"Cheep?" Thor tilted his head in confusion, shifting his gaze to the birdcage in Alan's hand, then looked at Alan with a strange expression.
"That's right, I mean it." Alan placed the birdcage on the ground. "Can you communicate with it? I remember you Thunderbirds are distant relatives of phoenixes; it should understand you." Alan and Thor had a strong mental link, allowing them to communicate seamlessly, but he was at a loss with the phoenix. Moreover, this phoenix seemed completely withdrawn; it hadn't even made a sound since he seized it.
"Cheep!" After Alan's explanation, Thor finally understood what had happened to the phoenix, and then confidently chirped at him. After accepting Alan's request, Thor excitedly raised his right claw, revealing a small ring on his index claw. As Thor infused magic into the ring, a magical fluctuation quickly emanated from it, and a brilliant magical aura lit up. In an instant, this aura began to spread from his claws, until it completely enveloped Thor.
In just two seconds, Thor's body, which was originally more robust than a mature bull, rapidly shrank, stopping only when it was about the size of a pug. This ring, which allowed Thor to freely change his size, was naturally Alan's Shrinking Ring. Hog also had one of these items, but Alan had always worn it around Hog's neck as a collar. The one on Thor was custom-made by Alan for him, allowing Thor to shrink his size at will, which made it convenient for him to follow Alan freely in the future. He couldn't always carry a normal-sized Thunderbird, and the current Thor was still young. In another two years, when he grew larger, his size would become even more enormous.
After transforming into a tiny Thunderbird, Thor no longer had his original sharp and heroic demeanor; instead, he looked adorably clumsy, like a griffon plush toy. Thor skillfully flapped his wings twice to stabilize himself, clearly having familiarized himself with the effects of the Shrinking Ring before, and likely having played with it quite a bit in private.
"Chirp chirp!" The shrunken Thor's voice had changed. He happily flapped his wings for a bit, then landed directly beside the phoenix, and immediately began to communicate with the phoenix, which was similar in size to him, with chirp-chirp sounds.
The phoenix, which had been looking dejected, was startled when he saw Thor suddenly transform. At this moment, he was looking at the young Thunderbird in front of him with some confusion. And when he heard Thor's chirps, it took him a while to come back to his senses.
"Screech!" Alan noticed that Thor had been chirping at the phoenix for a long time without a response, and at first, he thought they couldn't understand each other. He was even ready to use the Vanishing Cabinet to go back to Germany and call Hog, who was still monitoring, but then the phoenix suddenly reacted. As if roused from a daze, the phoenix's eyes still showed a hint of confusion, but at least he had now recognized that the creature that had suddenly shrunk was of his own kind, possessing a similar bird language. Thus, the next period of time was spent with the young Thunderbird's chirp-chirp and the phoenix's screech-screech.
And with Thor's translation, Alan finally understood the phoenix's situation. It turned out that the reason this phoenix was so silent, or rather, dejected, was mainly because he was hungry. Although phoenixes, like Thunderbirds, can draw magic from lightning and absorb energy from flames, the energy obtained solely from flames was simply insufficient to sustain his normal activities. Moreover, the anti-magic shackles on his claws not only slowed down the flow of magic within the phoenix's body but also made his body and senses stiff and sluggish.
"Understood." Alan nodded upon hearing this, then looked at Thor beside him. "Tell him that I'm trying to get him out now. Ask him to cooperate and not move around. Once he's out, he can choose to stay or leave, understand?" Thor nodded in a very human-like manner upon hearing this, and then continued to communicate with the other party. As for the phoenix, upon learning that Alan wanted to help him escape, the spiritual light in his eyes gradually returned, and even his cries became increasingly high-pitched.
After giving instructions to Thor, Alan took out various equipment from his person and began to study the birdcage in front of him. In fact, the reason he was so eager to seize this phoenix, besides wanting to prevent the Silver Spears from obtaining it, was also his interest in the alchemy techniques used on this birdcage. Both the barrier that could block space and the runes that could block magic were very novel functions for Alan. Moreover, the materials used to make this birdcage alone were extremely precious. To be honest, Alan might be more interested in this birdcage than in the phoenix itself.
And when dealing with this birdcage, Alan, as usual, started with a three-hit combo from the no-injury hammer, intending to reveal all the hidden runes on the cage first. However, his simple method truly startled the phoenix in the cage. He couldn't understand what this human was trying to do, and for a moment, he thought Alan wanted to kill him directly.
But Alan had no time to consider the phoenix's feelings now; he was wholeheartedly studying the runes on the cage body. It must be said that in the wizarding world, there are indeed people beyond people and mountains beyond mountains. This type of rune on the birdcage that could directly isolate space was something he had never encountered before. It was far more profound than ordinary anti-Apparition charms and blocking runes that prohibited Portkey teleportation. The disruptor Alan had previously created only had the function of targeting single-space movement magic, but the runes on the birdcage in front of him were much more overbearing, directly sealing off the space within the barrier completely, directly prohibiting all instant transmission magic. If caught by such a barrier, even Alan's evolved Apparition, enhanced with wild lightning, would be unable to break free.
However, after a long period of study, Alan also saw the limitations of this type of rune. Firstly, because this rune was too overbearing, it required extremely high-quality materials to bear the runes. Ordinary magic metal simply could not unleash the power of this rune. Secondly, the energy consumption of this rune was ridiculously high, requiring much more magic than ordinary runes. Currently, the magic supporting this birdcage all came from the energy storage array at the base. The stored magic was measured to be as high as 400 units, almost equivalent to the reserve of an adult wizard. But even so, the birdcage would run out of magic in a few weeks, and then the array would have to be recharged in time. Alan had already seen traces of multiple recharges, and each time it was recharged, the upper limit of the energy storage array's capacity would decrease, which meant that the birdcage's usage cycle was not as long as imagined.
At the same time, this birdcage, in addition to being crafted from Mithril mixed with urim steel, was also coated with a layer of anti-magic leakage paint on its surface. Presumably, the creator wanted to use this method to make the barrier last longer, but this also indirectly shows how exaggerated the rune's energy consumption is. Without this coating, the barrier's endurance time would be significantly shortened.
And wanting to disassemble the birdcage completely without damaging the overall rune was not difficult; he just needed to drain the magic from it using the energy absorption spell. Alan started working as soon as he thought of this. He gently extended his left hand, and then a long silver snake emerged from his sleeve. The extended silver snake then wrapped itself around the birdcage. After a short wait, a click sound was heard, and the upper part of the birdcage detached directly from the base.
After removing the birdcage lid, Alan did not delve deeper into the runes on the birdcage. Instead, he shifted his focus to examining the two chains that bound the phoenix. He would have plenty of time to study the specifics later. The main function of these two chains was energy impedance. Unlike the energy absorption spell developed by Alan, they did not cause the target to lose magic. Instead, they solidified the magic within the target's body.
It is important to know that the magic within a wizard is like flowing water, constantly moving and circulating within the body. This rune, however, was like adding a thickener to the water, causing the flow of magic affected by the rune to become sluggish. This would make the target's spellcasting difficult, as casting a spell always requires outputting magic, but magic that is thick like a solid would be very difficult to convert into a spell.
"What a brilliant idea. I wonder who the alchemy master who made this birdcage is. This solidification curse is much more overbearing than my energy absorption spell." Alan exclaimed from the bottom of his heart, but he quickly shook his head, pushing these thoughts to the back of his mind. What needed to be done now was to help the phoenix unlock the chains.
And dealing with this chain could not be directly brute-forced with the energy absorption spell, because the runes on the chain had linked it to the phoenix's magic. Directly draining the energy would also harm the phoenix. However, this did not stump Alan. He drew his wand, then injected magic along the magical patterns of the chain, guiding the stagnated magic within it and increasing its fluidity. Soon, the chains entwining the phoenix slowly loosened under Alan's manipulation, eventually fully unraveling.
"Screech!!!" After the restraints on the phoenix were removed, he seemed to be freed from petrification. He excitedly flapped his wings and, accompanied by a long cry, soared high, embracing the long-awaited feeling of freedom.
And then… the phoenix fell gracefully to the ground, landing with a solid thud.
There was nothing he could do; he had been truly starved during this time. It's important to know that he wasn't just caught by Black Dragon; he had been with the Silver Spears for at least half a year. And during that half-year, he hadn't eaten anything except flames.
"It seems he's really starved. Don't rush around, replenish some energy first." Alan shook his head helplessly at the phoenix's disheveled appearance, then conjured a slab of Tebo Warthog ribs out of thin air and slapped it directly in front of him.