The phoenix eggs had drawn most of Liszt's attention, but the great tree holding the phoenix nest was still worth careful examination.
"This is a Bug Grass!" He identified it easily.
Yet the Bug Grass sprite was nowhere to be found. Liszt circled the tree but found no sprite with the same attribute as the Bug Grass.
"Where did the sprite go? It probably wasn't eaten—the Bug Grass hasn't lost any magic power... This phoenix nest must have been here for quite some time. Could the sprite have been frightened away by the Draconic Phoenix and now, having ventured out, dared not return?" That was certainly possible.
So he did not go far. After making a circuit, he returned to lurk beneath the fire-attributed Bug Grass tree. "A Ke, have you figured out what kind of tree this is?"
"There is no record of a similar tree species in the books, Brother." A Ke plucked a few leaves and shook her head.
Liszt picked several leaves as well and examined them.
The leaves were shaped like five-pointed stars, their outlines somewhat resembling maple leaves, but their edges were extremely rounded, utterly unlike maples. The entire tree stood around thirty meters tall. Its trunk was straight, its branches rather rounded, and its bark appeared smooth, giving it a very distinctive form. It was the first time Liszt had ever seen a tree of this style.
"Not a maple tree. Could it be a parasol tree? No, that isn't right either. Parasol trees don't look like this."
Phoenixes—or rather, immortal birds—were said in related legends to favor nesting in parasol trees. At death, they would turn to ash before being reborn. Alas, legends were only legends. The three bird eggs were proof enough that even a super Dragon-Blood Magic Beast was still