Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

Before long, the sea emperor arrived at Orcis mansion, and then he and Lorene greeted Seadrei with a deep bow while Rain just showed his thumbs up and a smile. Seadrei sighed… he saw Rain's valor on the battlefield, but now he couldn't help but wonder what his daughter saw in him.

"It has been a while, Gramps," Rain said. "How's the swell today? What's the waves' height like? Are the waves clean or choppy? Is it breaking left or right, or both? What's the tide doing?"

"As usual, I have no idea why you ask those questions every single time," Seadrei said and then sat on the couch, which immediately began to crack a bit since he was too big.

"Just making small talk," Rain shrugged. "Anyway, what do you want to hear first, bad news or worse news? Pick your poison."

Seadrei just waited for Rain to spill the beans. he had heard about the possibility of the alliance and that Rain was planning something to make it possible, but nothing concrete. But first, he heard about the bad news.

"Hmm, and I thought that you were the most troublesome human out there…" Seadrei rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It is pretty much clear to me that he is hiding in the southern ocean, and while we tried to explore it many times, we have no idea how big that area is. Maybe Joanis found the things that he needed there."

"I was planning to investigate that area once we deal with the beast people, but it isn't like he found an ancient civilization there, right?" Rain asked.

"You should know by now that thousands of years ago, some giant beasts threatened the world to the point that most nations had to fight together to stop them," Seadrei said. "Still, we only were able to fight them to a stalemate. The dragons were the ones who truly defeated them, and the battle was so chaotic that it changed the weather forever in that area."

"It is cold because of a fight?" Rain furrowed his eyebrows.

"It is cold because the dragon god of that time cast a spell that froze that area to slow down the enemies at the cost of their own lives, and that gave the chance for their underlings to finish the enemies off," Seadrei explained. "For unknown reasons, the giant monsters truly hated the cold, and they couldn't fight like before, thanks to it.

The people of that time didn't have things like boats, and magic was still in its slow stages for most of the people of that time, so they never explored that area. The cold gets worse the further you go, making exploration impossible aside from dragons."

"That is a very fascinating event… I wonder why humans don't know about it," Orcis furrowed his eyebrows.

"Few humans survived that war, and the ones that survived didn't fight in the first place," Seadrei said.

Rain felt even more curious about that area… he wanted to investigate it soon, but he wondered for how long he would have to do it.

"Since it has come down to this, I can send my soldiers to guard the borders, but it will only be useful against the magic people," Seadrei added. "It is obvious that the target can fly. Most of my people support me, but they will lose faith in an alliance if you don't show that your side is capable enough."

"What do you want us to do?" Rain asked.

"Lately, the sea dragons have been invading our territories more and more, and getting rid of them would be a good sign of that," Seadrei explained. "Still, since you are busy with the beast people, there isn't much that you can do aside from repelling them with your current forces. That should be enough to convince most of the stubborn ones from our side that this alliance could have potential.

Of course, this wouldn't be a problem if Seara already had a child."

"It would be easier if she didn't work that much," Rain frowned.

Rain was trying, and he was enjoying it as well. It was clear at this point that humans were compatible with the other species, but the more active a woman is at work and moving her body like swimming, the harder it will be for them to get pregnant… that wasn't common knowledge in that world where science wasn't advanced, and magic was the norm.

All in all, Rain had to solve the situation and decrease the workload of Seara for her to get pregnant…

"Naturally, there is another solution for this. If this bastard kills my brethren, then I will hunt him down myself, and a bit of cold won't stop me," Seadrei declared.

"He probably knows that, and for that reason, he won't do it," Rain said.

Rain knew that the unknown target, who seemed to grow stronger by the day, had adopted a stance of extreme caution. He was aware that the enemy's might was on the rise, but he was determined to avoid any unnecessary risks. In his approach to combat, he had become exceedingly prudent, unwilling to expose himself to unnecessary danger.

He had learned the hard way, watching Joanis meet his demise, that boldness alone could lead to catastrophic consequences. His strategy now was marked by a careful balance between intelligence and restraint, ensuring that he didn't compromise his chances of survival, even as he faced increasingly challenging foes.

"What are you going to do knowing all that?" Seadrei asked.

Rain wanted to know the secrets of Seadrei's spear, but asking about that when they weren't alone was dangerous… he trusted Orcis and Lorene, but it was better to avoid letting that secret become knowledge instead.

"I am going to prepare for the war agaisnt the beast people and then eventually find a way to track these annoying guys, but first, I would like to ask if you have some documents about the past that could be interesting to read," Rain said.