Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix-Chapter 1512: Expectations

"This is getting old really quick..."

If Arel could, she wished that she would have lost the count of how many times Rain had been burned to a crisp, but her brain capacities were unrivaled. She wasn’t one of the machine gods out of coincidence... it wouldn’t be weird to say they were the gods of maths as well.

Around the fiftieth time that Rain was burned to a crisp, his resistance to fire stopped getting stronger... Fire Nullification reached level one thousand, but he didn’t have another transformation like he did with Limit Breaker. Words couldn’t describe the disappointment that he had when he realized that... he was counting on it so much... and yet... he forced himself to endure all of that.

Even his Energy Absorption and Energy Conversion reached the max levels, but nothing changed. Maybe it was because those kinds of skills didn’t agree with Rain all that much... he was a Brawler through and through, after all.

"I am surprised that you can endure this much... not even the lesser machine gods would have been able to endure this.

Rain’s body trembled uncontrollably, his muscles tensing and quivering with the strain of the ordeal he had endured. His gaze was unfocused, his eyes staring blankly into the void as if lost in the depths of his own thoughts. It was as if the weight of the world bore down upon him, threatening to crush him.

Despite the visible signs of distress that wracked his form, Rain remained resolute in his silence, refusing to divulge even a single word of the information that Arel wanted. His lips remained tightly sealed, his expression betraying nothing of the inner turmoil that raged within him.

For Arel, the sight was perplexing, a puzzle she could not unravel. She had expected Rain to crack under the pressure, to reveal the secrets she sought in a moment of weakness. Yet despite his obvious distress, he remained steadfast in his refusal to yield, his silence a testament to the strength of his will.

As she watched him quiver and shake, Arel felt a twinge of unease. There was something unnerving about the sight of Rain in such a state, something that hinted at depths of resilience and determination she had not anticipated.

"All right, I congratulate you for making me decide this. You will have the chance to prove your willpower by actually landing on the Red Star. This time, I won’t pull you. You can feel free to escape if you want to talk and give all the answers that I want. This is the maximum that I can do without actually facing you seriously, but I still have the last level of this torment for you. You will have the chance to enjoy it if you try to escape without wanting to."

That was the chance Rain was waiting for, but instead of relief... he felt his heart being soaked in anxiety. He was terrified at that torture method already... it felt like the pain didn’t decrease at all since the first time. That only meant that if Fire Immunity was useless, then the Red Star could cause more than one million points of damage against him per second.

"How many times is it... fiftieth time?" Rain thought when he felt the pull of the planet. "With the other one, I already died fifty-one times... I knew that this would happen... I prepared myself for it, and yet... I am terrified."

Since the torture started, Rain tried to think of ways to endure that hell, but nothing came to mind. The only idea that he could think of was to surpass the path system, but he had no idea how.

In the end, Rain didn’t have time to think of anything... he began to burn, and he stayed conscious until he was bit by several solar flares. He wondered why he was doing all that... he had a feeling that he was doing something important, but he couldn’t recall what it was. Eventually, his skeleton landed on the Red Star, and they began to burn even stronger than before... but they didn’t suffer any damage.

"... How is that possible... nothing physical can endure this. Much less something organic... wait, this feeling...’

Arel began to feel her aspect getting stronger around Rain, and she immediately realized what he was doing. Even while unconscious, his body knew what it had to do...

The Energy path was updated.

Lvl 45: Energy Manipulation - Manipulates energy fields and gradients to exert control over the movement, distribution, and behavior of energy within a given area. Increases range with each level up.

The Energy path was updated.

Lvl 50: Energy Storage - Stores excess energy within objects or constructs for later use, creating reservoirs of potential energy that can be tapped into as needed. Higher levels increases the capacity stored.

The Energy path was updated.

Lvl 55: Energy Dissipation - Dissipates concentrated energy sources to prevent overload or explosion, safely dispersing excess energy into the surrounding environment. When using energy beyond your capacity, you suffer less damage per level.

"So annoying... he was waiting for this to happen and now he had gotten some troublesome skills. Even if they are at low proeficiency levels..."

Since Arel was using that red Star as her vessel, it was only natural that it would have some information about the energy path stored in it. She felt really vexed thinking that Rain predicted even that far ahead...

"Even if he obtains all the skills and becomes proficient at them, with a body like that, he will never survive... but I already assumed this once, and he kept surpassing my assumptions."

Despite thinking like that, Arel was curious... what would happen to Rain if he keeps obtaining the power of the aspects? The same thing could happen with the dragon god, but she wasn’t as nearly as interested in him... between her curiosity and her mission, Arel didn’t know what to pick at the moment.