My Elf System

The Phoenix's eyes widened in surprise and it slowly took a few steps back after it sensed the magnitude of the mana oozing out of the barrier.

As a rank fifteen beast, the phoenix could never let a weakling in rank eleven try to tame it.

Besides, it didn't like anyone, so there was no way it would allow anyone to tame it.

The other students in the forest were between rank seven to ten, so they were all insignificant individuals the phoenix could easily defeat, and the same went for Orion as well.

It didn't see him as a threat. The phoenix only saw him as the first target he had to get rid of before facing the other students in the forest.

Orion was a rank eleven mage, so it shouldn't be difficult for the phoenix to get rid of him. But it didn't expect Orion's mana capacity to suddenly skyrocket the way it did.

Now that it had risen way higher than that of the phoenix, the Phoenix's initial expression changed from fury to fear.

It swiftly spread its wings and began flapping, lifting its body off the ground as it tried to flee, but Orion noticed what the phoenix was about to do, so he suppressed his mana and removed the barrier protecting him.

Orion swiftly conjured a whip made completely out of mana. He swung his arm, and the whip latched onto the phoenix's feet before pulling it back to the ground, slamming the huge bird on the hard ground, while the impact caused a small crater to form underneath the bird.

Orion was running out of time, and he had to join the race, or he wouldn't be able to make it to the next round, so he cast an advanced wind magic spell, and five huge arms made out of air materialized above the phoenix bird and pinned it to the ground.

The phoenix struggled to free itself but the hands holding it down were making it difficult for it to do anything. It continued to struggle, but it stopped after realizing that there was no way it could escape.

Seeing that the bird had calmed down, Orion used the chance to grab the bird's attention.

Actually, it might have looked like it had calmed down, but the phoenix's eyes were still filled with rage. After seeing this, Orion finally understood why it hated him so much.

Orion hunkered down in front of the bird before speaking to it. "I'm sorry I had to use force to get your attention, however, I had no other choice but to do that."

"I understand you don't like me and that's fine, but how would you feel if I told you that I can help you get out of here?"

Hearing this, the hatred in the bird's eyes lessened a bit, and the phoenix looked at Orion in confusion as it wondered what he was talking about.

Orion smiled and approached the phoenix with a calmer voice. "I know you don't like this forest, but I want you to do something for me, can you help me?" He asked, however, the phoenix didn't respond to his question. But despite the fact that it didn't respond, Orion knew the bird could understand him.

The phoenix was a transcendent magical beast, so it could easily understand what Orion was saying to it.

Although it couldn't speak, the phoenix could still respond by blinking or nodding its head, but it didn't. Instead, the phoenix continued to listen to what Orion had to say.

"If you help me, I promise to get you out of here. So, what do you say?"

The phoenix continued to stare quietly at him. It continued to remain silent while looking at him, but there was doubt in the way it looked at Orion because it didn't want to believe what Orion was saying to it.

"Don't you want to get out of here? Because I'm willing to help you."

The phoenix looked at him with a puzzled look on its face.

"You're wondering why I want to help you, isn't it?" Orion asked and the phoenix nodded in response.

"It's simple. I just need your help and if we win the race, then I promise to make sure you're free."

"I know you don't like it here, and I want to help you get out, so all you have to do is help me win this race that I'm participating in, and you'll be free again, what do you say?"

The phoenix looked at the arm Orion extended towards it, but it was still hesitating to give Orion a response.

The phoenix was wondering why Orion wanted it to help him even after everything it had done to him.

It had even tried to kill him, and if it were other beast tamers, they would have abandoned the thought of taming the phoenix and probably tried to kill it, so why didn't Orion try to do this?

However, the Phoenix also knew that this could be the first time it might actually be able to escape the forest, so it slowly placed its beak on Orion's hand.

Seeing this, his lips widened into a smile.

Orion swiftly canceled the wind spell, and the hands holding the phoenix down vanished into thin air.

"I'm not sure if you've eaten, but I got you something you might like."

The phoenix looked at Orion and wondered what he was talking about, but then it noticed a small picnic basket materializing in front of it.

The basket floated towards it and the phoenix noticed countless mini sandwiches inside the basket. It looked at Orion, wondering what it was.

"It's food; you'll need your strength for what we're about to do, so eat up," Orion instructed, and a mini sandwich floated out of the basket.

He grabbed it and ate it in front of the phoenix, to show it that there wasn't anything wrong with the sandwich.

Seeing this, the phoenix felt a bit relaxed, so it took a bite as well, but the moment it took its first bite, the phoenix's eyes widened in surprise.

'Sweet!!'

To its surprise, the food actually tasted delicious.

It took another bite of the mini sandwiches and the same feeling washed over it.

'So sweet and yummy!!' It took another bite of the sandwich.

'It's delicious, I love it!!' The phoenix swiftly began to devour more of the sandwiches.

The more it ate, the more it could feel its hesitation dissolving into thin air, but while the phoenix was preoccupied with the sandwiches, Orion brought out the item box Ganesha gave everyone and he pulled out a crystal-encrusted saddle.

He gently patted the phoenix but it flinched.

It slightly moved away and Orion walked closer to it before saying. "It's just me, you can trust me."

He patted the phoenix again, and this time, it didn't try to distance itself from Orion. Seeing this, Orion gently positioned the saddle across the phoenix's neck, just above its wings.

Orion strapped the saddle perfectly around the phoenix's body, and he made sure it fit perfectly before noticing that the phoenix had finished its meal.

"You want more?" Orion asked when he saw that the phoenix kept looking inside the basket as if it hoped to find more.

"Well, if you want more, that will have to be after the race," Orion assured the phoenix before leaping on and mounting the saddle, settling into its soft seat.

The moment he sat on the saddle, the tiny crystals on the saddle began to glow and Orion could feel his body synchronizing with the beast.

Before Orion attached the saddle, the saddle had been enchanted with a spell that would allow Orion and the phoenix to share a special bond.

This bond made them feel as though they were one.

In a way, it would make them feel like they could read each other's minds.

This was done so that the students would feel a bit more connected to their beasts while they rode them.

It wasn't much, but Orion was able to obtain a little information about the phoenix, allowing it to know a bit more about the beast and its gender.

The phoenix was also able to obtain a few pieces of information about Orion. Now, she knew that Orion was an elf prince and she also knew what this race was all about and why Orion wanted to win so badly.

The saddle also enabled the phoenix to know that Orion meant what he said about helping her leave the forest. So now, she trusted Orion more than she trusted any being and was eager to help him win the race.

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"Let's go," Orion muttered, and the phoenix unfolded her wings before igniting it in flames, illuminating the forest.

She launched herself into the sky like a catapult and Orion sat securely and proudly on her back. Together, they soared above the treetops.

The wind whipped through Orion's blonde hair as he leaned forward while his hands held onto the reins.

Using the map he had memorized already, Orion guided the phoenix where he wanted them to go and the phoenix pushed forward with a sudden burst of speed. Before long, they appeared in front of the first section of the race which happened to be a dark tunnel.

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A/N:- Thank you so much for the support so far. To be honest, I was surprised to see Orion's character image had reached 1million popularity points and I simply can't thank you guys enough. Oh, and currently, there's a contest where readers are asked to support their favorite characters in webnovel. Currently, Orion is fifth and I thank you guys for the support.

So, please, we'll need more of your support to help raise Orion's ranking. Thank you so much.