Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

Water and wind worked well together since fluidity was one of their strongest points, so training one would improve the other as well. Still, the wind was the most convenient element since it could Enhance the others to some extent; maybe that was why Branden was training like that since both of them could be enhanced by the wind.

When he wasn\'t driving, Rain also tried to do some training and level up his new path. However, it didn\'t work that well. Punch Mastery only leveled up when he hit something, and he had to try harder. Otherwise, the amount of experience gained would be meager.

Still, when Rain equipped enough weights on his arms to the point that he had a hard time keeping them up, the skill began to gain experience even when he punched the air.

"It seems that it is the norm for this party to use weights. No wonder the ladies look more buff than me," Branden said. "Still, you will probably break the wagon with that much weight."

Rain\'s punches were heavy enough to push away the air around him, so they could tell that the weights were pretty heavy. Still, Rain was decreasing his weight by using a bit of wind magic on his legs; that was what Rain learned from Liss after defending that fortress.

Thanks to that, he basically could float a few centimeters above the ground, but when he tried to go higher, the magic would destabilize since the wind was just pushing him away from the ground, and the greater the distance, the more energy he would need.

Regardless, the trip that was supposed to last eight days lasted six since the group was in a hurry. Before long, they found recent traces of the army that left the capital ahead of them.

"We have to stop following this route. They will leave scouts in all directions, and they will find us if we keep this up," Branden said. "Our goal is to influence the battle without being noticed."

"I guess that\'s why you trained your control over magic," Rain said.

"That is right," Branden nodded. "I can\'t use big spells this time unless it is absolutely necessary."

"It will be hard to move avoiding scouts from both sides," Rain said.

"You can do something about that, right?" Branden asked. "While no one can explain that yet, you can find enemies with ease even in the most difficult situations."

"I guess so," Rain shrugged.

Since they had to give their reports of the mission and details that could help others, it was a known fact that Rain could find enemies even in the darkness of the night while they were far away. At least no one tried to force him to spread the secret.

"You can tell us as soon as you notice anything out of the norm," Branden said. "While I don\'t have the skill to cover larger distances, I am good at sniping enemies as well."

That won\'t work; he didn\'t know that Rain could find enemies even if they were behind some obstacles. Besides, even if Branded could pierce through them, it would make too much noise. A silent and quick approach was the best option.

"Let\'s leave that for later once we secure a spot that we can use as a base," Rain said. "I mean… You guys are fine with that, right?"

"I am. I am not the leader of the team, after all," Branden said.

"I won\'t mind letting you two lead during this mission," Jori said.

Since he was mentally the oldest and that mission was out of the norm, Rain tried to take the reins of it, but soon, he realized that he couldn\'t do that without risking some problems. The others were fine with it, but Rain wasn\'t. It would be better if the group didn\'t become too reliant on him… they improved a lot in the last year, but they still had a lot of room for growth, after all.

"I will keep an eye on the surroundings and inform if I notice anything weird," Rain declared.

The group began to move a bit south instead of following the main road. They also slowed down a bit since Rain told them that it would be easier to dispose of all of the enemy scouts like that at night. Thanks to that, Rain only found some orange auras in the distance one hour before sunset. He couldn\'t see the silhouette of the enemies, but it was clear that they were a couple of kilometers ahead.

"They are ahead," Rain said. "I suggest that we camp here, have a meal, and wait for two hours before moving."

"Does Rain always talk like this?" Branden asked. "I thought that he would be more bossy and forceful with his approaches and words."

"He is like that most of the time; when he realizes that he is taking the lead, he falls back and gets quiet for a while," Jori said.

"Don\'t talk, as if I am not here…" Rain said and then sighed.

It seemed that Rain wasn\'t the only one who noticed changes in the group, but that was fine since that showed that the others grew as well. In any case, the group stopped for two hours and just ate some bread and rested for a short bit. From now on, they couldn\'t make any fires since that would reveal their positions.