Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

"For now, I want to hear what you guys think we should do given what we heard," Jori said. "You can start, Reca."

"Maybe we shouldn't split today and just wait and see where the enemies will attack. Once they do that, we can dash to the area," Reca said.

"Staying on the second village will help with that," Asche said. "I also agree with the plan."

"The problem is the fact that it will take a while to reach those places, at least ten minutes if we run nonstop," Liss said. "I don't like the idea of spitting up either, but that will be enough time for the monsters to cause their havoc."

Terra nodded as well. The group only had two options, splitting or not splitting in the end. However, they didn't think that they actually could split in a more efficient way. Everyone looked at Rain to hear what he had to say, but he didn't know if he should. Promoting reckless behavior in front of teens was never a good thing, even if he had the skills to back that up.

"I think we should split into three groups, considering what we heard; the third village was attacked the least, so we can keep only a single person there; at the same time, it will be easier to defend since it is the smaller village," Rain explained. "Even if it isn't much, the villages should have a fighting force that can assist us, so it won't be terrible if we split up now.

My guess is that the monsters are waiting for help to attack with all their might, so we can use a few days to gain some information about the area and how we can deal with them."

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The group looked surprised since they didn't think that Rain would say such a thing. While his reasoning was sound, it was pretty reckless, considering what they experienced before.

"This is hard… your opinions make sense so…" Jori said while rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Let's camp in the second village; if something happens in the other villages, we can borrow some horses, and that will help us reach those areas faster."

Everyone nodded. While Rain's idea was discarded, he wasn't bothered by it since it was something that could be temporary. Also, if something happens in the other villages, he has his own solution to the problems. He wouldn't lose anything by being patient; he actually would gain a lot when the time came.

The group returned to the second village when the sun set, and then they went to talk with one of the farmers that had a bunch of horses. The man didn't like the idea of lending his horse to a bunch of kids, but it was for the protection of the villages, so it would be foolish of him to refuse them.

After they secured that, the group camped in front of the entrance of the village and began to cook their dinner. They had learned their lesson from before, so they kept their guard up for attacks. Still, nothing happened even after a couple of hours after their meal.

"The villagers said that the attacks happen after midnight, so I guess we can relax for a bit," Jori said. "We will probably have the chance to rest during the day, so let's try hard and stay awake throughout the night."

"Maybe I shouldn't have kept the weights with me today…" Rain thought.

Staying awake past ten was quite the ordeal for Rain, given his body. Moreover, pushing his body to the limits on a daily basis also made him fall asleep in a matter of seconds once he lay on his bed. Still, he decided to think of that as another way to train his willpower.

In the end, nothing happened for several hours. However, when it was around three in the morning, and everyone had a really hard time staying awake, they noticed that the atmosphere began to change. They immediately got up with their weapons in hand.

"Rain?" Jori asked.

"It isn't here… I suppose they realized that attacking this place wouldn't be easy considering that we are here," Rain explained. "I guess this time, they are operating with the idea of causing damage without suffering any losses."

Rain realized that if it was true, the monsters returned to their base at some point and received new orders. That would explain why they didn't attack the villages sooner. Still, the group couldn't tell where the enemies would attack… until they saw some farmers looking toward the East, and everyone saw some torches lighting up in the same direction.

"It is a sign… they are probably being attacked!" Jori said. "Why didn't they tell us that they could communicate like this?"

Only five farmers left in the same direction, and while the group did the same, it was clear that they wouldn't arrive in time. While everyone was climbing the horses, Rain got rid of the weights on his ankles and then ran in that direction while using his earth magic to boost his moments.

"Hey, Rai… n?" Jori furrowed his eyebrows as he watched Rain disappear in the darkness of the night at supersonic speeds.

The others also looked speechless… they didn't think that a mage unless they had reached the peak in a single field of magic, would be able to pull that off.

"It should be forty meters per second now… I thought that I would have improved more," Rain furrowed his eyebrows. "I still can use my free points to increase my magic and this, but…"

In the end, Rain decided to forget that for now and then equipped his forearm guards. He didn't know how many enemies he would be fighting there, but it was better to be safe than sorry. In any case, in exactly one minute, Rain reached the other village and saw some farmers moving toward the fences that kept their cattle locked.

This time… the beast destroyed a bunch of the fences and then charged at the farmers.