Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

Rain felt his body cracking every time his back hit the ground… he couldn't understand it. The defenses of the enemy suddenly increased, and now he suddenly was stronger.

Still, when Rain coughed some blood, the strength of the enemy returned to normal, and he saw some of his soldiers being cut down from behind… they were pointing their hands at the general as well… which explained what had happened.

When the enemy launched Rain against the ground once more, it soon let him down when numerous spikes emerged from the ground to impale him; he jumped away and then took a deep breath. Which gave Rain enough time to get up.

"My plan was stopped midway thanks to external intervention," Rain thought and then clicked his tongue. "Now, the same thing won't happen again."

Rain had planned to finish things quickly in a single sequence of attacks. Still, now he will have to look for another approach, one that will work even against a guarded opponent and that it will ignore if his allies try to intervene.

Rain closed his eyes for a moment to think of what he should do… the Enemy thought that he was baiting him, so he raised his guard even more and didn't do anything.

While it would be better to help his allies and get rid of the leader on that side of the wall, the enemy general was fully aware that such a thing wouldn't happen while Rain was around… while not famous, he was an adversary that truly required all of his focus.

"I guess this will do, but it will take all of my mana," Rain thought when he opened his eyes. "Still, against an opponent this fast, it can't be helped."

Rain thought of a three-step scenario that would grant him victory, cornering the enemy and also preventing external intervention. In the end, he just made the dirt on his arms fall and then walked toward the enemy general.

That guy found that weird and truly out of character, but he still kept his distance until Rain just ran normally toward him. The enemy general used his speed to keep his distance. Still, Rain didn't do anything else… he looked really foolish, but it seemed that he was waiting for the general to run out of energy.

The enemy didn't think that Rain was truly out of ideas. Still, he couldn't keep waiting like that… in the end, he decided to finish things as fast as possible instead of letting things drag out like Rain was planning.

The enemy began to run around at extreme speeds and then watched Rain raising his guard; there were no signs of him using any magic, and the enemy also kept his eyes open for earth spikes… but nothing like that was used.

In the end, the enemy general charged and decided to attack both sides of Rain's neck from behind. Still, before all that could happen, all of a sudden, some earth walls emerged and surrounded him and Rain; they eventually closed, creating a dome of earth.

The enemy collided with Rain, but his fists hit nothing, and he soon ran away from there to attack the walls. Still, the enemy soon realizes that as soon as he changes from Speed only to speed and strength, Rain will attack him. He couldn't show that opening…

The enemy general ran away in circles, running on the limits of the dome, thinking of what to do. In the end, he did exactly what Rain had predicted… he thought too much and didn't try to escape with all his might.

In the last moment, Rain suddenly got in the way of the enemy and then punched his stomach with all his might.

Thanks to using his hand like a blade and the speed of the enemy, his arm passed through his stomach… the charge made the enemy push Rain several meters until his back hit the wall, but that was fine; the enemy couldn't lift a single finger after that and eventually fell dead on the ground.

An unknown skill leveled up.

An unknown skill leveled up.

An unknown skill leveled up.

…

The Fighter's Path leveled up.

…

You leveled up.

…

You received 40 status points.

"Was this guy this strong?" Rain thought. "I am surprised how much experience I just got…"

Before long, the earth dome fell, and then Rain saw himself surrounded by dozens of enemies… They came to help their leader, but they didn't arrive in time. They opened their eyes widely when they saw the body of their general like that… and while they recovered, those precious moments of shock made dozens of them being killed from behind.

Rain thought that it was a good idea to run away from the enemies who were enraged at losing their generals. Still, when he turned around, he saw another army of enemies coming from behind.

"The lesser of two evils, I guess," Rain thought and then sighed before turning again.

Rain charged toward the enemies while using the energy that he got from the level-ups; he punched the enemies while using their fists over and over again. Still, even when he cracked their skulls quite a bit, they still attacked him.

Rain blocked the attacks with his forearm guards, but they were starting to crack as well, thanks to everyone using only the buffs of strength… Before long, even Rain's bones began to crack, and he flinched for a moment.

In his moment of weakness, Rain found himself surrounded. Still, before the enemies could take advantage of that, they were attacked from behind. Sword slashes, spear thrusts, fireballs, and arrows hit the enemies, and then when they fell, the figure of Rain's friends appeared.

"Cover for Rain and increase our perimeter. We are retreating!" Jori shouted.

Rain's forearm guards began to fall to pieces while Terra offered him a shoulder to lean on. He tried to act tough, but he was in pretty bad shape…