Picking up Girls With My System

A rank-three mage casting a rank two spell. That was a power not everyone could go up against, yet Arthur stopped it as if it was nothing.

Myla did not know what to do! If the man she faced was so powerful, then what was the reason to keep fighting? What was the reason to hide anything?

"Did you calm down? Despite you trying to kill me, I don't want to hurt you," Arthur said as he cleaned the dust from his clothes.

"I-I don't understand. I know all the powerful mages, yet I have never seen your face before. Who are you?" Myla asked.

Arthur had many appearances, and the one he was recently using was that of an old man. He looked at her and said jokingly, "I am a dragon. Would you believe that?"

"A dragon? Bull shit. These are beings who can go against rank 7 or 8 mages. A fable," she said, dismissing the idea of Arthur being a dragon, as it sounded absurd.

"Let's talk about things that matter. What can you tell me about the Phoenix Trial?" Arthur asked.

The only reason Arthur followed her for that long and lost his time in a fisherman's village in the middle of nowhere was because of the Phoenix Trial he heard about.

"How do you know about this, anyway?"

"I am the one asking the questions here, remember?"

Myla wanted to go against him, but every time she remembered how easily Arthur destroyed her spell, she stopped thinking about it.

"I found the place of the trial by accident a few years ago."

"How did you find it? Who told you about it? I don't believe someone would go to this forsaken area for no reason."

Arthur saw how most of the people there weren't mages, or were weak ones who could barely do a thing. Also, based on the conversations he heard inside the village, outsiders were rare, almost non-existent.

So he couldn't believe Myla went there and found something no one else knew about, especially if it was something extraordinary, like the Phoenix Trial.

"I grew up here, that's why. I came to spend a few days for my father's burial, and found it while exploring one of the many islands around this area," Myla said, looking down, doing her best to hold the tears.

With just a look, Arthur could see she was telling the truth — Myla did not look like the type of person who would fake such emotion.

"Makes sense. So tell me, you said you tried to complete the trial, right?"

"Correct."

"Why did you fail?"

Arthur would overtake the trial soon, so getting as much information as possible from someone who had witnessed it was one of the best things he could do.

"It's hard for someone like me. Not that I am weak, but the Phoenix was a being from a higher realm, and the humans who took the Phoenix Trial were way more powerful than both me and you," Myla said.

What she meant was the ancient mages who were way more powerful than the current ones. It wasn't hard to find rank five and rank six mages, and those were weak.

The situation was so intense that the twelve primal gods were still alive and roaming the planets, yet could not fully destroy the mages who had the power to rival them!

But everything went downhill for some unknown reason, and the mages of the current era lacked the strength — a good thing the primal gods weren't around anymore.

"Your key element is fire, right? One has to have the fire element to take the trial?" Arthur asked.

"Yes. The trial is basically an endless combat. You know, the Phoenix is a being with incredible healing powers, therefore it can fight almost forever without getting tired. That's the goal behind the trial. Test one's endurance and perseverance to get the bloodline."

"Get the bloodline? Tell me more about it."

"Legends say that if a person completes the trial, then the Phoenix will grant the person a few drops of its blood, giving the bloodline to the mage, as well as other information that might be useful to a new heir. But I do not know if that's true or not, but I hope it is. That's the reason I am trying to complete the trial in the first place," Myla said, sharing all the information she had with Arthur.

Arthur was not looking for a few drops of the Phoenix Blood. According to his sister, he came from the royal bloodline of the Phoenix, and was basically a pure blood, a Phoenix himself!

But his bloodline was locked, and Arthur was not hoping to unlock it so soon, yet a chance to find more answers came after he heard Myla's conversation.

'Maybe I can unlock my bloodline, or at least get some answers on what to do next! My sister is asleep and I don't think she will return so soon,' Arthur thought.

Myla told him everything she could, afraid that Arthur would take her life, and after their conversation was over, it was time to think about their plans.

"We can move together to the Phoenix Trial tomorrow. I'll give you some time to visit your father's tombstone, and prepare," Arthur said as he moved back to the village.

"Another thing, Myla. Can we enter the trial together and help each other reach the end?"

"I think, yes. Nothing ever stated that we had to complete it by yourselves. But we will have to probably share the Phoenix Blood if something like that happens."

"I see. Well, meet me here tomorrow, alright? And don't think about trying to leave without me…"

Myla was not stupid to that point, so she nodded, letting Arthur return to the village. She took another direction, one that lead to the graveyard where her father was,

~~~~

'Interesting. After I am done with this Phoenix Trial, I need to get the metal ball back and leave this planet for good.'

~~~~

In an unknown temple, one in a high mountain.

"Lord Kai, how are we with the primal summoning?" a black-robed man asked.

"Everything is going according to plan. In no time, the banned dragon will return, bringing chaos! Hahaha!"

If Arthur was there, he would recognize that Kai was the person who was once his disciple…