them. His coat was done for as they had tore through and left it in two parts falling to the ground. He was never aware of his transformation before, until now that it was literally screaming ‘Look at me! I look weird, and I also look like a fresh chicken menu!’ There was a lack of beak, though, which genuinely surprised himself… but feathery wings, scaled hands and feet with growing feathers out of his arms, chest, face and thighs did the trick.

Shockingly, he decided to dash off into the woods after that. He didn’t want people to look at him too much as if he drew too much attention… or maybe he scared a few. It was so new and shocking for him to actually transform into a bird-like creature… did Coda give him a disease or something?

After a rough 15 minutes of thinking, whoever would pass by out of either curiosity or by fate would notice a faint, orange light brimming in the woods. The fires erupted from a safe opening, but they weren’t as powerful as those that Daiko had once performed…

WC: 732/5600

It was a worrisome period to say the least. It had only been a few days since they had received the warning that a collection of rifts were on the brink of becoming active and that everyone was being requested to help join the defense to banish the demons back into the abyss, and while everyone was making their preparations for the grand conflict, Esperia found herself preparing just the same. It was an understandable choice for the purple-haired lass to decide to try to spend some time to finetune her spells, especially with an important battle the likes of the one they were about to deal.

Perhaps it was exactly because of the awareness just how little time she had left to prepare herself for the upcoming conflict, that she was in the midst of a rather dangerous experiment. "So, you want to try casting a unison spell?" Jurvag inquired with a hint of clear curiosity in his voice. Although he had to admit it was a clever tactic to say the least, it was still an unexpected suggestion for the girl to make.

"Mhmm~ I want to try putting my combination into motion. Can I rely on you for the offensive spell?" The sentient scarf chuckled in amusement. "Who do you think you're asking? You better keep up with my pace whippersnapper!" Jurvag stated as the girl smiled briefly at the monkey's words, a hand raising to her chest as she chanted that one phrase which had become like a second nature to her: "Luxuria~" A sudden surge of magic errupted from within her, the mana manifesting like threads around her that slowly woven into a cocoon and soon surrounded her fully. It was only a bit afterwards that the girl felt her metamorphosis begin, her body undergoing the traditional transformation into the obsidian-haired seductress called Asmodeus, the demon known as the Demon Lord of Lust.

As soon as the cocoon cracked and she stepped out of the shell which had encased her moments prior. Holding her staff in one hand the demon raised her hand next to the staff, pointing toward a nearby opening space and allowed the mana to channel into her spell.

It took only a mere moment before a green colored magical circle appeared in front of her hand and the staff, and similar one appeared right on the ground a few steps away from her, upon which the scarf swayed lightly in the air, a third magical circle appearing right as the first two were formed.

It was in that moment that two walls made of flower petals spread around the magical circle, growing larger and larger while at the same time within the circle a sea of razor-sharp barbs rose from the ground! It was quite a fancy spectacle to say the least, and one that she was in all honesty rather proud about. "Let's check the results of our spell, shall we?" The demon whispered as a magical circle emerged over her head, her wings spreading as she took flight, hovering five meters into the air to observe the scene when all of sudden an orange flash of light drew her interest. "Whose there?!" Jurvag demanded, yet Esperia simply smiled, a hand raised lightly to calm down the sentient scarf as she mused softly. "I guess I'm not the only one playing in this forest today~" Esperia stated with a smile as she spotted the, was that a phoenix? or a fire bird?

"How curious~" the young demon lord mused softly as she hovered a bit closer. "What brings you to those woods?"

WC: 602/2000

Both Daiko’s arms were coated in an orangish, rebellious fire coat. Blazes escaped and filled some of the air above him as he moved them around, and due to the fierce velocities that each arm underwent per punch, the fires also burst backwards a little… this gave him an idea. Now, Daiko remembered a time when he could release a lot more fire, but what if he sped up his magic? What he meant by that was that if he could speed up his movements, then his spells could gain some kind of boost, no? Perhaps he could deal more damage if his maneuvering was enhanced as well.

Those wings on his back could aid him a lot, but they looked frankly small and incapable of bringing him up flying for now. Maybe… nah, he had something else to test out. What could a firebird do, anyway? He had heard stories about the Phoenix back in his childhood, so having turned into some kind of phoenix himself should have caught his interest a lot more than through anxiety. Maybe it was just too soon for him to actually confirm his meeting with a phoenix… which was… himself? Was that legit?

The first thing that came to mind when he thought of birds and phoenixes were feathers and wings… next after that were their talons. Raptors usually had large, sharp talons that they caught their prey with - getting drilled by those were fatal for most small animals. Coda was perching on a nearby branch whilst watching Daiko train, but her bird head rose up quickly as she sensed someone else in the forest… something interesting to the birdy bird. Meanwhile, Daiko was too busy with ideas to notice someone approaching this open area as he thought: I could try and lower the size of my Fire Magic in exchange for sharper fire… like large razors attached to my arms- wait, why am I thinking so much? This isn’t even my normal magic! Aaarrghh… I’m still able to throw fire, though, so maybe this is just some evolution of Fire Magic?

He was slightly taken aback by the presence of a flying demoness - the horns on her head did say that out loud. As surprising as her arrival was, Daiko was about to proclaim in shock: “Demon?” but his voice cracked as he felt both awe and… embarrassment? He didn’t know why, but he simply looked up at the flying lady, his face contorted from a warning and a rather hostile appearance to a flustered, shy embarrassment. Even his wings had stretched out in uptightness.

“W-W-W-Who.. w-who are you? If you’re here to kill me or make fun of me… *shakes head* bring it on, then! I’ll plant your head on my wall!” he warned her in a confused anxiety, “Also, stop looking at me like that! It makes me fluster, and I can’t train up when I’m flustered…!”

WC: 489
TWC: 732 + 489 = 1221

"Ara~ Ara~ Did I startle you?" The raven-haired seductress asked with a gentle smile, her hands pulled behind her back as she swayed back and forth in the air. "Although I knew that voice was familiar to me~" In the end, Esperia knew it belonged to a certain hunter. "How sad that you have forgotten me already Daiko~" A soft giggle escaped her lips, quite aware of the fact that her words would likely confuse the poor lad even further.

"While you're not entirely wrong, I am not an enemy, nor am I here to make fun of you~ In the end, why would I do that to a friend?" A soft hum followed as she hovered a bit closer while she continued speaking. "While I am the Demon Lord of Lust, I am also the playful little lewdling you know under the name 'Esperia'~" Sure that by now Daiko would realize her identity Esperia smiled softly and gave a playful salute with her fingers. "It's been a while Daiko, and I spot Coda up there also~ I hope the two of you have been well, although you look a bit different from how I remember~"

If she remembered right, he was in the same guild as Arisa, wasn't he? It would make sense that he was alright with a responsible person like Arisa there to guide him, similar to how she had Alisa as a mentor. "So~ Care to explain what happened? Perhaps Asmodeus can give us some advice if you're troubled about something~ Or I can even go and find Alisa or Arisa for you~"

It was clear that Esperia meant no harm to her old friend, although she did seem to be quite interested in the unusual appearance the boy had recently gained. "Although, you might want to let your flames relax a bit, this forest has been dealing with an influx of wild animals, they are rather restless, no doubt because of the activity of the rifts. Did you hear the reports? They mentioned that a rift is about to appear in Orchidia in the near future, and people are being rallied to deal with it. Unfortunately I don't know what the demons their goal is, so all we can do is make them regret crossing into Earthland~" How odd for a demon lord to take the side of the humans, but both Esperia and Asmodeus were peculiar to say the least!

WC: 406
Total WC: 602+406=1008/2000

Eh? She didn’t attack him or drown him in words. As a matter of fact, she felt oddly friendly. But her black wings and big horns- wait, maybe he was mixing things up. Maybe Daiko had misunderstood the stranger’s intention and very person all in all. It was likely due to his anxiety that he acted so rash, but why not? He had been through enough mental labor for the meantime, so meeting a flying lady was more strange to him than it really should have been. Didn’t he fly once in a while himself once upon a time? Yeah, he did remember those times…

… Wait, she knew his name? This was even more awkward than he thought; he… he knew her? Did he actually meet this particular girl before? If he did, did he forget? Was he hit by amnesia? “Uh…” he was lost for words as he just pointed to himself and to her, expressing how confusing this event was. Further listening, she did hint pretty clearly to her identity, and only by then did the hunter realize who she was. Although the word ‘lewdling’ was alien to him, he did see a resemblance of Esperia in his memory comparing to her appearance now.

“Esperia!” he let out in joy, his confusion and worry fully deleted, “You scared me there! I didn’t know that you were a flying, horned demoness lady of some sort… oh, wow, I haven’t seen you in ages! You look great...!” He was genuinely overjoyed to see a good friend like her again, but despite her having changed appearance somehow, she did note that out about himself. Coda squawked happily by the greeting from Esperia as she wiggled her tail feathers.

Her question woke up new thoughts in Daiko’s head. He really didn’t know why this transformation took place, but… uh, apparently, he was transforming into a bird. “Uh, yeah… I don’t know how or why, but my magic is turning me into a creature,” he explained. Despite that sounding rather troublesome, he did smile. Names like Alisa and Arisa woke him up and made him feel very nostalgic. “I hope Alisa is doing well?” he asked.

Arisa, however… that gave birth to a worrying theory. Could it be…? Maybe… just maybe… that was what… no, no, it couldn’t be… that was far beyond any rationality… it just descended into absurdity if that was the case…

And thus, that weird thought was gone from his head. Instead, he was informed by rifts nearby that stirred both the wildlife and the people in Orchidia. He had heard rumors from early stages, but if reports were sent out and people actually went to the rifts, then the situation was worse than he thought earlier. “O-Oh…” he almost hummed with an opened mouth. Dazzling fires quickly surrounded his body and grabbed his limbs like large carpets. Once when his entire body was covered, the carpet flames lit up to almost white fashions, then revealed a slightly taller but familiar Daiko that Esperia knew of.

“Well, they’re in for a bootlicking,” he declared in all his confidence. Really, at this point, ravaging demons sounded amusing to him rather than scary. “… Oh, I actually have a slight… little problem,” he reminded, even holding up two fingers to express how ‘little’ the issue was, “I’ve… kind of turned into a bird for a while… that’s not normal, is it?”

He was willing to transform into the bird-like humanoid of his once more, letting carpets of burning flames envelop him in an egg-like shell before breaking off into a volley of harmless shards of light, revealing… uh, Bird Daiko! Or maybe… Firebird Daiko!

“I’m pretty sure I was a Fire Wizard, and not a… Bird Wizard.”

WC: 627
TWC: 1221 + 624 = 1848

C-Rank Spell 'Incinerating Talons' Trained!

It was understandable that Daiko was on edge, after all the recent influx of demonic invasions had led to a natural fear and hatred of demons, and with the news of the encroaching demon horde, it was a surprise he was still able to remain calm at a time like this! If she was entirely honest, it was even worthy of admiration. Nonetheless, the demon continued to smile calmly as she waited to see the boy's reaction to her revelation. Her wings beat lightly as she remained hovering a few meters in the air, quietly waiting to see his response when finally the boy started to realize the nature of her comment earlier.

Indeed, they knew each other, although it seemed that it took a moment or two as Daiko was clearly incapable of placing the connection between the mysterious demon lady and the girl he had met in the past. It would take a bit longer till the hints of her identity would finally reach him to the conclusion he was looking for, and upon hearing her name Esperia grinned sheepishly at the boy.

"It's a long story~" Esperia hummed softly, and although she had been the vessel for Asmodeus for years now, it still was quite the tale to tell. Still, to see Daiko's surprise at her revelation still continued to amuse Esperia immensely, while at the same time being glad that his concern seemed to fade away.

"It's a pleasure to see you again also Coda~" Esperia hummed softly, a gentle wave of her hand being made at the excited fire bird whose wiggle made her smile grow even brighter, she really was quite fond of her.


A hand raised toward her cheek as she tapped it lightly, a soft hum following. "That is quite a mysterious occurance." A magic which allowed someone to transform? If she didn't knew better then... "You're on the right track, his magic likely is similar to your own." A gruff masculine voice called from nearby as the scarf around Esperia's robe swayed lightly beside her. "Ah right, you didn't meet him before yet~ Daiko, the talking scarf is Jurvag, an extremely wise spirit that is contained within it.

However, the subject quickly turned into something more light-hearted when names of their mutual friends were mentioned, making Esperia nod her head gently, a sheepish grin emerging on her lips. "Alisa has been doing well, we just came back from a special training camp, although we were meant to train to protect the guild, seems that now we are going to have to use our power to prevent a demonic invasion instead..." the raven-haired seductress mused softly, sounding almost melacholic as she spoke.

Still, for some weird reason he didn't seem to comment much on the matter of Arisa, something which left Esperia quite confused and curious, but for the time being she decided to focus on another matter that the two of them would have to deal with for the time being.

Indeed, the emergence of the rifts had become a widely known occurence, and adventurers and guild mages alike were being rallied to deal with the threat they represented to Earthland. It was somewhat terrifying to say the least, and yet Esperia couldn't help but wonder what purpose those demons had for their invasion, what type of scheme was being prepared within the abyss? In a war like this information was a power of its own, and knowing how to wield it a skill.

Curiously enough Daiko quickly detransformed into his human form, looking quite similar to how she remembered the young hunter, although he seemed to had grown slightly taller in the past two years since they met!

"That's the spirit~" Esperia chimed in agreement, although when Daiko mentioned his concerns about a problem he had, Esperia tilted her head slightly to the side in confusion till he explained things further, causing her to chuckle softly. "You're not a bird wizard~" Esperia answered with a grin as she soon continued to explain. "There is this type of magic, an rare magic known as Take-Over Magic, Take-Over Mages like me possess the soul of a powerful entity, in my case I share my body with the soul of Asmodeus, the Demon Lord of Lust." She raised a hand toward Daiko, a gentle pointing motion being made into the lad's direction. "And you my dear Daiko are likely a Take-Over Mage."

Although, there was something a bit curious about that. "It's possible that until now you simply relied on the elemental powers of your being, similar to how I can control nature, you can control fire. However, there should be another entity slumbering within the depths of your being, a powerful Phoenix which is granting you its power. Your best bet to find answers is to try to communicate with it."

And with that said Esperia stretched her arms lightly while allowing her transformation to be undone, returning to her regular human form as she landed gracefully onto the grass. "Although, be careful when you first interact with the Phoenix, according to Alisa not all Take-Over mages possess a friendly entity, and the last thing you want is for the phoenix to try to possess you and make a mess with your body, right?"

She knew all too well the dangers of a take-over mage losing themselves to the power of the being which led them their power. It was a terrifying experience, and one she didn't want to wish upon Daiko, but it was important for the young hunter to learn to properly wield this magic if he wanted to survive the upcoming incursion. Perhaps it was fortunate for that reason that the two of them were able to meet at a time like this, if anyone could teach him about take-over magic, then certainly Esperia was a perfect person for that!

"Perhaps try to reach out for it, if you look into the deepest parts of your being you should be able to sense it, hear it even. In my case my connection to Asmodeus is quite strong, so I'm not sure if it's the same for you."

WC: 1028
Total WC: 602+406+1028=2036/2000

A-rank spell Tough Love has been trained!

Long story, huh? Daiko had his own, long story to tell - these 2 years had been… weird. What he meant by ‘weird’ was the fact that most of the time, he was keeping things up in Lamia Scale and training back at Worth Woodsea, only for his magic to puke up and transform into this. It was as if his body just decided itself to be ‘incompatible’ with his previous magic and swapped to another… maybe, just maybe he was on the wrong here. There might have been something else that he could figure out that might explain the shenanigan.

He wasn’t the only one whose life gradually changed a little by the years. He did attend Alice’s wedding a long time ago, and who knew how she was doing if he hadn’t had the chance to meet and talk with her throughout the years. She might have been on the path to a new life with her husband, or maybe they were unfortunate to be separated by mirrors - two familiar people passing each other in a busy street and never getting the chance to talk or eat some crepe… he hadn’t had a good crepe in a while, too.

He was softly patting his stomach when he heard a masculine voice talk to someone. Swiping his head to both sides, he saw Esperia’s scarf soar in the air and communicate with them. She had a talking scarf? She had a talking piece of clothing? Was it a living being, maybe?

His jaw almost dropped by hearing it talk to him. As a rather secluded lad, Daiko had never experienced inanimate objects personify themselves in human manners. It was a revelation to him. “… Oh, possessed scarf with wise man in it,” he cut it down to openly, “… T-That’s neat. Hey there, Jurvag…!” He saluted in respect to the wiser man as a greeting, hoping to get along with this interesting fellow of Esperia.

It sounded as if she and Alisa did the very same thing that he and Kai had just done. Used this time up until now to hone their skills, physiques and magic to prepare for possible threats of the future. And now, with rumors of a demon invasion spreading about, it was likely the time to round up the results of Daiko’s training. However, that required - first of all and everything - that Daiko figured out how to live on with this weird… birdy fire magic. He listened on as Esperia might have realized the issue; she explained to him that he was utilizing a type of magic called ‘Take-Over Magic’. According to her, it resolved around him being possessed by a great, powerful entity and drawing power from it… and that put two and two together with her explanation about her demonic appearance. She and Daiko were, to some extent, using the same magic; she was just more experienced with it, which did help him understand it in the end.

A theory was placed that he might have solely utilized his entity’s elemental powers all along - from the moment he began using magic until now - and that he just didn’t know about it. He slowly eyed his own hands feeling that his eyes had been opened… he didn’t know anything about his magic. Every time that he tried reaching further heights with it, some obstacle inside of him prevented him from using its full potential. He might have finally figured out what and why.

A Phoenix? That just reminded him of all the times that his mother told him bedtime stories about the fabled bird of fire - its brilliant, flaming wings stretched out as it crossed the sandy fields in all its elegance along with all its bird friends… so nostalgic. He felt like shedding a tear drop.

“… I can talk to it?” he repeated her words in curiosity, “W-Well, better try that out.” He likely had to conecentrate, so he took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he listened to Esperia’s words. First, he should be careful - that did make him question the very character of this bird that he adored so much from back when he was a little child. Second, he needed to look into the deepest of his very self to be able to sense it.

…

…

Somehow, looking into his deep self felt nostalgic as well. He saw images, mirages… but they were severely blurred by raging flames. Soon, Daiko found himself floating in a space of pure blaze - he heard screams and cracking sounds as if the ground was clapped by several people. However, as sudden and random all of this was, he saw no phoenix around… and that was too late to elaborate on, because a slight headache returned him back to reality.

“A-Argh, my head…” he moaned, clapping the side of his head with his right hand, “… I don’t think I can talk to it… let alone see any phoenix in there. I just saw fire… and some weird images.” What he hadn’t realized was that his eyes had transformed independently, the pupils made wider and with an orangish-red iris contrasting his naturally dark-grey iris from earlier.

“Oh hey, my Thermal Vision is up, again… that’s one thing that I missed,” he spoke in relief given that this heat-vision was a classic example of his previous Fire Magic, “So you have Take-Over Magic too… tell me, how is it? Anything weird or stereotypical that I need to know about it? Also, Demon Lord of Lust?” He saw Esperia in a new form… or rather, this must’ve been her original form, since it was way more familiar with her appearance back then.

“… I’m sorry, I just have so many questions…”

WC: 966
TWC: 1848 + 966 = 2814

A soft chuckle escaped Esperia's lips at Daiko's barrage of questions, his confusion was quite understandable. In fact, she still recalled how she felt when she first discovered her existence as the vessel of the Demon Lord of Lust, and yet the purple-haired lass had learned a lot since then, both as a person and as a take-over mage.

"Well, let's start with the beginning then." Esperia hummed softly as she started to muse what the best way would be to start this subject. "Perhaps first, and most important is to know that a Take-Over mage their power primarily comes from the being they share their body with, in my case my bond with Asmodeus is more symbiotic since I been a take-over mage my entire life, but for most people being a take-over mage means constantly struggling to keep control, because often the entity inside you will try to claim you as a vessel for its rebirth. In some cases you can come to a mutual agreement, but not always. Therefore it is quite important that you learn to strengthen your will, your mental fortitude will be decisive in the future should you wish to learn to properly use this magic. Do you understand?"

And so the explanation began~

As soon as Esperia sounded to start some kind of lecture about Takeover Magic - which Daiko dearly needed right now - he sat down in his cross-legged position so… obediently. It was out of instinct, given that he always sat down when he was lectured. It would be disrespectful not to, in his opinion. The lack of chairs wouldn’t bother a guy who spent most of his time in the woods, anyway.

He still found it difficult to fathom the whole sharing part… to think that a phoenix was inside of him was mysterious. Yes, he was aware that it wasn’t exactly meant as in inside his intestines or whatever, but he had never even come close to realize this before… maybe it was shy?

Or maybe, as Esperia explained, it could have some sort of grudge against him… but a phoenix wasn’t fabled to be some kind of villainous character. Why would it have a problem with a wizard who knew nothing of its very presence or situation? Maybe it could explain to him if it even wanted to show its face to Daiko - as complicated as things were, that was just childish. If you had a problem, come and tell him…!

“That makes more sense, yeah,” he replied with a nod. He gazed upwards in deep thought about his wonders. “Maybe this phoenix inside of me doesn’t like me… it won’t even meet me or even show its face.” He suddenly pouted in displeasure, for after having dreamt of meeting a phoenix, this was far from what he imagined his first… well, ‘possible’ counter to be. “It’s almost as if it’s not even there right now…”

WC: 280
TWC: 2814 + 280 = 3094
Mean Thermal Vision learned!

So Daiko couldn't communicate properly with the Phoenix within him? That seemed quite curious, and yet at the same time also was quite a complicated matter for a take-over mage to deal with. In her opinion, communication was an essential part of mastering your power as a Take-Over mage. "Perhaps, there could also be another reason."

Indeed, even if she was born as Asmodeus' vessel, the Demon Lord of Lust remained in a state of slumber till two years ago, only emerging from the depths of her subconscious when her life was threatened. "There could be a few reasons for the lack of a response. For example your inexperience as a Take-Over mage might make the 'connection' between you and the Phoenix unstable, or perhaps instead the Phoenix might still be slumbering inside you. In my case it took an experience that nearly killed me before Asmodeus awoke. However, I would suggest avoiding that."

A sheepish chuckle escaped her lips as she resumed her explanation. "Now where were we~ I think it's just a matter of time before the path between you two stabilizes, I'm confident that the phoenix will be sending you signs soon enough. There is no need to rush it, although you're going to want to learn to control your take-over form before the incursion, else you might become a liability..."

Hmpf. He had to wait, it appeared. The phoenix inside him would wake up and answer his call someday… but it would be preferable if it could be before this incursion was set into motion, because this was Orchidia; Daiko’s town and the town that housed his guild, a seed bed for Lamia Scale Wizards and a proud dot on the map. It was his home… he couldn’t handle being a liability. That wasn’t what he wanted…

And yet, he quickly caught more and more control of his newfound powers. For some reason, needing the phoenix’s help felt less and less of an option, so he had to cope with his own capabilities for now. Since he realized that he was still able to cast spells, he clenched his fist and quickly slung it to point towards a nearby rock where he was practicing earlier. The rock was vulnerable…

One ring of fire that shot out from his wrist towards it was enough to crack it down to smithereens. “I sure don’t want to be left behind in the dust or anything… I… wait… I got an idea!” His eyes sparkled by the ignition of a simple idea that might just work. “Phoenixes like songs and music, so maybe we should try and sing to it. That might cheer it up enough to consider talking…!”

WC: 225
TWC: 3094 + 225 = 3319

"A song?" Esperia inquired, clearly bewildered by the hunter's suggestion. If she was entirely honest, she had never heard about fairytales or myths about phoenixes liking songs, but then again she had always been more interested in tales about dragons anyway. Nonetheless, it could be an idea, especially if Daiko believed that it could work.

"What do you think Jurvag, Asmodeus?" The girl inquired with a hint of curiosity. Jurvag remained silent for a moment, a soft hum coming from the scarf. "I'm not certain about the idea of a phoenix liking music, in my entire existence I only encountered a single phoenix before, and it was a grumpy old bird." The scarf answered, seemingly just as skeptical about the idea as his wearer, yet Asmodeus seemed more entertained by the idea.

Why not? It could be an entertaining thing to try, and it never hurts to sing~ Besides, Alisa always praises your voice, why not let someone else enjoy it for a change?

Hearing those words Esperia tilted her head slightly to the side in confusion and mumbled softly, clearly not that impressed. "So you want 'me' to sing a song?" Wait, she didn't sign up for that! Although, it wasn't like she minded singing to Daiko, and maybe even get a Phoenix to listen at the same time also!

Huh? Jurvag encountered a phoenix before? That was a neat accomplishment! Daiko should ask him about that later, but now the case was at hand; his suggestion about singing to the dormant phoenix proved to be a surprising idea to the other Takeover wizard. He should have taken into account that most of the bedtime stories that he was told as a kid by his mother were more or less limited to be heard by him. Him only. It was very unlikely that Esperia, who came from another town and another region, had heard the same story.

She was talking with Asmodeus too given the latter’s name being mentioned by Esperia. Perhaps Daiko would finally get to hear the voice of the Demon Lord inside Esperia…

…

She must have been speaking telepathically. Daiko heard not a single word from the Demon Lord of Lust… but maybe that was to his own good. How was it to hear a Demon Lord’s voice? Especially that of a Lord specifically attuned to Lust?

With that thought saved for later, he looked at Esperia with confidence and nodded at her question. “Yes, if you want to,” he replied, “You know, just some song that you know of… maybe a song that is easy to cheer people up?”

WC: 214
TWC: 3319 + 214 = 3533

To think she was being asked to sing a song right out of nowhere, it was quite sudden, a bit too sudden even, even if her pleasant smile didn't show it. How could she figure out a suitable song to sing to a phoenix, was there even a song that a phoenix liked? It wasn't like she was a songstress or anything! Then again, she did often get praised for her melodious voice, so perhaps it was worth a try...

Then again, what song could she possibly end up singing? Perhaps that one song that had lingered within her for so long, a song which she believed was perfect for someone like her. Taking a deep breath she sighed softly and hummed softly. "Fine, I'll give it a try, but I can't promise it will work."

Esperia answered as she took a few steps backward and raised a hand to her chest, letting the emotions within her heart reign free once more.

This is me, too much heavy armor
The cowardly hero, who can't even walk
The sword you wanted to love and protect
I can't get it out of my hands as its stuck there
I still haven't healed yet
As my life goes on...

Oh everything turns to ash to ash~
As my life aims at the other side
As my own sin drags my pains down with me
And everything turns to dust to dust~
As I'm falling down I return back to earth
As little small flowers bloom around the land
Forget me not~

However, there was quite a mysterious ethereal beauty to the girl's voice, as if the demon lord of lust herself was singing alongside her!

Yay! Maybe this would work with Daiko’s issue contacting the phoenix inside of him. It was nice that Esperia consented to singing a song for them, even though her final answer was delayed by what felt like confusion and shock. Was she that shy to just sing a song, or was he oblivious to some fact of hers? Perhaps… nevermind, she was going to sing now, and he would listen eagerly.

Coda landed on the ground next to Daiko as she wanted to hear Esperia’s sweet singing as well. She began her song with a sudden melody and embrace of words that pleased their ears the moment she started. Her choice of words and soothing voice was comforting. Almost other-worldly. He had never heard such a great singing voice before, not even from his mother or any other person of his past.

His hair lit up in soft flames to express how pleasant he was feeling. His face was warm and comfy-looking, and Coda was laying on her back in sweet delight. It was clear that they both loved the song of hers as well as her singing voice… to some extent, Daiko was the one enjoying it the most. It was strange, since he rarely ever heard people singing. It had been years since he had heard his last lullaby.

“Ahhh… you’re such a good singer…”

WC: 227
TWC: 3533 + 227 = 3760

In the wake of her song Esperia smiled sheepishly at Daiko when he complimented her singing skills, seemingly quite pleased at the comment he had spoken. Although she didn't want to toot her own horn, she was quite a skilled singer, not that she had specifically been trained or taught about it, but for Esperia singing felt... liberating in a way? It was a comforting and pleasant thing to do for the purple-haired lass who often used to sing as a child, especially in between her training sessions.

"Thank you, I used to sing a lot as a child~ There is something pleasant to the act of singing. That sensation you feel when you convey your emotions so openly and strongly through a song is quite liberating, and it puts me at ease." Esperia explained with a sheepish grin as she leaned back against the nearby tree and hummed softly. "So~ Any reaction from the little Phoenix inside you?" A gentle smile lingered on Esperia's lips, clearly not having forgotten the purpose of the decision to sing a song for Daiko earlier.

Now it was just a matter of figuring out whether the hunter's idea had worked, if it did they might end up finding out more soon!

"Hmh..." Daiko hummed in deep thought, "... No, no reaction." The Phoenix was being very shy, not showing itself either telepathically or physically. It appeared to be a failed experiment, but Daiko didn't want to belittle Espy's effort. "... Sorry for the lack of fiery feathers and all... b-but hey, you sang very well! I really enjoyed it!" he complimented her on her singing voice and performance. He took a glance on his right hand and decided to see if any output of magic could function as a gateway to the mind of the entity inside him. He was starting to doubt its presence overall, but it was worth a shot.

Heat built up around his hand and became visible flares, compacting into a sharp circle. Going with every hunch in his belly, Daiko spoke up: "Hello? Hello? Firey flame bird, Phoenix dear, are you there?" ... Sadly, no answer. In discomfort, Daiko swung the circlet of fire away as it travelled around several trees before dying off. Then he rose his knees up and hugged them closely, feeling down for the fact that he couldn't talk to it. And he was so eager to...

*growl*

"... Y-You shouldn't happen to have some bread on you right now?" he anxiously asked the esper.

WC: 209
TWC: 3760 + 209 = 3969