Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

The new ones from the Diligence path were already working and while his goal was still become stronger beyond the system, Rain decided to max out all the skills and paths that the system had.

"I need to confirm that all this knowledge is something that the system took from the knowledge of the people from Earth… the basic skills already confirmed that, though," Rain thought. "Still, learning more will come in handy since it might give me some insights about what happened in the past."
Experience more on My Virtual Library Empire

Before long, the day ended, and the night came… while Rain was busy, the night passed in the blink of an eye as well. Still, when he got up and stretched his body, he turned around and then saw Seara nodding off in the distance with her back against a tree. Rain was so focused that he didn't sense her presence at all.

"I improved my focus, but I can't feel proud of it in this situation…" Rain thought.

Just like everyone who built their reputation to become a hardass in the last one hundred years, Seara probably didn't want to be seen showing any signs of weakness. While Rain wanted to carry her to a proper bed to rest, he decided against that and just let her sleep Against his shoulder when he sat beside her. Rain needed a bit of time to sleep as well, so he did that right there.

When Rain closed his eyes and fell asleep, it felt like several hours passed in the blink of an eye… he woke up around noon because his senses alerted him and they worked well once more because he saw Sealyn standing right in front of him.

"My apologies if I had woken you up…" Sealyn said while looking at Seara. "Mom either completely trusts you, or perhaps I pushed her too hard lately and I didn't realize that."

"Maybe it is both things," Rain said. "How I can say this without sounding so preachy? I also have experience of pushing myself for several days nonstop only to sleep for several days nonstop after I finally had the chance to rest."

"My memories of you are a bit weird… they make me think that you would deny my words here in order to make me feel better," Sealyn furrowed her eyebrows.

"If you were a kid, I probably would do that, perhaps even deny reality a bit to protect you even from self doubt," Rain explained. "But you are not a kid and treating you like one would be a disrespect to the experience and life that you had without me, don't you think?"

"I guess so," Sealyn said and then sat down.

Sealyn's composed behavior, despite the emotional complexity of the situation, was a sign of her resilience and the lessons she had learned while navigating a world filled with challenges and dangers. Her calm demeanor might have stemmed from a necessity to maintain control and focus amidst the chaos surrounding them.

Much like Rain before he settled down and started a family, Sealyn seemed to prioritize efficiency and composure in her actions. Her focus on responsibilities and duties might have mirrored Rain's past mentality of single-minded dedication to strengthening himself and ensuring the safety and stability of their surroundings.

Rain understood this demeanor all too well. Before he found a balance in his life with his family, his mind was consumed by the pursuit of power. He wondered if Sealyn, in her pursuit of survival and leadership, shared a similar mindset—a constant drive to fortify herself and those around her against the harsh realities they faced.

"Grandfather and Mom told me many things about you," Sealyn said while studying Rain, looking him in the eye. "They didn't align well with my memories of you as well. They said that you were quite goofy."

"Compared to them, a brick wall can be funny," Rain shrugged.

"I suppose that extends to me as well since I am even more serious than them," Sealyn said.

"Self awareness is a virtue, so you can take pride in that," Rain said. "I am also aware that I tend to joke at the worst of times because I dislike depressing atmospheres. That can also be something that I need to solve. However, this is the kind of thing that I like. You can't just feel bad for all the things that you don't like about yourself and the bad things that happen in life.

You have to strive to improve yourself, but you don't have to beat yourself up over it. When you achieve your goals, you will soon realize that the problems that made you suffer a long the way sometimes are much better than the reward at the end of the journey."

Sealyn's composed demeanor momentarily faltered as she blinked in response to Rain's words. His observation about her age and the realization that she was older than her father, at least in years lived, stirred an unexpected reaction within her.

In theory, Sealyn was aware of the passing of time and understood that, due to the circumstances of her existence and the time Rain had spent absent from her life, she had likely surpassed him in age. However, she had never consciously processed this fact or considered its implications until that moment.

She had always perceived obstacles, distractions, or anything that impeded her goals as mere annoyances to be overcome or bypassed in pursuit of her objectives.This unexpected realization brought a brief pause in her otherwise composed demeanor.

"For example, you have been fighting the water dragons for a while, but you were unable to do so without a proper base," Rain said. "You solved that problem by coming here and becoming allies with the people of the island and you also found other important things, right?"

"I suppose so, Van is probably the best thing that happened at first… you look really pale all of a sudden," Sealyn raised her eyebrows.