Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

Despite Terra's immense strength, which almost enabled her to break free from Rain's arm lock, she reached a critical moment where the force she exerted nearly resulted in breaking her arm. Realizing the potential harm, she decided to relinquish her attempt to free herself. Even though she could heal such a wound insanely fast…

Despite Terra's physical strength advantage, Rain's superior skill and technique surpassed her raw power. Skill in martial arts often wins against sheer strength, and in this scenario, Rain's expertise in various techniques allowed him to maintain control over the situation despite Terra's formidable physical capabilities.

This serves as a testament to the significance of skill and technique in martial arts, those who watched that understood that, but some people still didn't like it.

"That was pretty cheap," Reca said when they arrived in the area and Terra and Rain were cleaning themselves from the snow.

"No one asked," Rain said. "You guys must be really desperate to feel superior. Who wants to try to humiliate me next? I will be sure not to cheat too much."

"I am going to pass, it is too cold here and I don't want to destroy the shelter or fight in the dungeon," Reca replied.

Danny and Annie appeared conflicted as they witnessed their mother yielding in a spar, something they had never experienced before. Throughout their lives, they had never succeeded in defeating her in a sparring match either, nor had they pushed her to yield against them. Therefore, witnessing that for the first time was an entirely new and somewhat surprising experience for them.

While conflicted, they also felt a sense of relief. They were relieved that Rain, despite the intensity of the spar, didn't resort to punching or striking their mother aggressively. This aspect, which contrasted with their expectations, reassured Danny and Annie, as it reflected Rain's respect and restraint in the match despite his skill and capability.

After returning to the shelter, the group relaxed for a while. It looked Terra's plans didn't change a thing regarding the proximity between Rain and his kids… that was a bit depressing, but after calming down for a bit, she realzed that the plan had too many flaws… for starters, their kids were one hundred years old, they weren't stupid.

"... That was an interesting technique," Danny said. "It is pretty useful to some enemies, but not against monsters and dragons."

"Yes, but you can use the same logic in other ways to make it effective against even dragons," Rain said. "Pinning down a dragon is close to impossible, since they are either too heavy or they can fly. Still, if you are quick enough, you can break their fingers and that will slow down their reaction time for the rest of the fight."

"Isn't it better to just fire something at their fingers or pierce their arms altogether?" Annie asked.

"That is too obvious and can give enough time for them to react, attacking their fingers like that definitely can caught of them off guard despite the risks," Rain said.

Danny and Annie found themselves intrigued by Rain's expertise and experience, making them bombard him with numerous questions. Rain's unparalleled history of close-range dragon encounters made him an unparalleled source of knowledge on the subject.

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His insights into such encounters were a rare and valuable resource, especially considering his extensive firsthand experience in dealing with such creatures.

Observing this talk between Rain and their children, Terra couldn't help but feel a sense of warmth and happiness. Despite the somewhat unconventional topic of discussion—strategies for incapacitating adversaries by breaking their bones efficiently—Terra found herself smiling.

For her, witnessing her family bond over discussions about combat techniques and strategies felt entirely natural and heartening.

Terra didn't think that the conversation as strange or unsettling. Instead, she embraced the scene as a testament to the strong familial bond they shared. The fact that they were discussing combat tactics and techniques didn't stop her from feeling a sense of joy in seeing her family members growing closer through their shared interests and interactions.

"So, this is what a normal family looks like," Terra asked.

"Definetely not," Jori said. "I won't deny that mine is out there, but we don't talk about such weird things as if it is a sunday morning conversation."

"To each their own," Terra said.

In the end, an unexpected transformation seemed to have taken place among the group over the last one hundred years. They had all seemingly turned into what could be described as muscle heads or training addcits. The experiences, discussions, and training sessions had profoundly influenced each individual's mindset and interests.

They had become deeply engrossed in the world of combat, martial arts, and physical prowess. That took most of their time, even when they were relaxing, they only talked about that.

Conversations revolving around combat techniques, strategies for fighting, strength training, and martial arts maneuvers had become the norm since they needed all the possible time to increase their chances of survival and that worked thus far. The group members didn't mind at all engaging in such discussions; in fact, they embraced it wholeheartedly.

Their shared enthusiasm for these topics had fostered a sense of camaraderie and understanding among them.

"Hey, Dad… you have to teach us something too," Jori's eldest son suddenly said. "We don't want to fall behind those two."

"I already told you everything that I know… and you guys are too old to be this competitive," Jori said while looking at his kids and frowning. "Considering what you had learned until now and your fighting preferences, you have to improve your own fighting style and come up with new techniques that can help you all… don't look for others for guidance that much at your age."

After saying that, Jori felt a bit bad while watching Rain and his children talking, so he decided to take his kids outside and give them some of his secret training tips as well… he didn't want them fall behind.