Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

Rain hoped that he could find the next relic by knowing the location of the people who worked with Larisa, but it seemed that it wasn't possible. Still, considering the location of where he found the other relics… no, it was useless. Rain couldn't use that information as a reference since nothing says that the dragons didn't move the relics over time.

"Still, there is a chance that you can find traces of the relics in places with large concentrations of people," Nigel said. "Starting the searches in massive cities could help."

"It is so annoying when you use logic…" Rain said and then sighed.

"It is quite fun to use it when you expect me to say something that you can use to bash me," Nigel said and then laughed.

"Regardless, you guys are using my mana to float. Did you recover any memories that can be useful?" Rain asked.

"I recovered a memory that showed the plate of a Russian city, and I could understand the language to some extent," Elisabetha said. "I don't think that I was from there, but I lived close."

"If you were there, we don't have to head there now if you didn't work with anyone nearby," Rain said. "In any case, when I was alive, I remember the population of the five largest cities in the world… one of them is relatively close.

Tokyo was the capital and largest city of Japan, with a metropolitan population that exceeds 37 million people. Delhi, the capital of India, has a population of over 30 million people in its metropolitan area. Shanghai was one of China's most populous cities, with a population exceeding 27 million.

São Paulo was the largest city in Brazil, with a population of over 21 million people. Mumbai, the financial capital of India, had a metropolitan population of over 20 million people… those seemed like the best starting points for a search. When Rain thought of that, he realized that everyone was looking at him since he had been silently talking with his relics for a while.

He wanted to ask the population of those cities to the relics, but it was unlikely that they had such a precise information when their memories were incomplete.

"Sorry, I was lost in touch," Rain said, and he created another ice platform. "Let's resume our search."

Rain changed directions again and headed East. While everyone realized that, they didn't ask why he did it. They knew that Rain had some extra information thanks to the relics, and sharing all of it might confuse them even more. In any case, the group had to fly for a couple of hours more, but their searches finally showed some results…

"I can see faint traces of mana south of here," Danny said.

When everyone looked in the same direction, they confirmed that… but it felt like seeing dust particles in the air. The amount of mana in the air was minimal. Still, they kept flying toward it, and much to their surprise, they found some water on the ground… it was dusty and could' be drunk, but it was definitely water.

"We didn't find this until now… I guess this must be because of the mana," Esmeralda side. "Even if the stump drained all the mana in the world, it wouldn't drain all the mana in all parts of it completely."

Rain agreed with that, and while they couldn't find traces of lakes thanks to the tall grass, Rain could see blocks of concrete buried around… some of them had distorted metals inside and that made him think that they were parts of some large bridge. It looked like they found the remnants of Sao Paulo… unfortunately, there were no traces of a relic in there.

"I knew that it wouldn't be easy, but…" Rain thought and then sighed.

Rain looked in the distance, his keen eyes detecting unnatural formations of mountains that seemed out of place in the desolate landscape. Intrigued by the sight, he decided to investigate further. As he approached and unleashed a powerful burst of ice magic, the mountains revealed their true nature.

To everyone's surprise, the seemingly natural peaks crumbled away to expose massive heaps of junk and trash concealed within.

The revelation was met with a mix of awe and shock . It became apparent that most of the remnants of the old civilization had been strategically buried within these artificial mountains, as if something had sought to conceal the evidence of their existence. The trash mountains stood as silent witnesses to the fate that befell the once-thriving cities, now reduced to rubble and debris.

Rain's intuition had guided him to these concealed remnants, providing valuable insight into the mysteries of the old world.

"Well… I guess I need to apologize to you for my lack of trust in your words," Regis said. "This kind of thing is truly… unbelievable."

"That is unnecessary," Rain said. "Anyway, if we can't see anything else here, we should be moving. The influence of a relic could be sensed from a much larger distance and the mana would probably be attracted to it."

The other cities were a bit far away, but it couldn't be helped… considering the sake of efficiency, it was better to look for those first. Without wasting time, the group began to travel further East… and after a while, they soon found the remnants of the Atlantic Ocean. There wasn't a single drop of water in there…

Despite the absence of water, the ocean floor revealed a peculiar landscape. Instead of the lush greenery one might expect on land, the former bottom of the Atlantic Ocean was marked by a desolate expanse. The rocky formations, eroded over time, jutted out like jagged spikes, creating an otherworldly terrain.

Rain, with a keen eye for detail, observed the rocky surfaces covered in mugus, small marine organisms that had once thrived in the ocean depths.

"I guess the ocean isn't completely dead… the world isn't completely dead," Rain thought.