My Elf System-Chapter 217 - . Entering The Menagerie.

Meanwhile, the human adjusted her mixture and the color it displayed showed its unstable state.

Seeing this, a worried look appeared on her face and she added more ember root into the mixture, but the solution hissed ominously.

"Only two minutes remain! Contestants, finalize your potions," Ganesha announced.

Mia clutched Orion’s arm to draw his attention towards her. "Sylvia’s potion looks amazing, so does this mean she won?"

"Not yet," Orion replied and his eyes narrowed as he observed the human. "She still has one last chance to stabilize it, but it’ll be risky."

The human alchemist took a deep breath and reached for a vial of liquid before pouring its contents into her mixture.

The bubbling and sizzling nature of her mixture steadied a bit but just by looking at it, the potion didn’t look safe to use.

Ganesha announced that time was up and the judges stepped forward to examine the potions. They tested Sylvia’s potion first by pouring a small amount into an enchanted basin and it shimmered brightly, reflecting the potion’s perfect mana alignment.

Seeing this, the judges nodded approvingly before moving to analyze the human’s potion. When they poured it into the basin, the judges noticed the minor instabilities of the potion, so Sylvia was announced as the winner.

The crowd erupted into cheers, and Sylvia gave a small bow to the audience, but then her gaze landed on Dahlia, who was clapping and waving towards her, and Sylvia waved back with a smile.

However, to her surprise, she noticed Orion sitting close to Dahlia and her jaw dropped when she realized that the elf prince had been watching her performance.

Orion’s lips stretched into a tiny smile and he stood up from his seat with Mia and Dahlia.

As they stepped out of the tournament hall, Mia instantly inquired. " So, where are we going?"

"It’s a surprise."

Orion and the girls walked through the academy’s grounds as they headed towards a menagerie.

The path they walked through was filled with towering trees that glowed faintly in the early sunlight.

Mia’s silver-colored tails also swayed excitedly behind her as she walked beside Orion. "I know it’s a surprise but what kind of surprise is it?"

Orion chuckled as he glanced at her. "Be patient, little lady, you’ll be seeing the surprise very soon."

Mia pouted cutely but didn’t say anything else. If Orion wasn’t going to spill the beans yet, then she wouldn’t bother him.

Meanwhile, Dahlia followed quietly behind them. "I… I can’t believe I forgot the academy had a menagerie."

"Yeah, there are a couple of magical beasts here, so students aren’t expected to come here alone unless they’re accompanied by a professor."

"But there’s no one accompanying us right now,"

"It’s fine. We’re just here to see someone, and we’ll be gone before you even know it," Orion replied, and everyone could see the menagerie looming ahead.

The building was a tall glass structure that sparkled under the sunlight.

As they stepped inside, the three of them could see different magical beasts of all shapes and sizes roaming around in their enclosed sections. There were also a few other professors and staff members of the academy, monitoring the beasts as well.

Since Orion had personally brought Aurora here for safekeeping, most of the staff members had seen and recognized his face already. Continue reading at novelbuddy

As for the girls accompanying him, Mia’s jaw dropped as she took in the sight of everything around her. "This place is incredible! Why didn’t you bring us here sooner?"

Orion smirked. "Timing is everything."

Orion was genuinely pleased with how happy she was right now. He also noticed how excited Dahlia looked about this as well.

Unlike him, who had visited a zoo in his previous life, this was the closest thing to what a zoo would look like in this world, and he recalled how excited he had been when he had first visited a zoo; which explained why his ladies were excited as well.

They walked and observed every section of the building until they reached a secluded enclosure where they saw a huge bird burning in flames.

Aurora turned her head, and her eyes locked on to Orion’s, and she released a loud, excited cry before spreading her wings, leaping from the branch she had been perched on, and landing in front of him.

"This is Aurora," Orion introduced his Phoenix to the girls.

Both ladies gasped and Mia was the first to speak. "She’s beautiful."

"Yes, she is."

"She’s the same phoenix you mounted during the tournament right?"

"That’s right," Orion knelt slightly and rested a hand on her beak, patting her slowly.

Mia stepped closer while her tail swished eagerly behind her. "Can I pet her?" She asked, but Aurora turned her head towards Mia, and her eyes narrowed slightly.

The flames on her feathers burned brighter and a small puff of smoke escaped from her beak.

Orion chuckled after seeing this. "She’s.... selective about who she gets close to, so you’ll have to earn her trust."

"Oh, I can definitely earn her trust, just watch me."

Aurora let out a cry that almost sounded like a scoff before turning back to Orion.

She knew what Mia wanted to do so she wasn’t going to let it happen, but Mia was determined to win Aurora over.

If her boyfriend could tame a beast as powerful as Aurora, then she was definitely going to do the same as well.

Mia knelt a few feet away from Aurora then she slowly stretched her arm towards her. "Hey there, Aurora. I’m Mia. So, what do you think about being my friend?"

Aurora blinked and tilted her head before ruffling her feathers threateningly and sending a small puff of smoke into the air.

"Is…is that a good sign?" Mia asked, glancing at Orion.

He stifled a laugh. "Yep… That’s definitely a good sign."

Dahlia also tried not to laugh out loud because of the soot currently covering Mia’s pretty face.

"Hmph," Mia huffed and folded her arms. "Let’s try something different," She reached into her bag and brought out a small pouch of snacks. "You like snacks, right, Aurora?"

Aurora’s head snapped towards the pouch and her eyes gleamed with interest. She stepped closer with a slow and steady movement until she was within arm’s length of Mia.

After that, she took a bite of the snack Mia was holding, then another one and another.

And this was how the mighty Phoenix became beaten twice by the crunchy and delicious food called snacks.

This word had become the Phoenix bird’s oasis.

It was now her greatest source of joy. After all, there was nothing she could do about it because the snacks were yummy, and she blamed the two-legged elf prince and fox princess for introducing her to something as yummy as this.

"See? I told you, we would get along," Mia said with a grin while feeding Aurora.

Aurora leaned forward again for more and her beak snapped up the treat before letting out a soft chirp. She was in heaven right now.

Seeing this, Mia’s grin widened a bit. "Hehe… We’re definitely friends now."

Mia continued to feed and pat the bird, but Aurora had other plans for her.

With a mischievous glint in her eyes, Aurora flapped her wings and sent a small gust of wind and even more ash straight at Mia’s face.

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"Hey!!!" Mia exclaimed and coughed as she waved the ash away. "What was that for?"

Orion burst into laughter and Dahlia covered her lips with her hands as she tried to hide her giggle behind them.

"I think she likes you," Orion said teasingly.

Mia glared at him but her lips had twitched into a reluctant smile. "She has a funny way of showing it, then."

"Yeah, she does," Orion approached her and helped Mia to clean the soot away.

A few minutes later, Mia tried once again to pat Aurora, and Dahlia stood back to watch as the Phoenix made it difficult for Mia to pet her this time around.

To Aurora, Orion was the first to ever pet her and she would like to keep it that way.

She only allowed Mia to pet her out of curiosity.

No, it was the cookies.

Blame the cookies!!!

Those delicious snacks were yummy and dangerous at the same time.

The mighty powers of snacks had compelled her to allow someone else to pat her head aside from Orion. But she would never allow that to happen again…even if it meant Mia was holding a bigger basket of yummy snacks now and she had to resist it.

Dahlia giggled as she watched the hungry Phoenix devouring the snacks in the basket, and once she was satisfied, Aurora shrunk from her monstrous size to that of a little bird before resting on Orion’s lap, giving him free access to pat her as much as he wanted.

Seeing this, Dahlia marveled at the special bond Orion shared with his Phoenix.

It was really impressive to see how he was able to tame a dangerous beast like Aurora.

Now, she was asleep on his lap and Orion continued to stroke her fur. A smile appeared on Dahlia’s face and she couldn’t help but wish that she was in Aurora’s place right now.

Just being close to Orion was the best feeling she had ever experienced and Dahlia could understand why his Phoenix loved being pet by him, but Orion’s words broke through her thoughts.