NOVPUBOnce Rain relaxed a bit, the wounds in his body began to sting quite a bit… he couldn't help but hiss in pain while he was healing himself. At least he accomplished his goal.
"... You are unnerving," Seara said after she approached. "Even after suffering this much damage, you still refused to cause any damage back."
"It should be obvious that I wouldn't be able to lay a finger on either of my princesses," Rain said. "Anyway, you went too far. You developed some weird and violent kinks while I was away."
"My daughter is an empress, and I am too old to be called a princess…" Seara said and then slightly punched Rain's left side. "I am not old."
"I didn't say otherwise," Rain shrugged.
Before long, those two left the ring in order to let the other participants fight… once again, Rain left the arena to heal himself properly, and after ignoring some snarky comments from relics, Rain soon found himself mostly healed.
"Her attacks were simple, and they didn't pierce my body that much, so the damage wasn't serious," Rain thought. "In any case, while it is a pain, I am gaining quite a bit of practical experience in this tournament."
As Rain took a moment to think about the aftermath of his battle with Seara, he acknowledged the valuable lessons he had obtained throughout the tournament. The diverse number of opponents had provided him with a unique opportunity to learn and adapt, and he found himself getting stronger by facing the distinct fighting styles he encountered.
From Jori's intricate copy of weapon techniques to Seara's quick and precise attacks, Rain had obtained some insights into the art of combat that extended beyond the limits of traditional martial arts. Roan's exceptional ability to enhance focus by clearing his mind added another layer to Rain's understanding, highlighting the importance of mental discipline in the midst of all battles. no𝚟𝚙u𝚋.c𝚘m
Dana, with her unique approach to enhancing individual attacks given sufficient time, had also left a lasting impression on Rain. The tournament had become an important experience, and Rain realized that he had gained more than he had lost. The practical knowledge acquired from each encounter had become a valuable collection of knowledge, honing his skills and expanding his number of techniques.
With each participant bringing a distinct flavor to the tournament, Rain couldn't help but feel a sense of gratitude for the wealth of experience gained, a clear sign of the true value of the challenging yet rewarding journey he had embarked upon.
"You appear to be in a good mood, too bad, but your time is really bad," Larisa said. "We lost sight of the cargo that we were keeping an eye… just when a random star blocked our field of vision thanks to our movements."
That happened before… the group lost sight of the cargo for a couple of hours thanks to the celestial bodies on the way, but it seemed that this time, more than a few hours had passed. Larisa wouldn't report that without confirming it.
"What was the star?" Rain asked and then went to check the telescope.
The planet was quite dark and apparently didn't have any atmosphere either. It was also even smaller than the old Earth, so that was suspicious.
"That is a rogue planet," Sakaki explained. "A rogue planet, also known as a free-floating planet or orphan planet, is a planet that does not orbit any star. Unlike planets in our solar system, which orbit the Sun, rogue planets wander through the vast expanse of interstellar space without being gravitationally bound to any specific star. Rogue planets can form through various mechanisms.
One possibility is that they form in protoplanetary disks around stars, similar to the way planets form in a solar system. Still, gravitational interactions with other objects or the star itself can then kick them out of the system."
"Your point being?" Rain asked.
"The celestial map is very different from the past, so we can assume that whatever changed the map is creating numerous rogue planets," Sakaki said. "You can find them rather ease nowadays. Regardless, that planet doesn't look like a place the enemies would use, so we can assume that the enemy just used them to suddenly make the cargo disappear, or we are just unlucky."
If the enemies knew where they were, it would be easier to just attack them. Using such a roundabout way would be a waste of time. So, either the enemy's base, another one, is close to the rogue planet, or they use another method to receive the cargo.
"... We should keep our eyes in that area while we head to that desertic planet," Rain said. "This other location is much further away from our current location than the next destination. Unless we confirm the existence of anything there, we can't change our course… I will have to report this to the others anyway."
"Right… speaking of distance, we are starting to obtain more mana," Sakaki said. "We should use the reserves to help with my experiments."
"What kind of experiments?" Rain furrowed his eyebrows.
"We need to be able to move much faster than we are as of now if we truly want to find results in your lifetime about the enemies," Sakaki said. "My estimations say that we can improve the speed of the vessel seven more times while keeping it still stable. Aside from that, we will need the help of space magic."
"I am pretty sure such a thing doesn't exist on the system," Rain said. "It was impossible for people to in the past to stumble upon this kind of magic without the right knowledge."
"You are right, but if it doesn't exist, we need to find a way to develop it," Sakaki said. "I have most of the knowledge that we need to start with the first experiment, and you have the mana in the vessel, so we can start as soon as you want."
