Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

"No, there are more soldiers there, but they aren't doing anything out of the norm," Seadir explained. "Maybe the king decided to focus on dealing with the magic people since he has a grudge against them, like Joanis."

Even if that was true, Rain couldn't understand that action completely… they should know that Rain was aware of their goals, and splitting their forces now seemed the best option… it wasn't like they needed many armies to deal with the magic people when they can't use magic.

In any case, the group returned home and found Leiah and Roan organizing a bunch of potions. While they were of low quality, their numbers were quite high.

"A lot more people are willing to help since they didn't want to send their people to another war," Leiah explained. "They already know that the king is demanding soldiers from all over the country."

"No one wants to move away from the area?" Rain asked while frowning.

"No, we are surprised as well, even though not many people here died in the last war," Leiah said.

Since that area had to produce food, it was natural that not many people would be called to join the battles. Still, plenty of people died in the last few decades during the conflicts, and now the king wanted to call as many soldiers as possible to join his cause.

"... Tomorrow, I am going to look for Branden again and try to free him, Orcis, and Lorene if I can," Rain explained. "After that, I am going to check things on the border and see what they are doing. In the meantime, you all should guard the northern side of the waterway while the sea folk will guard the other side."

"That is a lot of ground to cover," Terra said. "We can move faster now since we improved our skills, but we are still seriously lacking manpower."

"That is one of the reasons I seriously want to find Branden. With him on our side, some members of the organization will join us," Rain explained. "Orcis should have some loyal soldiers as well."

"For now, the king is taking us lightly since only that Battalion came to check the area, so we will be fine for now," Roan said. "Things will be better for us if the sea folk begin to attack the coast as well. While I feel that the king won't care if the port town is destroyed now, at least it will split their focus."

"Why not ask them to use their abilities to also make their own waterway?" Liss asked. "They would be able to invade the territory without losing their terrain advantage."

"It seems that they are still organizing their forces. From what I heard, they live in many cities underground, and they are pretty far away from each other," Rain explained.

"It might take a few weeks for them to ready their army; that would explain why so many of them were kidnapped over the years, and they didn't have the chance to respond… in any case, I will be sure to cause some havoc in their place to keep the enemies busy."

"Try not to target civilians… things will be easier this way, and eventually, people will begin to believe in our side better," Roan added.

"Naturally, Perhaps not so many since many people still want to exterminate all the magic people," Rain said.

The king's ambitions were marked by an air of uncertainty. While his aspiration to secure a prominent place in history and potentially attain the status of the most renowned human monarch was evident, delving deeper into the layers of his true motivations presented a challenging puzzle.

He had a few potential strategies at his disposal to attain his goals and leave a lasting legacy. These included defeating the sea emperor, eradicating the magic people, or orchestrating the downfall of the human kingdom itself.

Out of these options, the latter seemed most feasible, largely due to the king's apparent lack of strategic thinking. While he aspired to greatness, his ability to execute complex military or diplomatic maneuvers was in doubt.

Consequently, undermining the stability of the human kingdom appeared to be his likeliest path to achieving renown, even though the ramifications of such a course could be devastating for all involved.

From that day onward, the kids who once lived in the orphanage were able to walk freely around the village. Rain also made sure to build some extra rooms for all of them… it wasn't hard since they only had fifty of those. Cooking enough food for all of them was the real challenge.

After dinner, Rain and his friends went outside to relax a bit since things were a bit chaotic at the dinner table. The kids had too much energy for their own good.

"You said what you are going to do, but do you want us just to check the waterway from enemies?" Reca asked.

"I don't know what will happen, so this is your chance to keep training and getting stronger," Rain explained. "The enemies won't hold back, so you will need all the help that we can get."

Rain showed his weights, and everyone understood that even while he was making the waterway, Rain was training his body. He was truly addicted to training, and that explained why he had so little knowledge in some fields.

"We are planning to use that cart to move around faster. You don't mind, do you?" Asche asked.

"It might be hard to move without the rails. I guess I will have to change the cart a bit," Rain thought and then went to grab the cart.

Rain found great pleasure in his mastery of earth magic. His cart had been constructed from this versatile magic, which allowed him to craft and adapt the vehicle to his specifications. Swiftly, he attached an extra wheel and the essential components to enable smooth rotation. Furthermore, he expanded the cart's size to accommodate a larger number of passengers.

While these adjustments did consume some mana when moving, they promised increased efficiency and time-saving benefits for their upcoming journey.