Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

"Good luck out there, Dad…" Annie said when she was heading to the dungeon. "Call us as soon as we will have the chance to kill some dragons."

"I will try to put to good use the things that you just taught us," Danny said.

"I will kill you if you die again," Terra said.

"Wow, thank you for making me realize once again that women don't need to make sense at all," Rain said. "I will try to leave some fun for you all when the time comes."

The group split up while using Impulse, and Annie entered the dungeon. While Rain felt that he wanted to check that she would be fine alone in the dungeon, he decided not to bother her that much.

Despite his initial disbelief at the prospect of working alone for an extended period after his rebirth, Rain found himself in such a situation. Surprisingly, he wasn't taken aback or overwhelmed by the task at hand. Over time, he had grown accustomed to adapting to challenging circumstances, and this was no different.

Despite the physical distance and individual journeys they were undertaking, Rain held onto the belief that he, his family, and friends were all walking toward a common objective. This shared goal served as a unifying force, guiding each of them through their separate paths while collectively aiming for the same outcome.

Despite being physically apart, their unity in purpose kept them connected in spirit and intent.

"It is time to gather intel, and my destination is the dragons realm… but the first, I have to confirm that that asshole is still sealed away," Rain thought. "If I try to fool him by making him think that I am planning to use him again, he might reveal some useful things."

Rain began to use Impulse toward his home once he had been in search of the shield.

Considering everything he knew, he couldn't help but think that the shelf was also someone from the same period as him… in the first century of the third millennium, there was no such technology that could copy the memories of someone into an object, and it was hard to imagine that the people learned magic and in a couple of years were able to do that, but Rain had to confirm that eventually.

It was time to make the shield useful for a change.
Your journey continues on My Virtual Library Empire

As Rain continued his movements, his mind was busy with thoughts about enhancing the Diligence path. He was on the verge of reaching the next level in that path, which meant unlocking a new skill. Rain pondered various ways to improve this path, considering potential upgrades or refinements that could contribute to his overall progress and capabilities.

"Maybe I should just fly and save my stamina to level up A Matter of Skill… the bonuses need to stack as much as possible from the very beginning," Rain thought.

Rain thought about that for several hours, and eventually, he reached the area where the capital once had been. He was only able to find the position correctly because of the tunnels underground were completely taken by debris and dust.

Without wasting time, Rain began to dig down toward the place where he had left the shield, and after one hour, he finally reached it… the box that he sealed was still there and didn't have any signs of that someone tried to open it. Rain was honestly surprised that no one found it… even though it was so deep underground.

After taking a deep breath and then sighing while feeling that he was going to regret that soon enough, Rain opened the box and soon found the shield glowing a bit.

"Look who has finally returned, and it seems that you have learned a lot since our last encounter,"

"Did your nap of one hundred years pass fast? Do you want to stay here for one hundred years?" Rain asked.

"One hundred years, huh? I guess my assumptions about you were wrong… I didn't think that you would be this stubborn and still would be able to survive. It is kind of surprising, really, and a bit refreshing too."

"Ignore my question again and then I won't hide you underground, I will send you flying to the sun," Rain said. "I will be sure to send you slowly, so that you will enjoy the view and get a tan along the way."

"You are even worse than before, even though your aura is a bit more clean since you don't want to use their powers anymore. I don't want to stay here for another one hundred years and I don't want to be sent to the sun. I still can't answer all your questions that easily without gaining something in return."

Rain was starting to understand the role and expectations of the shield. Its requests seemed rational and fair. Yet, Rain remained cautious, understanding that trusting the shield blindly without reciprocation could be a dangerous gamble.

He was aware that giving in to the shield's demands without assurance or understanding could potentially lead to a deceptive situation, possibly a trap or an unforeseen danger. Thus, Rain was hesitant to wholly rely on the shield's words when he wasn't prepared to offer something in return.

"I know what is below this layer and I know that there is a history beyond the history of the six species… I want to know what you know about that," Rain said.

"Well, what can I say about that… I can't give many details, but what I can tell is that it was a pretty difficult period. If you saw how things ended down there, then you can imagine the process."

"Give me the details," Rain said.

"You probably shouldn't learn about that, you will be erased by the system,"

"Is that so… do you think that I would fall for that kind of crap?" Rain frowned. "If that was such important information, the system would have killed me when I was down there."