Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

After running for a couple of hours, Rain became troublesomely aware of the biting cold that began to touch his body. The frigid temperatures of the environment started to take a toll on him, causing discomfort and a growing sense of chill that penetrated deep into his bones.

Despite his relentless pursuit and determination to reach his destination, the plummeting temperatures were becoming an increasingly formidable obstacle. Rain's body shivered involuntarily as the freezing conditions intensified. He realized the urgent need to address the cold that threatened to impede his progress and endurance.

"I should have become a bit more resilient to fire, but not to ice…" Rain thought. "Since that happened by being barbecued alive by a bunch of meteor dragons, I guess I need to endure this much… I don't want to do this until my fingers fall off, though."

Fortunately, Rain didn't have to do that… he eventually found the entrance of a dungeon in the distance, and he felt Terra's mana coming from there. Still, the entrance of the dungeon was a bit different from what Rain recalled.

The entrance of the fire dungeon in front of Rain looked like a colossal maw resembling the gaping red mouth of a meteor dragon. Despite the relentless power of the snowstorm that engulfed the surroundings, the area immediately surrounding the entrance remained remarkably free from the snow.

As Rain approached the entrance, he was able to see quite something—the falling snowflakes dissolved into vapor upon nearing the fiery aura emanating from the dungeon's gateway.

The contrast was stark and breathtaking—quite the different sight between the frosty landscape veiled in the blizzard and the immediate vicinity around the fiery entrance. The heat emanating from within created a protective shield, preventing the snow from touching its fiery domain.

"I will call this place: Dragonfire Hellhole: Ember's Eternal Domain," Rain said. "Yeah, it is a sick name… let's forget this and look for Terra."

Terra apparently has been there for over a week, so Rain didn't have time to waste. Rain crossed the entrance and soon found some stairs going downward as well… before, the first floors had changed a bit, but they didn't have stairs, even more so when they looked like a corridor of a red castle on flames.

As Rain arrived on the first floor of the dungeon, he found himself immersed in an eerie, dark, and hot environment. The surroundings exuded an unnerving aura, with towering walls carved from a fusion of obsidian and fiery-hued stones emitting an ambient glow that painted the corridor in shades of crimson and burnt orange. The air was thick and annoying dense thanks to the heat.

Amidst that place, Rain observed a peculiar thing happening—reddish-hued liquid droplets cascading from the ceiling, descended. As the liquid droplets touched the ground, a weird transformation took place. Upon contact with the floor, the crimson liquid swiftly transformed and reshaped itself into fire, gelatinous entities—the fire slimes.

"This is very different from before…" Rain thought. "This is starting to look like a dungeon from a game… the system must be trying to mess with me."

The fire slimes, born from the molten liquid pulsated with a dangerous fire glow. Their gelatinous forms radiated an intense heat, their movements erratic yet eerily fluid as they jumped across the floor with creepy grace. Rain didn't waste time with them and made them explode by firing ice arrows.

The skill Scholar'' Insight received 50 experience points.

The skill Scholar'' Insight received 50 experience points.

The skill Scholar'' Insight received 50 experience points. Discover more stories at My Virtual Library Empire

…

"Not bad…" Rain thought. "How sneaky Terra… you are grinding here in order to call me weak as well?"

Each step Rain took in the dungeon's depths seemed to reveal more of these monsters. Just as Rain recalled, the first floor was one kilometer long, and it was a straight line. Rain found only a couple of fire slimes on the way, though. As for the staircase connecting to the second level, Rain saw that it was spiralling downward a bit, and the path would lead him to the opposite direction.

"This isn't what I remembered…" Rain thought.

Rain considered the nature of dungeons as he traversed through the corridors of the second floor. Despite his extensive knowledge and experiences, the origin and construction of these spells called dungeons remained a confusing mystery to him. His understanding was limited to their fundamental purpose—a mechanism resembling a factory designed to spawn and proliferate monsters.

Dungeons, to Rain's knowledge, operated akin to manufacturing plants specialized in birthing and nurturing various creatures. The process involved harnessing elements like animals, mana, or even other mystical components to produce an array of monsters. However, the intricate mechanics behind the creation of dungeons themselves remained unknown to him

While navigating through the second floor and killing more fire slimes than before, Rain's thoughts wandered back to the lingering threats that persisted in this realm since one of them was the creator of the dungeons. Memories resurfaced, reminding him of the adversaries still active within the world.

The demi-human figure, the human responsible for starting the wars after killing a bunch of beast people and the magic people, and the teleporting character—each posed a distinct challenge, their presence serving as a testament to the dangers lurking within the world…

"I never thought that… but there is a chance that the demi human that attacked the beast people was actually the dragon god in disguise," Rain thought. "His presence was weird and was supposed to be even weirder while transforming into a human shell… even with their sharp senses, the beast people wouldn't be able to tell what he was exactly."

Until now, Rain thought that the dragon god only minded his own business in order to obtain more power, but he probably caused trouble to keep Rain busy too… even though he acted like he only heard about Rain a few months before their encounter… it was his way to make himself look superior.