Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

With caution etched into their every step of the group, the group carefully navigated around the fallen white wolves. They knew all too well the cunning nature of those suspicious creatures and suspected the presence of hidden magic traps. As they moved through the aftermath of the incident, there was a palpable shift in the atmosphere…

The air grew thick with an ominous aura, and the subtle increase in mana was impossible to ignore. It was as though the very essence of the area had taken on a darker, more fearsome tone. This newfound energy added to their sense of unease as they ventured around, their senses keen and alert, ready for whatever challenges lay ahead.

"... They did something here, but it is probably something that will only be revealed after a while," Rain said. "We will have to keep some squads here and keep an eye on this place and on the other spots."

"Do you think that the other packs… ended up like this?" Kei asked while having a hard time keeping her body straight since she was so creeped out by the scene in front of them.

"I would bet on it…" Rain said. "Anyway, you all should retreat and send the squads here and to the next spot, I will check the areas beyond the capital and talk with Branden and Esmeralda. Man… I really should invent a cellphone here."

"What is a cellphone?" Jori asked.

"Nothing important, I am thinking out loud," Rain said.

While traveling back and forth to the capital only took eight hours for Rain, he could find better uses for his time… even though talking with Branden and Esmeralda about such things were absolutely necessary.

In any case, Rain didn't use the tunnels in order to check the situations on the cities and towns along the way. As one would expect, everyone was quite nervous since earthquakes weren't signs of good omen for most folk.

In the end, Rain checked the other locations of the packs of wolves and confirmed that they did the same thing… since it was night, no one found out what had happened, but it will be hard to hide that evidence without using magic. Regardless, Rain went to talk with Esmeralda and Branden and found them looking at the city through the room and seeing a lot of people nervously looking around.

They also looked quite shaken.

"Rain… what was that?" Branden asked.

Rain explained to those two what he had found, but they found hard to believe… understanding it was even harder. Something like that was absurd, after all. Still, there was no point in denying it… The enemies were using a lot of stuff that was unknown for humans… perhaps not even Seadrei would know a few things about it, even though he was five hundred years old.

"For such a thing to happen… the enemies must be planning to make us worry with things inside and outside our territory," Esmeralda said while imagining the scene. "What could possible else would they want when they can control monsters?"

"I wish I could say that we shouldn't think too much about that…" Rain said. "I will make my guys watch those areas, you will have to tell people that they shouldn't approach the locations that they will be."

"Your group is already known and recognized by the country, their words alone should be enough for that since they are the only army that we have right now," Esmeralda explained.

"How are the former members of the king's blade faring?" Branden asked.

"They are training hard, they can only do that since I didn't give them any real job," Rain explained. "I have a few things in mind for them, but I will have to delay that with this new weird incident. Anyway, sorry, but you guys will have to try to calm down the population without revealing too much."

"We can't reveal what we don't know and end up spreading a lie, after all," Branden nodded. "I will ask Orcis and Lorene to spread some rumors with their merchants." Experience tales at empire

That was the best thing they all could do now, so Rain just nodded and then went to confirm that those spots would be free from onlookers until his squads arrived.

Although Rain had more warriors than he had initially planned, around twenty-five hundred now, it was clear that he would need more… the enemies were being really troublesome. It seemed that Rain would have to expand his area of influence more, but he wanted his warriors close by all the time in order to keep their loyalty growing.

Staying close to them and making them stronger was probably the most effective way for that.

In any case, before morning could arrive, all of the weird spots had been guarded by the squads that worked for Rain. He told them to send reports if anything happens, even if they have to send one every hour.

"I didn't even have the time to make them learn Limit Breaker… this will be tough," Rain thought. "At this point in time, it is clear that the enemy also fears the Raging Phoenix and doesn't want them to become stronger."

With Limit Breaker, the warriors will be able to attack, but they also will become much tougher as well and that was what Rain truly wanted… in any case, he will have to adapt to the situation, perhaps sending his friends to instruct them in those areas will do the trick…

When Rain returned home, everyone was already aware of the situation and he couldn't help but sigh since worrying was the last thing that Seara needed. Her actions would have to be limited from now on, so she will have a lot of time to think and worry… as expected, he had to deal with the whole thing as soon as possible.

For starters, Rain himself went to help finish off the packs of monsters on the coast. At the same time, he created small headquarters for his warriors to guard that side of the continent, but just when that was solved…