Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

In the end, the enemies didn't show up again. Since their surprise attack failed, it made sense that they wouldn't try again… if Rain were in their shoes, he would target other areas, but dealing a massive blow to the meat production of the realm seemed like the enemy's best option.

Regardless, the group killed time by sparring as much as they could without trying too hard. Rain began to spar without using magic to assist him, and that increased the difficulty level, but he had yet to take a direct hit, so he was fine with that. Also, Asche joined them with her two knives.

She was quite skilled with them, so Rain would need some time to hit her since she was also good at mirroring his moments.

"The time of our mission ended, so we will leave the rest to you guys," Jori declared to the white-bearded man when the day of the departure for them arrived.

"You can rest easy, return to the capital knowing that you did a fine job," The white-bearded man said.

Everyone nodded, and then they turned around while heading to the capital. Rain noticed that the white-bearded man kept looking at him as if he had seen him before… it would be troublesome if that guy knew his father or mother. Branden said that he would keep the information about Rain's family hidden. Still, he couldn't shut up everyone in the organization without looking suspicious.

Two days later, the group returned to the capital, and they looked quite tired. Still, they had some reports to give to Karla before finally resting for a few days. Jori and Reca were the most energetic on the ground, but they also looked like they needed a few days off.

"I guess we can take three days off after this much hard work," Jori said. "Let's meet again in three days and in the morning in front of the organization. You are coming as well, right, Rain?"

"I don't know; I am planning to visit my family for a few days," Rain replied.

"I see. Tell us if you are around before that time then, until the next time," Jori said.

Rain nodded, and the others said bye to him as well. It didn't seem like they minded if Rain worked with them from now on despite what happened at the beginning of the mission, but Rain felt like he shouldn't tie himself to any group for now. Considering his age, it was hard to imagine other groups inviting him to work with them, but they might change their minds if they heard about their skills.

"I can't waste any time… I need to go back home today and cover as much ground as possible," Rain thought.

Rain packed his things and then alerted Karla that he was going to leave the city for a few days. The organization was on high alert thanks to the recent events, so that wasn't a good time for Rain to leave, but no one made a fuss considering his age. Rain also paid a visit to Lotto and made it look like he was repairing his forearm guards while he told him what had happened.

Rain could inform his family about that directly, but Lotto would inform other allies.

"Here, good as new," Lotto said while passing the extra polished forearm guards.

Rain nodded and passed some coins to Lotto, and then he left the shop. Although he tried to act like usual, Lotto looked more tense after hearing about the bone shooters. It was quite the dreadful type of enemy to face, and a kid dealt with them. Lotto seemed worried by the fact that they lived in an era where kids like Rain had to do that kind of thing.

"Well, I am fine with it… come to think of it, it isn't the first time that I killed someone, and even the first time I didn't feel much about it," Rain thought while he was walking toward the Eastern gate of the capital.

Maybe it was because, from the very first day of his new life, Rain knew that he could die at any moment again… that was why he didn't hesitate in taking the lives of those who tried to take his or his family's. It was self-defense. It was supposed to be fine, but nothing. Thinking even a bit about it seemed very wrong.

In any case, Rain forgot about that when he left the city and was far away enough to move without being noticed. He got considerably stronger in that mission, but Rain improved even more when he used his free points to improve his magic. From forty meters, he began to cross fifty-five in a moment using the same amount of mana, so Rain felt satisfied.

The first trip lasted for three days, but this time, Rain returned home after traveling for a little less than two days… he almost dropped dead at the door of his home, though.

"You are nothing but serious about everything you do, huh?" Roan asked when he found his son in front of the house.

While Rain was resting, he explained to his parents what happened in the last month. Since it was morning, Meiro wasn't around, and it looked like he took the girls to walk around the fields. That was part of Dana's morning routine, but he decided that it was a good time for the girls to have a sunbath.

"Are you really all right, Rain?" Leiah said while showing a complicated expression. "I thought that our family was a lucky one to survive and endure all this mess, but to think that you would find problems in the two times you left the capital."

"It is fine; I wasn't hurt in any way," Rain said. "I only hurt myself if anything."

Rain showed the weight ankles that he had and the marks they left on him. Even though he healed the wounds constantly, the marks would soon return.