Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

"Oh boy…" Rain said and then sighed.

It wasn't like Rain didn't consider that… the surroundings were covered in a thick layer of ice, and Rain saw the ice under the feet of the monster being absorbed by it to repair itself.

"I guess I will need a bigger hammer," Rain thought, and then the beast charged toward Rain.

The monster was so big that Rain didn't have room to escape aside from the back. In the end, he used the hammer to smash the creature from top to bottom three times over… Rain didn't feel any core being smashed, but the creature was unable to repair itself after being split into four sides.

An unknown skill leveled up.

"I guess I shouldn't use a hammer… I don't want to feed this dungeon with my mana, but I guess it can't be helped," Rain said and then covered his fists with earth.

With the giant earth fists, Rain was able to smash the ice golems with ease… Some of them hardened their bodies all over by emitting more cold, but that hadn't been enough to stop Rain. Still, little by little, Rain could feel the durability of his giant earth gloves decreasing… even when he wasn't using them.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"This is more obvious now… the dungeon is sucking the mana of spells," Rain thought.

At that moment, Rain came to an obvious realization... He abandoned the notion of encountering a traditional boss or guardian in the final part of the dungeon. The enemy had devised a cunning strategy with the spell known as "dungeon," eliminating the need for a central guardian or boss to protect the core. The core, being concealed and not exposed, made such an encounter unlikely.

Thus, stopping the dungeon in a normal way was impossible.

Furthermore, Rain understood that this was a natural progression of the dungeon's design. As it grew more powerful and formidable, it was only a matter of time before it developed mechanisms to hinder magic usage within its confines.

The dungeon had the potential to block or even siphon the mana of those who got inside, making it an increasingly dangerous environment to explore… even thought battle mages were hard to find in that world.

This revelation showed the complexity and danger of the dungeon's later stages, where traditional expectations and strategies had to be reevaluated and adapted to the evolving challenges presented by this ever-changing and annoying place.

"The sixth floor is already one kilometer long… hehehe, if you want to play this game, then I will welcome you, motherfucker," Rain said while grinning. "Let's see if your cunning or my resilience will prevail."

Rain was determined to get stronger faster, so he decided to visit the last floor of the dungeon everyday for that same purpose. He would save time with the regular training thanks to that, and he would also be able to spend more time with his family; it was a bit risky for the future, but it was necessary, and Rain wasn't going to let the enemy do what he wanted.

The dungeon broke around one month sooner than Rain had expected, it had been twenty percent faster. He was going to assume that the dungeon might break even sooner thanks to his trips to the dungeon, but that was fine… if only one dungeon breaks, he could handle it.

When Rain left the dungeon, Terra began to heal him and asked about the situation. As expected, the warriors got used to the things on the fifth floor, they were able to withstand it thanks to Limit Breaker, but once it was off, they would tremble like leaves.

"We can't use the mages of the magic academy to help in this situation, right?" Terra asked. "What are we going to do then?"

"Even with the equipment made of sea dragon scales and leather, they can only endure the situation for so long," Seara said.

"I will try to find an answer in the library of your former home, let's hope that I will find it fast since I don't want to stay there for long," Rain said.

"Well, I have bad news for you… that place has a stupid amount of scrolls, tablets and books," Seara said.

"Good, you can help me with that, Seadir as well," Rain grinned.

Seara rolled her eyes… she felt like she had dug her own grave, she didn't like reading that much and Seadir also didn't like it. Rain could see that.

Before leaving, Rain said to the warriors that they had to try to use Limit Breaker as much as they could without moving. That would train their willpower and it also improve their ability to endure the cold.

"What will happen if they go crazy?" Terra asked.

"You can beat them senseless," Rain said. "Well, until later. Help mama, kids while papa is away. Ah, I promised that I would teach you two something too…"

"I am teaching them Magic Boost already, that is something you came up with, so technically, you are teaching them," Terra said.

Rain felt a bit bad for that… it felt like his kids weren't getting further away from him. Terra was hogging all the glory of making the kids become super strong.

"Don't look at me like that…" Terra said while frowning.

"I suppose it can't be helped…" Rain said and then sighed. "I will teach them how to make it rain then, since you can't do that."

"This isn't a competition and why would they need that for?" Terra said and then rubbed her eyes. "You are impossible."

Rain couldn't deny that, so he ran away before he could find an answer. In the end, Rain also took Sealyn from Seara arms since he couldn't help but think that she will try to hog all the time with the kids as well. While seeing that, Seara could only sigh… Still, at least that made her realize that Rain would never change, no matter how much time passes or how strong he becomes.