Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

"Good work and welcome back," Esmeralda said when the group arrived. "It seems that you left all the bones behind, in the end, huh?"

"You wanted to make some soup with them?" Rain asked.

"I just thought that you would give in to temptation and bring some," Esmeralda said. "Regardless, rest for now. We can talk about the future at a later time."

Things were going to become much bigger now in terms of scale. The trip to Neptune will take three weeks, even if they keep improving the speed of the vessel somehow, it wouldn't be enough and they eventually will eventually reach the limits of that strategy.

"I don't think that we will find anything j. Neptune," Sakaki said. "If the dragons created that fortress in Uranus, they wouldn't have any reason to go there."

Sakaki had a point, but they still needed to confirm things. Besides, even if there is no mana there, they had to see the changes on the place and see what kind of resources they could get from it.

"Neptune wasn't much different from Uranus. It is a gas giant, primarily composed of hydrogen and helium, and was often referred to as an "ice giant" due to the presence of water, ammonia, and methane in its atmosphere." Sakaki said. "Neptune experiences extremely dynamic and turbulent weather patterns.

The planet has the fastest winds in the solar system, reaching speeds of up to 1,500 miles per hour. Large storm systems, such as the famous Great Dark Spot, are known to occur in Neptune's atmosphere. Exploration there will be difficult thanks to it."

Despite the challenges posed by Neptune's harsh conditions, Rain and the group prepared for their journey. The expanded star vessel, now fifty kilometers long and wide, provided a more stable platform for the arduous voyage. As they approached the icy giant, they marveled at the swirling storms and dynamic weather patterns visible from afar.

Rain headed home with the intent to relax a bit, but he was unable to do so since he kept thinking about the next phase of the plan… he still had three weeks before coming with the next route. If things go well, they might have the chance to stop on Earth for a few days.

"Checking all the celssfialt bodies isn't feasible… we have to save time and focus on those that can sustain life or are big enough," Rain said. "There are countless planets out there, after all."

"If you let me use the telescope with your mana, I can help you select the best options for us," Sakaki said. "Just thinking about the problem of speed isn't enough, this might be a nice change of pace that will help me."

"... I suppose I can find some people to help you with that," Rain rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Anyway, delegating work is a necessity in a situation like this, aside from that…"

Before Rain could finish his sentence, a muffled sound echoed in the area, and the vessel began to tremble all over. Rain opened his eyes widely, wondering what could have happened, but the explanation was obvious—the vessel had been attacked. Rain and his wives left the house and soon saw some massive chunks of earth passing by the sides of the vessel.

It seemed that a meteor had collided against them.

Rain wanted an explanation, but things should have been fairly obvious. The vessel was not in immediate danger of crashing, but a decaying orbit was a potential threat if the trajectory couldn't be stabilized in time.

The urgency of the situation was apparent. but Rain's efforts began to show results there were no clear damage on the barrier around it. However, time was of the essence, and they needed to act swiftly to prevent further complications.

"Was that an accident?" Terra asked.

"No… not when something that massive hit us," Rain said. "We have to gather Intel, go talk with the others while I check the mana we have in store."

They nodded and soon left the house in a hurry and then Rain went to check the center of command… it was just his basement where he could sense how things were on the vessel with ease.

In any case, Rain knew that they had saved around 150 million mana points, but the hit that the barrier took made it lost ten percent of it… it was an attack that would have killed someone that even had fifteen million points in health.

"... It was definitely an attack," Sakaki said. "It isn't like we didn't consider that it wouldn't happen, but not this fast… and soon."

"If a meteor hit us… it could have been. The dragon god, right?" Nigel asked.

"I think that he would come directly to take us down… unless he still believed that Rain died," Larisa said. "In theory, he was supposed to have received the experience for killing Rain, but we can't be sure."

While those guys were expectating, Rain used the telescope to check the direction the meteor came from, but he wasn't able to see anything… he soon found others coming in the same direction, though.

"Everyone wants to copy the freaking Sephroth!" Rain said and then dashed toward the command room. "Before long, everyone will have massive and unreasonable long swords that nearly impossible to handle."

Rain swiftly accessed the vessel's controsl and allocated a significant amount of mana to initiate a defensive maneuver. He decided to slow down the vessel's speed temporarily, making it move irregularly from side to side. The abrupt change in trajectory caused the meteors to miss their target, but the vessel trembled under the strain of the sudden adjustments.

The vessel continued its erratic maneuvers through space, its movements carefully controlled by Rain's control. The meteors that had threatened to collide were now left behind, unable to match the vessel's newfound movements. Inside the command room, the group observed the displays and monitored the telescope for any signs of external interference.