Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

Iori managed to maintain his composure remarkably well despite being bombarded with information he had never imagined before. For a century, his singular focus had been on seeking revenge, effectively keeping his mind entrenched in the past. At the same time, Rain's thoughts also dwelled in the past, but with a distinct purpose: to gather knowledge, comprehend historical events, and employ those insights to safeguard the future, preventing the repetition of mistakes in the present. In essence, while Iori's mind remained fixated on vengeance, Rain's pursuit of the past was akin to a quest for wisdom and understanding. There's a well-known saying that aptly encapsulates their differing perspectives: "The past is a place of learning, not a place of living." Rain was striving to glean lessons from history, utilizing it as a reservoir of knowledge to inform his choices in the present and fortify the future. Meanwhile, Iori's fixation on the past largely centered around his desire for retribution, effectively hindering his ability to embrace anything beyond his quest for revenge. That was one of the reasons he failed… "Anyway, I am going to work outside, I can't keep flying while I am here," Rain said. "Before that, I have an idea," Larisa said. "After this battle, I realized that our memories might take quite a while to return if you only fight the dragons and you are also wary of the effects of the relics like the shield and the armor. So, I believe that you should purify them just like the former users did with the spear." "By using it? No way," Rain said. "It will take too long, and it will consume too much mana." "It will be an investment, the relic will gain power, and the corruption of the sins will fade over time," Larisa said. "We are aware that you prefer to use ice magic over most things, so once the relics have most of their power and no demerits in their use, the cost will pay itself. You don't have to use all of your mana every day. Thanks to the numerous relics that power you up, the quality of your mana is higher than any of the sea emperors who used the spear. Besides, they barely fought as rulers." Larisa had a point… that would help Rain a lot, but he had other plans instead. His idea was to eventually find a way to get the power of the relics for himself, just like the relics got the power of the dragons… he couldn't think of that now since that would make them realize his plans. At the same time, purifying him, as much as it sounded weird, it might give Rain some insights on how to obtain his experience and powers… "I will think about it," Rain said after a while. "Anyway, you guys still have no idea how the system was created, right?" "I have a feeling that that woman does it. I also have a feeling that she was one of the last humans to die before this new era started," Larisa said. "Is that true?" Rain asked. The woman in the darkness didn't reply… but it was hard to say if they could assume a yes in that situation… Rain wanted to make progress on creating his own system, but that still seemed like something pretty beyond him at the moment. Regardless, Rain returned to the real world and kept moving south… he decided to at least pay a visit to his grandparents and give them the good news about everyone. It would be hard to explain to them that they still needed to wait for a bit more before everyone could reunite. When Rain reached the continent, he realized that the snowstorm there had weakened since the ice dragons had moved a bit, but it was gaining intensity again since they returned to their positions. The weird thing about that was the fact that Rain crossed the ocean in the direction the water dragons escaped, but he didn't find any traces of them. "Maybe they went to the base of the sea dragons… few people can head there, after all," Rain thought. "At the same time, the sea folk would need several months to recover and thanks to their losses, their strength will never be the same again. For some reason, Rain also couldn't help but wonder about Esmeralda and Iori's mother… the queen… Rain knew that she vanished with her son, but the fact that Iori never mentioned her was worrisome… there was a chance that she would die since she wasn't trained like Iori. Without fighting, it was nearly impossible for most humans to increase their lifespan and reach the high human path after all. "I have been neglecting that path… maybe I can unlock a new evolution of that, but if no one achieved that in the last one hundred years…" Rain thought. "Maybe it is impossible…" Rain shook his head… there was no point in thinking like that. Even without the system, he can evolve. He already learned a long time ago that the true potential of the system was to force it to play it by your own rules. That was why he learned things like how to break the level cap of skills… even though he didn't learn that by himself. In any case, when Rain reached the continent, he decided to run instead of flying. The reason for that was because he wanted to save and get more mana… he would get more mana by using Mortal Bet. "Let's see… I am going to bet half of my mana pool that I will kill every single monster on my path with a single hit," Rain thought. "Why not bet all of your mana?" Larisa asked. "I told you to stop reading my mind…" Rain said and then sighed. "If I am not careful, the weights will absorb too much mana, and they will crush my limbs. I am going to test the process that you mentioned slowly first."