Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix
Chapter 1305 - 1305: Lustful Battle Path

The trent people were able to transform their mana into food… but the bacteria in the air truly loved that. It seemed that they had a sense of taste and smell as well since they started to devour the food produced insanely fast.

"This is worse than I thought… even though I imagined that things would be bad when you asked for the only people that can produce food here," Isa said while furrowing her eyebrows.

"... No problem, I can solve this," Rain said while thinking for a moment.

Rain expanded his domain, and then, in the next moment, he changed his path to temperance. It didn't take long for him to notice the bacteria around slowing down… just as he had imagined, they were also corrupted creatures that had the power of gluttony.

By using more mana to make his domain more dense and by also equipping a bunch of skills on that path, Rain weakened the bacteria to the point that they barely were moving… he wanted to destroy them, but he failed to do so. He would have to think of something else…

Still, at least that gave the trent people the chance to use their magic properly. They felt weird since they only came to produce food, even though they were in the middle of one hellish warzone… they felt satisfied with that, though. Since their abilities weren't that suited for combat.

In the end, the newcomers had to work for a while since everyone kept eating nonstop. It has been a while since they ate anything, after all. Thanks to that, they looked a lot better when they finished eating, and their morale improved by leaps and bounds.

"This situation is indeed weird, but I can imagine why Esmeralda and the others were separated from us," Isa said. "Their blood is special, after all. Royal blood always had that kind of power since they are worshiped for many generations."

"There is also the issue with Iori… do you think that he did something to make them change their minds?" Seara asked.

"It is hard to say, and assuming anything now won't help in any way, so I will avoid that," Rain said. "We need to decide our next steps. Are we going to ignore them and keep increasing our strength and defeating other lords?"

"That should be the main goal, but I wonder if that will make us fight with them eventually…" Sealyn said while looking in the distance.

Esmeralda, Branden, and the others were not mere comrades; they had endured numerous challenging situations alongside Rain and his allies. The bond forged through those hardships created a sense of camaraderie that transcended mere friendship. The idea of engaging in combat against them was a prospect none of them desired.

Liss and Asche, who had been part of their group for a long period, further intensified the dilemma. The depth of their connection made it difficult for Rain and his companions to imagine the reasons behind their decision. The uncertainty surrounding the motives behind Esmeralda and the others distancing themselves was truly…

In considering the possibility that Iori might have influenced their decisions, the group refrained from making assumptions. The intricacies of the situation demanded a cautious approach, avoiding unfounded speculation that might hinder the resolution of the current predicament.

"I guess since they are on the west, we should focus on the opposite direction," Terra said. "Esmeralda and the other's are beyond the arcanists territory, so they are pretty close."

"We will ignore them, and thus, we will be able to focus on enemies coming from three directions," Sealyn said. "As for the next path that should be created… focus on the orc general; I have the feeling that it will be the best in the long run."

"Understood," Rain said.

"We will rest for the day and then select our next target in twelve hours," Sealyn added.

Rain began to prepare the process to analyze the core of the orc general, but he was unable to focus that much. He couldn't help but think how Iori used the last two decades… he should have done quite a bit with the knowledge that he obtained from Rain, and it looked like he didn't try to do anything with Esmeralda and the others. He certainly will try to kill Rain if he has the chance, though.

Lustful Battle Path: The Lustful Battle Path is a provocative combat path that harnesses the power of lust to both enhance personal abilities and manipulate the emotions of allies and enemies. Wisdom and Intelligence + 50 per level.

Level 1: Allure Strike - Infuses attacks with an alluring energy that distracts and weakens enemies, reducing their combat Wisdom by one point per level per minute.

Level 5: Temptation Aura - Creates an aura of temptation, boosting the charisma and combat prowess of allies while sowing confusion and hesitation among enemies. Allies receive + 10 Endurance multiplied by the level of the skill, and the enemies receive a decrease in Endurance by the same amount.

Level 10: Seductive Aura – Emits an aura that charms enemies within a certain radius, making them temporarily confused. The effectiveness is based on the level of dexterity and luck; when it is ineffective, it decreases their intelligence by ten multiplied by the level of the skill.

"Sealyn's guess was right… this will be very useful," Rain thought. "If the effects of the skills stack with each other, a large army that knows this path will become insanely powerful."

It was a pity that they didn't have that many on their side, and it would take a while before they could get that many people to form a decent army. That being said, at least Rain passed the message to the previous zone that they needed to hurry up with the fights against the king in the shadows. To make things easier, they would have to win the challenges in less than ten minutes.

That would make five more people join them every eight hours.