Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

The sea folk were used to a deeply traditional way of preserving their history and knowledge. Their records and documents were meticulously maintained on stone tablets, etched with black ink, and sacred scrolls crafted from intricately woven seaweed.

These ancient methods of record passed down through countless generations, served as a testament to their culture's enduring connection to the ocean and its profound wisdom. The sea folk held these records with immense reverence, and Seadrei, despite his position and influence, couldn't bring himself to take them out of their underwater sanctuaries.

Preserving their traditions and safeguarding their knowledge was of paramount importance, and they were unwavering in their commitment to this practice.

"Your magic is strong and has enough potential with your unusual way of fighting. Why do you want to learn more about ours?" Seadrei asked when they headed to the tunnel.

"I wasn't particularly interested in magic, and knowledge is power, that is all," Rain said. "As long as you keep your mind open for learning, you can keep growing. Besides, that story about the giant monsters got me interested in this world's history."

"Hmm… I can't take the documents out of my castle, but you can come to visit eventually," Seadrei said. "Someone that wasn't among us isn't allowed to enter, but when a parent of royal bloodline is born, it is tradition for them to present them to me to give them a name."

"I guess that is a fine loophole. Let's hope that I can learn some underwater breathing spells when that happens," Rain said. "Then, you will truly become a gramps."

It was weird; Seadrei had thirty sons and daughters, but he didn't have a single grandkid yet… even though his oldest son was two hundred years old, maybe they didn't want the responsibility and just wanted to enjoy their influence unrestrained.

"Make sure to protect her no matter what," Seadrei said before jumping on the water of the tunnel. Remember my words: if you make her suffer, we will solve things with our fists."

"I can't wait for it," Rain smirked.

Rain had been training for that, even though he didn't have confidence in fighting and winning against the sea emperor yet. With or without magic, with or without weapons as well.

In any case, Rain headed to the tunnel, and for the next few days, he visited all the villages and of the western side of the country. He spent some time talking with the people there.

"As you guys know, it seems that the beast people want to wage war with us because they think that a human killed their tribe leaders. I tried to negotiate with them, but they refused to do so," Rain said. "So, we will have to fight and kill them the moment they approach, but we don't have the numbers to pull that off with perfection.

If you are fine with letting your lives in someone else's hands, you don't have to do a thing, but if you want to fight to protect yourself and those around you, you can come to the main village to receive training. It will be harsh, but the results will speak for themselves."

As one would expect, most people didn't feel that eager to join a fight… aside from the youngest people of the villages. Rain was famous, and he was truly a legendary figure to those who were younger than fifteen… since they also found life in the country boring, they didn't hesitate to accept Rain's offer.

A few days later, a lot of those kids began to arrive in Rain's base looking to be trained… They were naive enough to think that Rain would teach their secrets soon enough, but they only worked on the same training regimen as the others.

An unknown skill leveled up.

The student's path received 100 experience points.

An unknown skill leveled up.

The student's path received 110 experience points.

…

Since the number of recruits increased by one hundred fifty, Rain started to gain more experience on that path… he figured that the next path would be the teacher one, so he kept that one active.

Unlike the previous group, by the first week, fiffy of the recruits had already given up and left the area feeling pretty ashamed of themselves.

"You should at least give them some words of encouragement now and then, Rain," Roan said.

"To become really strong, one needs to steel their minds and wish with all their might to reach that level," Rain said. "If I offer them that, they will get used to it. Besides, this is necessary to weed out those who could be swayed by enemies. Those with strong enough principles are those that we can trust."

"You have a point… I guess," Roan said.

In the second week, only ten or so of the kids gave up, and while the others were about to reach their limits, at least they looked like they had become stronger, and soon, a good enough test for them had arrived.

"They are reuniting on the fissure again, and they have a lot of bridges with them, big bro," Dana said.

"I guess they spent the last two months crafting those," Rain said. "Are you guys ready to make them run with their tails between their legs?"

"We are, but are those guys?" Kei asked while raising an eyebrow as she saw the recruits on the ground, completely exhausted.

"I don't know, and there is only one way to find out," Rain smirked and then turned to face the recruits. "Listen here! It is time to show if you have steel balls. We are going to face fifteen thousand beast people now."

"Sir, there are women here as well," A random girl shouted.

"In that case, it is time to show me if you guys have guts," Rain said. "If we repel them this time, I will teach you all a useful technique that will make you much stronger, but only if all of you survive this."