Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

Rain saw that the troll bodies were emanating a potent and possibly poisonous miasma. As he approached the gruesome scene, an unsettling and foul odor filled the air, causing his skin to crawl and his senses to recoil. The smell was overpowering and had a disorienting effect, making him feel lightheaded and dizzy.

In response, Rain acted quickly, unleashing his magic to incinerate the troll remains and the miasma, preventing any further exposure to the dangerous gas. He barely let that enter his nostrils, but that still happened in the end.

"Now are retorting to poison," Asche said. "They could have reached us already, but they only sent the trolls to make this happen, and since those guys are hard to kill from a distance… the warriors ended up poisoned. The wind isn't helping either."

"They truly want a long battle, huh?" Rain thought while squinting his eyes.

"Where is Terra? She should be able to counter the poison quite fast," Asche asked.

"They will be here soon," Rain said. "If the enemies want us to waste time, we will have to bring the fight to them. Where is Seadir and his friends?"

"It seems that they suffered the same fate as most of the warriors who breathe the poison. They should be in the open sea to recover themselves," Jori said. "They said that some of the trolls dropped the blood in the waterway and that poisoned it in several kilometers."

Rain recognized that even with the significant long-range attack capabilities of Asche and Liss, they might not be able to take down the trolls before the creatures closed in on them. This suggested that the trolls were likely prioritizing their defense, making them formidable opponents. Moreover, facing a hundred of these creatures posed a difficult challenge, even for Rain's skilled companions.

It was evident that a strategic and coordinated approach would be necessary to deal with such a formidable force.

"I could just burn them all down until our forces come, but I think that they know that I am here, so they will do anything to buy time," Rain said while rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "The fact that we raised the raging phoenix to become melee fighters is also coming to bite us in the ass. How long until the warriors can recover?"

"One day," Asche replied. "They will be almost completely healed."

"Almost?" Rain frowned.

"The poison made them throw up and have diarrhea as well, so they lost a lot of their vitality," Asche shrugged.

Rain furrowed his brow upon learning that those exposed to the miasma from the trolls experienced symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea. It didn't seem like a typical magical poison that affected the blood of the monsters, based on his knowledge from Earth. Instead, it appeared more consistent with certain types of gases that could induce such reactions.

On Earth, certain toxic gases, like hydrogen sulfide or some nerve agents, could disrupt bodily functions, leading to symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. These gases could irritate the intestinal system or target the nervous system, causing these unpleasant side effects.

Rain's Earth-based knowledge allowed him to consider such possibilities and the implications of the miasma's effects on those who encountered it.

"Hmm… that would explain why I only felt danger in the last moment," Rain thought while squinting his eyes. "Make everyone drink plenty of water and breath clean air, don't let them indoors, even if it sounds weird in these kids of situation. Also make them prepare pieces of cloth to cover their faces.

We will have to be mindful of not letting the blood fall on us either, the effects could even be more dangerous if that were to happen."

"Just how do those guys manage to make the Monsters change like that?" Jori asked while frowning. "Can dungeons even create monsters like that naturally?"

Rain wished that he could explain that, but he didn't have enough knowledge to think of anything. The spell called dungeon was too complicated and beyond even the knowledge that Rain had of the dragons… with some years of experimentation, perhaps Rain would be able to come up with some sort of theory, but it was hard to say for certain.

A few hours later, Terra, Seara and the other warriors arrived. Since they were fresh and completely fine, that made the city feel a bit more secure, but it was worrisome since the enemies were supposed to be in a distance that they could see. Stay connected with empire

In the end, Rain flew a bit and then used his telescope and confirmed that the enemies had set their camp twenty kilometers away from them, it was enough for them to prevent being surprised by a large group.

"They aren't in a hurry, so we will have to bring the fight to them," Rain said and then looked at the sun setting. "Attacking at night will be too obvious, though."

"Tomorrow morning everyone should be able to fight at almost full force," Reca said while spinning her spear insanely fast with a single hand. "I have been itching for a good fight for a while."

"The enemies will have defenses against most of our tactics, they fought against us a bunch of times, after all," Rain said. "It will be better if you let the others get rid of the trolls and then you will have the chance to fight later."

"What if all of the monster's blood will emit the same miasma?" Reca asked.

Rain thought of that, but he wished that he hadn't it… if that were true, the battle will truly last for a while and they won't be able to go all out.

"I will think of something to fight those problems… but I have the feeling that the enemies will show up one problem after the other," Rain said. "You guys will have to watch and learn because I don't think that I can stay here for more than one week… the warriors can stay behind, though."