Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

Level 05: Dimensional Compression - Shrink objects or spaces to microscopic sizes or expand them to colossal proportions, mastering the manipulation of scale. Higher levels of this sky grant more efficiency in its use.

Level 10: Spatial Invisibility - Render objects or oneself invisible by bending light and space around them, achieving stealth and camouflage. Higher levels of this sky grant more efficiency in its use.

Rain only continued his research for a couple of hours, but his head was aching like he was being hit by a hammer. As it turned out, every single detail in the books related to those skills was important… When he skipped some of them, the skills stopped leveling up… it was like he was creating a massive building with one small part at a time, and all the pieces needed each other.

"I need a break… I also need to separate the details necessary to make everyone learn space magic," Rain thought and then sighed. "I wished that my life were a bit easier… even with the Doppelgangers, it didn't become easier. Who said that it would be easier if I could use Shadow clones? I did…"

Rain sighed again and then left his mental landscape… he needed a vacation. Rain swore that once the machine gods were done with, he wouldn't work or fight a single more day in his life.

After returning to the real world and seeing everyone working their asses off, Rain felt a bit guilty for that… he just took two weeks off, and he was already tired, after all. He truly didn't have time for that when the machine gods were literally millions of years ahead of them.

"The enemies also will be more wary of us now… so I truly need to keep myself together," Rain thought while he was walking. "It is the last push… seven more enemies, and we will be free."

Rain decided to just clear his head a bit while walking around, and soon, he found Sealyn and Van overseeing the training of a group. She had her arms crossed on her chest while she was shouting some things that a pregnant woman probably shouldn't say. Rain wondered who was the person who made his family become such a militaristic group… it was probably him.

"I get it; everything is my fault," Rain thought.

"You need therapy. Talking to yourself like that could be a sign of being punch drunk," Elisabetha said.

Punch drunk is a term primarily used in boxing and other combat sports to describe a condition resulting from repeated blows to the head over time. It's also known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

The symptoms can vary but often include cognitive impairment such as memory loss, confusion, difficulty concentrating, and impaired judgment. Additionally, individuals with it may experience changes in mood and behavior, such as depression, irritability, aggression, and emotional instability. Physical symptoms can also occur, such as headaches, dizziness, and problems with balance and coordination.

"I do get hit a lot in the head, but…" Rain said. "If I have a problem in the head, it is probably because my brain is overloaded with the use of magic."

Now that Rain thought about it, he always focused a lot on offense and counters… but counters were quite difficult when the enemies were much stronger than him. It has been a while since he had a fight that was plain old him and his enemies punching each other or swinging weapons at him.

"Although I can rebuild my body even after being crushed to almost nothing, I guess some sort of me can take damage that can't be repaired…" Rain thought. "That should be the spirit, but I didn't notice anything weird until now. Regardless, I already have a very useful and powerful technique. I need to focus on avoiding attacks better."

Before that, Rain began to focus on teaching the basics to everyone about space magic. After reading quite a bit thanks to Loks logs, Rain realized that the very basics of that aspect was to bend space… but they didn't have to make anything happen on a large scale. Teleporting small objects was a lot easier than teleporting themselves, so Rain started with that.

"... Why does it feel so cold around you?" Terra asked while she was trying to teleport some pebbles around.

"I am using Energy Absorption and converting it into mana," Rain explained. "I am absorbing the heat around, but since the level of the skill is low, the range is limited."

"Hmm… the power of the machine gods sure is useful," Terra said.

"How much has your mana recovery improved with this?" Seara asked while focusing on another group of pebbles.

"Not much, there isn't much energy here," Rain shrugged. "I have a certain idea that will improve my mana regeneration to the look that it will fill everything in a single moment, but I guess it will take a while before I can try."

That was certainly impressive, and since Rain wasn't the type to brag about things without a real reason, it was probably true. If everyone could learn the same, things would improve tremendously for the whole group, but that was easier said than done."

"Let's take one step at a time… space magic will give them the chance to redirect or dodge dangerous attacks and that will increase our survivability," Rain thought. "So, let's focus on this."

In the end, it took a few days, but some people began to unlock the space manipulator path, even though they had a hard time even sensing space distortions. Rain's friends and family learned the skills faster than the others, but the best they could do for now was to use small Teleporting or open small Portals.

"Now everyone can help each other, and I can focus on the research," Rain thought. "I need to endure this for as long as possible in order to get some real information that will let us plan for the future."