Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

"Shouldn\'t one of us rest at night as well? We will need a tracker during the day, too," Rain said.

"I agree, but we should at least work in pairs," Branden said. "Also, I want you to start digging a tunnel toward the city. The enemies know that we don\'t employ earth mages to the frontlines, so they won\'t be expecting this. Considering what you did with that River, you can pull this off, right?"

"Yeah, if I have one week or so…" Rain said. "Still, the enemies sooner or later will realize that they lost their scouts on this side, and they will confirm that the enemies aren\'t only in the main army."

"It is fine; I will explain things later," Branden said. "With that in mind, Asche should cover for you while you dig."

Rain felt like sighing. If you can explain your plan, then do it already… all that drama and suspense was annoying, but complaining now would make things awkward for the group.

Before long, Rain began to make the tunnel, and the entrance was quite hard to see, even from up close, since Rain didn\'t damage the grass in the area. Since he had used some mana, Rain only dug a tunnel that was five hundred meters long.

He made it as thin as possible to reach the city that was five kilometers away since he didn\'t want to make the group waste too much time… still, that was a problem since he would be out of mana in case something happened.

When morning came, Branden asked Rain to create something like a watch post inside the tallest hill in the area. That way, they could hide and watch everything in all directions.

"What a slave driver…" Rain thought.

It seemed that Branden noticed that Rain was saving some mana for emergencies… he could have asked Liss for some help. Still, she would be more useful if something happened on the backline.

Things were a bit tight on the watch post, but at least all of the sides were being guarded even while Rain and Asche were resting. In any case, when night came, Branden called everyone while Brain was working on the tunnels.

"We need to keep an eye on both sides before the battle happens," Branden said. "While we could use the tunnel for that, we will have to wait for a few days. Besides, that will increase Rain\'s workload. With that in mind, we need to split into two groups, one that will watch the back of the enemies and the other that will watch our allies."

"Forgive me for saying this, but it is really wise to split our forces like this?" Terra asked. "Rain is already busy, and he is using too much mana, and Asche is covering for him. If something happens, we won\'t be able to do much."

"You are right, but gathering Intel isn\'t Revan\'s forte," Branden explained. "While some scouts are reporting things to him, we need to assume that those guys are being watched and their movements have been considered… we are the only force that the enemies aren\'t expecting."

"You guys are scheming and didn\'t invite me?" Rain suddenly appeared and then said. "How cold."

"I knew you would be against this since you would focus on the boring work; that is why I decided to talk about this whole; you are busy," Branden said.

"You know that if your plan fails and you die, we will lose our heads, right?" Rain asked. "As long as you are already aware of that, then I am with your plan."

"Well, since that is the case… I guess it would be better if Lord Branden were to watch our allies and the rest of us were to watch the back of the enemies until morning," Jori said.

"I have another idea; you guys can watch our allies while I keep an eye on the enemy\'s back," Rain said. "The tunnel will have to move a bit to the side, but I will be able to sense the tremors caused by the movements of any large group while I work. Our goal here is to prevent an ambush and recover the city if possible, right? That way, we can do both without taking too many risks."

Branden stopped to think for a moment. He had heard that Rain could do that as well, but it was hard to say how reliable that was.

Still, he probably was among the top ten earth mages of the realm, and he was probably the best earth mage who was also a combatant, so perhaps they could trust his tracking abilities… if all else fails, Branden will have to show up and show bis best skills, but that still was less risky.

"All right, let\'s go with your plan," Branden said.

Everyone nodded, and soon they began to move. Rain returned to his tunnel, and then he couldn\'t help but sigh. Who could have thought that upon reincarnation, even while being a human, he would do the work of a mole?

"Speaking of Moles… I guess I can do something pretty nasty when the time comes and the battle starts," Rain thought. "The battlefield sure is affecting my mindset. Well, as long as it keeps my head on the right place..."