Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

"Maybe," Rain replied. "The enemies slowed down since they are preparing for the next wave of attacks, so it is high time for us to do something. Still, if the enemy is waiting for something like this…"

"You sure are pessimistic," Reca said while furrowing her eyebrows. "Still, I can tell that being like that will never make you get surprised by anything."

You can learn if you try hard enough; that was what Rain wanted to say. The group grew a bit in the last two months, and they were more aware of such things, and they are open for discussions, so that was a good thing. Still, was it enough for the battlefield? That is hard to say.

Before long, Karla showed up, and she wasn\'t alone. Much to everyone\'s surprise, Branden was there, and he wasn\'t wearing some fancy clothes like usual. He was wearing some traveling clothes, and he also had a sword with him. It was one of those rapiers, a typical noble sword… actually, Rain could only see that as a one-handed spear, but the length was a bit short.

"Thank you for coming and waiting, everyone," Branden said. "Last night, I received a request from the king himself to help the army recover Tristan. That is why we all are going to move today, and until we recover, Tristan, we will be fighting the enemy invaders who have dirtied our lands and killed our people. I will go as well to help, so let\'s work together to achieve our goal."

The whole building began to tremble since everyone was cheering loudly. Thanks to the excitement, Rain could see Jori and Reca looking like berserker warriors on the side. As for Rain, he was the same as usual, thinking about if it wasn\'t too soon for the organization to try to accomplish that… they only have five hundred members… could they change the flow of the battle?

"To operate more effectively, we will split you into groups that have up to ten members and start with at least five," Branden said. "Karla will inform you of all of the groups, and once that is over, we will move to the strife zone. We can\'t let the enemies try to stop us or learn what we are about to do, so we don\'t have time to waste."

That was probably the best option. Some people might also try to leave the organization if they are given enough time to do so. Branden didn\'t talk like that was an option, but he was probably waiting for some people to leave… things were about to get really difficult; it was war, after all. The human side would start the conflicts, so they must be ready to suffer some losses.

Still, when Rain looked around, he didn\'t find people looking overly nervous… Maybe that made sense since Branden was the one who selected all the members and invited them; he should have done some research about their backgrounds and the kind of people they were.

"Jori\'s group will have Jori as the captain and Rain, Reca, Liss, Asche, and Terra," Karla declared. "Stay close to the front in case your name is called."

Jori nodded. He felt a bit bothered that the name of the party wasn\'t mentioned, but calling Jori\'s group was the best option in such a situation. As if someone would recall the names of every single party there.

In any case, the groups were formed, and so they left the building. At the same time, they saw some battalions of soldiers leaving the capital.

When the group crossed the gates of the city, they also saw some battalions heading in the same direction, and they came from other areas of the territory… if anything, the humans are good at controlling information; Rain never imagined that such a thing had been organized for the past few weeks.

"The beast people probably won\'t make a move, even if they hear of this, so everyone back home will be fine… Dad is also still training, so there is nothing to worry about," Rain thought.

Rain only had to worry about the duration of the war and make sure that those kids won\'t run to their deaths; that would be quite the ordeal, but it was fine since his healing skills improved a lot. Rain didn\'t want to test it, but perhaps he could even regenerate a finger or something.

"The atmosphere is quite something when we are marching in such a large group," Terra said while looking around and only seeing rugged soldiers that were thirsting for blood. "Some of those people were the ones we healed before, so they are truly looking forward to having their revenge."

"While we are in a group, do you think that they will split us?" Asche asked. "Healers can\'t get that close to the frontlines without risking being hit by a stray arrow or spell, and we can\'t afford to lose any of them."

"Who knows?" Reca replied.

Since they were on the attacking side, they would suffer some losses since the enemies had the walls to use to their advantage. When it comes to a siege, the defenders always have the upper hand… thanks to that, Rain recalled that the enemies truly avoided a siege when they invaded Tristan.

It was hard to know if they were scared of the losses or if they just had the opportunity to follow an easier path, thanks to Leo.

"They also had that army camped on their back… they still should have, but it makes me wonder how the magic people are dealing with their neighbors. Maybe if we don\'t sustain many losses and make this into a war of attrition, we can make the enemies lose too much to maintain Tristan," Rain thought. "In any case, this is a good chance for me… I should improve my sniping skills just to be safe."