Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

"You picked a weird time to learn that," Rain frowned.

"I didn't pick a weird time. It took me all these years to learn it… although I had a bit more time to practice now since the kids can be watched by Father and Mother as well," Terra explained.

Rain didn't notice that, but Terra was also training hard… it was hard to notice it since she was trying to learn that technique while also using her usual healing skills. Basically, Terra had to control her mana to a point that the mana would follow her will no matter what.

"So, you decide to make the spell activate with your willpower at the moment when it is needed?" Rain asked.

"No, you have to give an order to make the spell activate under certain conditions," Terra explained. "Like, activate when you start to bleed. I just learned it, though, and it only lasts for one hour. I have to improve it."

A spell that works based on conditions… that was interesting. Rain asked if Terra could activate the same spell several times on the same target, but she couldn't yet. She learned the spell that day.

"I will try that as well, and we can share our findings later," Rain said. "Anyway, let's enjoy the party and stay with the kids."

That news could add a lot of options for the group, but if it were easy, the martial artists would have done it… and now they have been exterminated. At least Rain and Terra learned a bit of their fighting style… even though their main path was still unknown.

The next day, Rain noticed that Danny and Annie seemed way more cheerful than usual, so the party had served its purpose.

At the same time, he could see Danny finally succeeding in doing the handstands… Rain forgot to check their progress, but he soon confirmed that they were on the level forty-eight and forty six of the human path… Rain didn't recall when he reached that level, but he was pretty sure that he was a bit slower than them…

"Should I feel happy that my kids are off with a better start than me or unhappy due to my incompetence?" Rain wondered. "Well, they have a good teacher at their age, and I didn't… so maybe I can use that excuse for a while."

Rain's kids could already speak very well, and to increase their learning and progress, Rain was considering teaching them how to read and write as well… he wondered if he was being too spartan with them. Still, he didn't want to choose their paths, but he wanted them to have as much time as possible to improve their healing skills.

After playing with his kids for a while, another day of training started… half of the captains already had full squads for them… so the Raging Phoenix already had twelve hundred members. It was a decent force, and they would always scout around the mountains to gain experience and spread good rumors about them. Half of them were fully equipped too.

"I guess it is fine for us to make some big moves on the other areas of the country to improve our names," Rain rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "They still need more training, but we can use them to escort goods for other parts of the kingdom and they still will train along the way."

"While I want to trust them, not everyone is an addicted to training as you, Rain," Roan frowned. "I hate to admit this, but I can only train this hard daily because I would feel ashamed if I didn't do as much as you. If you weren't around, I would slack a lot more."

"I can confirm that," Leiah said. "You should keep living with us forever, Rain. That way, I can keep bragging to the neighbors that my husband still has abs that I can see despite his age."

"I am not even forty yet," Roan protested. "Just because people call me grandpa, I am still in the apex of my youth."

"Didn't you say just say that you would be slacking around if it weren't for Rain?" Leiah asked. "The power of your youth is a bit lacking, don't you think?"

Rain felt like sighing… he didn't want to see such an interaction of his parents back and forth… It made him feel weird. Regardless, Rain began to think about the plan in detail before putting it into practice… with a force of five hundred on the area, they will probably be able to repel most attacks of the beast people.

Seara also could call in for reinforcements as well, so things looked fine enough.

While considering that possibility and also studying the technique that Terra just learned, Rain started to feel more tired mentally as of late… perhaps he needed a break. Maybe if he wreaks havoc on the beast people's territory, they will give up once and for all. However, just when Rain was about to take the next step… Some unexpected visitors showed up, they were Asche and Liss.

"Auntie!" Annie said while showing an unusual large smile.

"Why do you have to call me auntie… call me big Sis Asche," Asche said while facepalming.

"Did something happen? You guys haven't visited us here in half a year," Terra asked while trying to hold back her laugh.

"... Bad news, all the soldiers that were being watched just vanished overnight yesterday," Liss said.

Everyone opened their eyes widely when they heard that… how was that possible? Twenty thousand soldiers disappeared overnight without leaving any traces? That was insanity… everyone looked at Rain for an explanation, but he just shrugged.

"It seems that something big is going to happen soon," Rain said while looking at the horizon.

One day later, they were informed by an astonished Seara… the magic people were marching toward their territory. Not to make more friends, since they had an army of twenty thousand on their side.