Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix
Chapter 1266 - 1266: Precaution

Rain nodded in satisfaction as he learned those new skills… he wondered if the overseer was rewarding him with that or if it was the only way to register those skills on the path. Either way, it was useful…

Level 10: Drain Vitality - Learns to drain the vitality of opponents upon successful hits, sapping their stamina and decreasing their endurance. Drain the enemies' stamina by ten points per level and per second and decrease their endurance by the same amount.

Level 15: Bone Spikes - Summons sharp bone spikes from the ground to impale and damage enemies in a designated area. Cost: 200 mana.

"Is it working?" Sealyn asked. "Your aura is changing a bit."

"It is. I am unlocking the whole path now," Rain said. "I am not sure if it is a courtesy of the overseer, but with this much, I can help everyone unlock the same path. That being said… it seems that this isn't perfect either.

The Sloth path leveled up.

…

The Sloth path leveled up.

For every ten levels on the slothful path, Rain would gain one in the sloth path. He could reset the sloth path, so that wasn't a real problem. Or so he thought… for some reason, he was unable to reset the path after a certain point… it was probably because those levels were connected to the new path.

The others shouldn't, nor would they reset the new path because the bonuses in parameters were that good. To avoid further losses, they would need to take those risks. Regardless, despite those problems, they at least found a way to turn the power of the cores into paths that they could use. Before long, the whole path was unlocked, even though all of the skills were at level one.

"That is it… what should I do?" Rain asked while furrowing his eyebrows. "Help everyone unlock this path or unlock the others."

"We need to catch up with the power of the enemies, so we should focus on unlocking two paths every day and learn those two every day as well," Sealyn said.

"That is probably for the best," Seadrei said. "Regardless, the next group should be arriving soon. We need to be ready to receive them while also guarding the base. Your group suffered a lot of damage and had to work a lot. If one of the many enemies is going to attack, now will be the time for them."

Sealyn, Terra, and Seara worked on guarding the walls while only half of the other squads stayed awake to do the same. The others went to rest as much as they could… Before long, Rain was informed of the arrival of Asche's group by Arel, and soon, he went to pick them up. They were lacking long-range fighters, so her arrival was truly welcome.

"I guess you must have heard a lot of that, but it seems that I missed a bunch of things," Asche said when they arrived at the base, and then she looked around to confirm everyone's safety.

"Indeed," Rain said.

Asche and her squad went to talk with everyone about their experiences since they had arrived in the zone, and she also shared something interesting. It looked like the king in the shadows was getting weaker over time. The reason for that was the fact that he was suffering damage in each battle, and while his body was being healed, it wasn't being healed completely since Rain sealed a part of him.

As they discussed the information shared by Asche, it became obvious that the battles with the king were taking a toll on him. The partial sealing that Rain had imposed on him during their encounter was causing lasting damage, hindering the king's ability to fully recover.

This development was crucial as it meant that the other groups entering the zone were less likely to face formidable opposition from the king in the shadows. The risk of significant damage or losses among their ranks was considerably diminished. Rain could sense the impatience emanating from the sealed part of the king, but he remained indifferent to its frustration.

The fact that the powerful adversary was growing weaker over time fueled their determination to press forward, taking advantage of the opportunity to unlock new paths and strengthen their forces.

When everyone had rested, Rain used Telepathy to teach them the secrets of the path, and just learning how to use the first and second skills made them able to unlock the path while they were patrolling.

The logic behind them was pretty simple, just like pretty much anything else: to create projectiles made of bones, one just needed to use their mana at a certain density level and leave some holes in its formation.

As for the lethargic aura, they just needed to emit their mana on their lower halves, and that would affect the legs of the enemies more. The first skill was easy to learn, but the second was harder.

"We all need to obtain those paths as soon as possible. Otherwise, we will suffer losses," Sealyn declared. "Train to obtain this as if your very lives depend on it because it does. Dad, you should try to analyze the skills of the next core, but how are you planning to do that? You can't use the same method, right?"

"I was planning on torturing then, but that won't be necessary," Rain said. "Still, it is better if you all don't know how am I going to do this. That won't help anyone, after all."

"... All right, if you say so," Sealyn said.

Rain, concerned about the possibility of eavesdropping, decided to erect his domain and reinforce its defenses to ensure his privacy during the upcoming experimentation. He wanted to avoid any unwanted attention, even from Arel and didn't want her to witness what he was about to do.

While he couldn't be entirely certain if Arel could still observe him, he took every precaution to limit potential exposure.