Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

Chapter 657 High price

Lotto explained that certain equipment could develop magical properties based on the materials used in their construction. Over time, these properties could become more powerful or change, but it typically took hundreds of years for this to happen.

For example, an effect like dragon-slaying could potentially be awakened in a weapon, but the blade would likely need to inflict damage on a living dragon first.

Dragon blood was known for its unique magical properties, and such contact might hasten the awakening of the desired effect, though it wasn't guaranteed to happen one hundred percent of the time. The group now understood that their weapons could grow stronger through their encounters with the dragons, and this knowledge gave them a new sense of purpose in their mission.

"It is fine. I didn't expect that it would be easy," Rain said. "Focus on what you can do faster, and we will handle the rest."

"Understood," Lotto said and then nodded.

With that knowledge, Rain wondered if his guards had obtained those effects… he killed some dragons and left some blood to hit them, but he didn't notice any differences… actually, he didn't recall if dragon's blood had ever fallen on him. So, perhaps he couldn't count on becoming Siegfried.

Rain saw a lot of warriors around the ballista and catapults ready to use them in case the dragons attacked the port town. Most of them didn't know Rain since they were trained by Jori and Reca, but they still saluted him, and Rain nodded back.

Back at Orcis' house, Rain found the kids throwing snowballs at each other… Jori and Reca's kids looked annoyed since they weren't hitting Danny and Annie. It couldn't be helped since Rain helped his kids level up as efficiently as possible… It has been a while since he saw that, but Annie was showing a mischievous smile for not having been hit even once.

Still, she went back to normal… or perhaps she tried to hide her real self when she saw Rain.

"Papa! Welcome back," Annie said and then hugged Rain.

Rain patted her head and then Danny when he approached as well, his hair had a lot of snow and he felt embarrassed since he wasn't as skilled as his little sister. Rain wanted to say that getting hit wasn't bad, what was important was to not let the hits stop him.

At the same time, Rain was a bit worried about Annie… she was smart, perhaps a bit too smart for her age and she had a lot of similarities with Rain and that was why he felt worried. She kind of has a lot of his bad points that he shows when he is winning.

"It is getting cold, so it is time to take a hot bath and have dinner," Rain said. "If you want to grow as tall as me, you need to sleep a lot."

"Yes!" Danny and Annie said in unison.

Rain felt a bit bad for that… he didn't sleep that much when he was able to control his sleep, but it was fine. When Rain let the kids take a hot bath, one of the servants of the house helped them, and then Rain went to Orcis office, where he found Seadir and the others.

"Hey, you look like you have seen better days," Rain said when he saw the bags under Seadir's eyes.

"Please, don't joke in a situation like this," Seadir said while rubbing his eyes. "We are losing ground since the cold is getting worse. Our troops are falling just thanks to the cold…"

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"That is a problem… how many ice dragons do you think are out there?" Rain asked.

"Around eighty, they will need less as they get closer to our castle and that will only decrease the number of those that can fight," Seadir explained.

Rain squinted his eyes… the snow yesterday was only a few centimeters deep, but now kids could play with snowballs… it should be at least ten centimeters. They had to hurry up on killing the ice dragons, but Seadir couldn't bring himself to say that… it was a bit too much.

"We know their locations, and we know where they are heading, which means that we can do something about them," Rain said. "I have some idea in mind, but I will need you all to leave this city and give up on it."

Shock and disbelief washed over the faces of everyone present when Rain suggested the unthinkable: giving up on the port town. The idea seemed insane, even though they were aware that the town would inevitably be destroyed if they didn't find a way to deal with the ice dragons.

The weight of the decision hung heavily in the air as they grappled with the harsh reality of the situation. It was a difficult and painful choice to make, but they knew it might be their only chance to protect the region from the relentless threat of the dragons.

"... Is that a surefire way to deal with them?" Orcis said since giving up on his hometown was a tough decision to make, but it was his.

"That will depend on their response," Rain said. "If they act fast enough, maybe I will be able to kill twenty of them. "If I were as strong as Seadrei and had his spear as well, perhaps I wouldn't have to go that far, but that is the case, and there is nothing we can do about it. The second option would affect the sea folk territory, and I am not that strong anyway."

"Do you want to do that again?" Terra asked.

"That is right, nuke them from orbit just to be sure," Rain said. "The best option would be to burn them, but fire magic isn't my forte. Besides, in a range that they can't detect the attack, I can't create fire projectiles, nor wind. My only options are ice and earth and the impacts will send waves that will destroy the port town."