Chapter 182 Flight

When two nearly twenty-meter-tall firebirds both lowered their heads to look at him, Logan felt an immense pressure.

Especially when his Chakra is insufficient... Logan looked towards the firebird called 'Kotonami' that had first landed and decided to answer her previous question first.

"Um, my name is Raiden Hattori."

"Since it's a long-abandoned 'entrance,' no humans should be able to summon themselves here. Akiyama, do you know where this place corresponds to?" Kotonami, with her elegant posture, smoothed her beautiful feathers as she spoke to her companion.

The more flamboyant male firebird, called Akiyama, whose feathers blazed like fire, shook his head, "I'm not sure. I have to go back and check the records."

'Am I speaking too softly?' Seeing that no one paid attention to him, Logan felt a bit embarrassed.

"Um…"

"So what do we do with this human? He passed the entrance test, so according to the rules..."

"Does this entrance even count? It's half-abandoned."

"So what should we do?"

"We can just send it back."

"No, I think we should bring him over."

Logan looked blankly as he listened to the two birds discussing, even arguing, about how to handle him, the outsider.

Send him back? There's no way Logan would agree. He had gone through so much trouble to reverse-summon himself here through the shrine. Wasn't he just hoping for a powerful Summoned Beast?' Just looking at the size of these two birds, they are definitely on the same level as Gamabunta and Manda, with intelligence and an impressive appearance. They're obviously a top-notch Summoned Beast. The most important thing is, the other party didn't seem hostile. Moreover, if he went back now, there was no telling if he could come back again.

"Hey, you two! Don't forget there's a person here!"

As the birds couldn't reach a conclusion and quieted down, Logan, feeling ignored for too long, raised his hand and shouted to remind them of his presence.

Swish, swish. Their gazes shot down towards him. Despite their red eyes being beautiful, their enormous bodies added a lot of pressure.

Stare--

"Can I get an explanation?" Logan hesitated and said weakly.

The two firebirds exchanged a glance, sharing some unspoken communication. The clear, melodious female voice came from the graceful firebird's mouth, "Human, let me introduce you. This is the 'Paulownia Forest', and we are the Divine Bird Clan that resides here."

'Divine Bird Clan...' Logan repeated the term in his mind and took a look at the two birds' fiery bodies, 'They seemed to be very powerful.'

"My name is Kotonami, and this is Akiyama... By the way, human, what's your name?"

"..." Logan wanted to complain, but finally held back and said his name again.

"I have a question." Logan carefully chose his words, "Are you Summoned Beast that can sign a contract?"

"Summoned Beast..." Akiyama's feathers flickered, there's a strange look on his face.

"You can put it that way." Kotonami answered, her tone gentle.

'It seems the female ones were easier to talk to.' Logan thought.

Logan wanted to ask more questions. This territory of Summoned Beasts clearly didn't exist in the original work. The shrine under Ogama Shrine had faint Space-Time fluctuations but was deserted, suggesting there might be some backstory.

Unexpectedly, after Logan provided the simplest information, Akiyama said something to Kotonami, and the two divine birds started conversing again.

"Raiden Hattori, come up." Logan, waiting in a daze for their conversation to end, heard Kotonami call out to him, indicating they had reached a decision.

The sound of air currents being disturbed came from above. Kotonami lowered her body, her pure, transparent red eyes are looking at him.

"Uh, what are you doing?" The other party seemed to be gesturing for him to stand on her back, but Logan didn't react for a moment.

"We're going to Paulownia Forest." Kotonami explained, then paused before adding, "By flying."

Images of clouds being blown away by strong winds flashed through Logan's mind.

"You are letting this human to sit on your back?" Akiyama's voice, tinged with dissatisfaction, sounded as he looked at Logan, "Why not just carry it over?"

'Carry it over? That doesn't sound pleasant. And, can you please stop calling me it?' The corner of Logan's mouth couldn't help but twitched, 'This bird called Akiyama seemed to dislike me. Was it a case of the same gender repelling each other? But considering we were different species, that shouldn't matter.'

After a moment of hesitation, Logan saw that Kotonami didn't say anything and still leaned on the ground. He raised his feet and was ready to step onto her back.

Suddenly, a gust of hot wind made Logan lose his balance slightly, "Forget it, I'll take it there."

Akiyama said, reluctantly squatting down next to Logan with a heavy sense of pride.

'Damn you.' Logan muttered in his heart. He didn't mind much, though. Seeing Akiyama give in, Kotonami let out a snort, lifted herself, and flew off with a flap of her wings.

"What are you doing standing there in a daze? Hurry up." Akiyama urged. With the first flap of her wings, the wind picked up, and in the blink of an eye, Kotonami's fiery red figure had turned into a dot on the horizon.

Logan smacked his lips and, without hesitation, leaped onto Akiyama's fiery feathers, 'Oh, it felt warm to the touch, like they contained real fire...' As soon as he steadied himself, Logan felt an enormous surge of acceleration.

Whoosh…

Akiyama, without a word, shot up into the sky. The wind went from calm to fierce in an instant. Logan quickly lay down, gripping the feathers tightly. The scenery on both sides changed rapidly. This acceleration was far more intense than a roller coaster.

Enduring the discomfort from the constant acceleration, Logan nearly wanted to pull out his sword and slash the bird. With no cockpit and the throttle pushed to the limit, this kind of speed was unbearable for an ordinary person.

A few seconds later, they were already among the clouds. As the flight steadied somewhat, Logan exhaled and glanced down. His heart raced.

The trees and mountains below kept shrinking, giving him a bird's-eye view like from an aerial shot. The wings on either side flapped, and the fluctuations of the airflow can almost be seen with the naked eye.

Akiyama continued to climb, and although Logan had flown in planes before, riding a bird with no safety measures was an entirely different experience. Any careless mistake would result in a fatal fall from this height, no matter how strong he was. Logan didn't calm down until the magical bird under his seat turned into a horizontal plane.

Most Ninjas are not afraid of heights. They can gather the Chakra on their body surface to resist the wind's erosion. In addition, the temperature of the feathers reduces the coldness, so Logan gradually adapts. He saw a red figure in the distance against the reddish sky, probably Kotonami.

The ground was far below, the sky vast like the ocean. The boundless space made him feel a sense of exhilarating freedom. During the flight, Akiyama didn't speak, and Logan didn't bother trying to start a conversation. Instead, he pondered Kotonami's earlier words.

'She said we were going to the 'Paulownia Forest'. Wasn't that place back there part of it?'

His question was soon answered. At some point, Kotonami's figure flickered and vanished. Before Logan could react, Akiyama flew rapidly forward, and they passed through an almost invisible barrier like an eggshell with no resistance.

Suddenly, the view changed, feeling less fantastical and more real. Logan began to understand. Based on what the two birds had said earlier, the place where he arrived using the Reverse Summoning Technique might have been a temporary space, not the actual territory of the Summoned Beasts.

This explained why he encountered the stone statue regardless of the direction he took, possibly as a test to reach the true master of this place.