Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

Even after the three hours, the group didn't find any clues about how the monsters remained hidden. In any case, not everything was bad news. While the mission was going in an unexpected direction, Rain didn't mind it. The fact that he could do some monster hunting and make his path level up ten times faster, considering the cost of mana, was pretty good.

After lunch, the group began to move again. This time, Jori used his head a bit more and made everyone walk around an area together to avoid ambushes when their strength was halved. That also confirmed that the monsters only attacked when their chances of winning were quite high.

"This isn't natural monster behavior… I suppose since they came from the magic people's territory, they can do that," Jori said.

"Maybe not; maybe they are being controlled by them with magic to make them this hard to deal with," Rain said. "I heard that there is a tribe of them that can control others with a single look in their eyes."

"You are well informed," Jori said and then began to rub his chin thoughtfully. "If I remember well, some soldier of the kingdom was captured by the enemy and began to work for them… some people said that he was being controlled."

It seemed that Roan was lucky since such a rumor fell on his lap. That sure was convenient. Still, while that explained a few things about the monsters, there were many others hard to understand or imagine an explanation. Regardless, the group moved away from the area when the sun was setting to avoid problems and set their camp behind a hill since there were no trees around.

This time, Rain didn't forget to fix the ground before they sat down. He made the place free of pebbles, made some walls against the wind, and fixed the angle of the land to add some extra comfort while sleeping. During that time, Rain noticed that Liss was looking at him. She was also the other mage of the group, so she was probably trying to learn a thing or two.

"While she can use wind and fire magic, I guess she didn't learn before she was ten, so her magic power and skills are limited," Rain thought.

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Specialized training was good to show quick results, but they weren't that good in the long run if one wants to know a lot. Then again, Rain knew that improving their skills while thinking of a particular build was the best option. Among the mages that he had heard about, they had simple and advanced skills that were pretty similar.

That was because the simple ones would help them learn and improve the more advanced ones.

"We can't stay here forever, and I think that I want to bring the heads of at least forty of those monsters to the capital," Jori said. "I want to make a single group tomorrow to look for the enemies, one small enough to make the monsters come at us."

"It would be nice if there was a village nearby for us to borrow a wagon. The monsters' shells could also become valuable," Rain said.

"Yeah, but what do you think about my idea?" Jori asked.

"It might work, but it also puts the others left behind in danger," Rain replied.

"We just need to leave them in the area before the hills, then," Reca said.

Rain felt like sighing. He could see what they were thinking… They want to take those that can fight without limitations and leave those that can't behind. It was the laws of physics; the human race never managed to leave a place without leaving a lot of things behind… while that could be the most optimal solution in the short run, it wasn't in the long run.

It would leave lingering problems for the group that will only escalate over time.

"Tell us more in detail what you have in mind," Rain said.

"For now, I want to test if the monsters will come if we go in groups of four," Jori said. "Reca and I can fend for ourselves in the melee, and you and Asche can stop the enemies from a distance before being overwhelmed. That should be enough against a group of up to ten monsters."

Rain looked at Liss and Terra. They tried to hide as much as they could, but it was clear that they took that as if they were slowing don't the group. No one got hurt, so Terra didn't have to use her healing magic, and Liss could only show her power when someone was on the frontline.

Rain noticed that they looked quite a bit nervous during the fight earlier, but that was to be expected from kids who had never fought monsters.

"What do you guys think?" Rain asked. "Are you fine being left behind?"

"... If there is no other option," Liss said while looking away.

"I just hope that nothing serious will happen while we wait… but if you can use healing magic…" Terra added.

Rain felt like sighing. Those kids were the textbook version of people who would let others use them and throw them away when it was convenient without saying a single thing. Still, it seemed that the others had some backbone, or at least they got some thanks to the recent events.

"I don't think that splitting up like that again is a good idea," Asche said. "Just like Terra said, if we get hurt, and she is too far away, things might become even more troublesome. At best, we should split into two groups like the same as before and head in the same direction while keeping a distance from each other. That way, both groups can help each other."

Rain nodded in satisfaction; you can do it if you put your mind to it. Jori also began to seriously think about that. Rain didn't know if Reca didn't care either way, but she didn't say anything against that idea. The downside was the fact that they didn't know how far apart they had to be for the plan to work.