Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

Rain wondered how he could answer that question. He didn't want to reveal the secrets of that technique since he never heard of anything like that… That being said, he couldn't imagine a way to counter it. He could use it in all sorts of terrains, after all.

"You need to know some earth magic to be able to pull it off," Rain replied. "Your skills with the bow are pretty good, but you are still getting better, learning something different like that will only hinder your growth."

"Is that so?" Asche asked.

Rain didn't know if he convinced Asche, but it was fine either way. He could only work with them so many times, and they will have to be professional even if they come to dislike him in order to complete their goals.

The others began to wake up one after the other, and thanks to that, the villagers showed up to thank them for their hard work. While only the third village had been attacked, they all worked together, so the word spread out quite fast. They tried to get on the group's good side by offering them some rooms in a house and even dinner.

Rain thought that Jori would refuse that, but he welcomed all that with a large smile. He wasn't the type to hold grudges.

"What are we going to do Tonight?" Reca asked after they had dinner in the house of the village chief.

"I suppose we need to decide that now, even though we still have some hours left…" Jori said. "Did you propose that idea yesterday because you think that you can protect one of the villages on your own, Rain?"

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"That is right," Rain replied.

"I suppose you can also move and help the other villages fast, considering your speed…" Jori rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Our mission is to defeat the monsters, but we also should prevent the damage that they can cause before that. So, we should split. Rain can stay in the second village and then warn both sides if something happens by using his magic."

Everyone nodded; if Rain could cover and help them that fast, then they won't have to worry about splitting the group like that. In the end, Jori decided to guard the third village with Liss, while the first would be guarded by Asche, Reca, and Terra.

"Liss can use fire magic, so she can fire a fireball upward as soon as we notice the enemies approach, but you guys will have to endure a bit longer since you can only use the method of alert of the villagers," Jori said.

"We can fend off the monsters for a while; it will be fine since Terra will be with us," Reca said.

Rain wondered if his little performance made the group feel like they should prove themselves as well. He also wondered, since the fact that he had become a big brother to three girls, it would be a common occurrence for him to worry about others that were younger. That sure was troublesome… His image of having a second life in another world was a bit different than that.

"Hey, Rain," Jori said. "We still have some time, so why don't we spar a little? I heard your father was a knight, so you know how to handle swords, right?"

"You were pretending to be asleep, huh?" Asche furrowed her eyebrows.

"I was waking up, anyway. Are you up for it?" Jori asked. "I practice with Reca on a daily basis, but we know each other's moves too well to call it a real sparring session."

"We won't keep passing confidence to the villagers if we do that at night, even though the monsters only show up after midnight," Rain said.

"It will be fine; it will be just for a short while," Jori said.

"Your sword might break," Rain said.

"I will do my best to avoid that," Jori said.

Rain felt like sighing. He wondered if Jori had something weird in mind in proposing that in the middle of a mission. He would have welcomed that at any given time since that was the best method of training.

"Okay then, let's do this," Rain said.

In the end, Rain made up his mind. Things will be fine if he just hits Jori in the stomach once. He will lose his dinner, but that would be the price of his own decision-making. Rain had experienced giving his father a lot of trouble, so he didn't think that he would lose against a kid.

Rain and Jori faced themselves ten meters away from each other and stared at each other for a short while. Jori moved his sword to hit Rain with the side of the weapon to avoid unnecessary damage. Despite that, the girls still didn't look that eager to see them spar. Still, they didn't feel like stopping them either.

Rain touched the ground, and then made a hard and thick layer of earth cover his fists, and then assumed his fighting stance… slightly putting his left foot forward and lowering his stance while both of his fists were in front of himself while the left one was slightly pointing toward Jori.

That was a weird stance, or so Jori thought, but that didn't stop him from stepping in and covering that distance in the blink of an eye and swinging down his sword. In response, rain waved his body to the side and dodged the attack by a paper-thin margin. Still, Jori predicted that and soon stopped his sword midway.

Rain was hoping that he would be able to gain more experience by focusing on dodging, but he couldn't dodge the second attack, so he moved his right arm to block the sword strike. The sound of metal echoed in the area, but it soon ended and gave room to a grunt of pain.

Before Jori could do anything else, Rain hit his stomach with his right knee, making him bend his body and then lose his dinner.