Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

Chapter 6: It is like Earth

Rain\'s father also looked surprised and confused when he saw his son crawling in circles and decided to play with him. He had a rubber ball and tossed it to Rain.

"I am not a dog…" Rain thought.

If that were three months ago, Rain would have thrown the ball out of the house, but he couldn\'t do that anymore. His father deserved some respect… he didn\'t have a good relationship with his parents since he was the youngest son, and he married a lowborn woman. Still, he didn\'t hesitate in bowing his head for the sake of his family to get a new job from them. He didn\'t complain a lot, but it was clear that he didn\'t receive good treatment from his parents… he deserved some mad respect.

"I guess that I will humor him for a bit," Rain thought while throwing back the ball at his father.

His father worked every day more than twenty hours per day. Roan didn\'t have much time to spend with his son, so he really enjoyed spending much time with him. Unfortunately for him, it couldn\'t last more than one hour. After dinner, Rain\'s worst enemy always appeared and stood victorious in all of their battles… So far, Rain has lost 135 times against sleepiness post-dinner, and he won zero times. To enjoy a second life, he couldn\'t let that happen forever.

Around the time Rain had become six months old, he saw his parents preparing for some sort of event. They brought new clothes to everyone, the kind that rich people in that world would wear to parties.

"It seems that we are going somewhere soon…" Rain thought.

Rain thought that his father would be disowned, so he wouldn\'t have to participate in fancy stuff. However, they received an invitation to some party, and soon he realized what it was.

"My oldest brother\'s son is turning five this week, and he is quite remarkable, so he invited the whole family to the party," Roan explained while they were having dinner. "It seems that he wants to boast to everyone, even the relatives that live far away."

"Isn\'t that a good thing?" Leiah asked. "I would do the same for Rain."

"Yes, it is… but this kind of events always bugged me the wrong way," Roan said and then sighed. "People say things and act all mighty, tell jokes that aren\'t actually jokes just to feel superior to each other… in my family, we only see each other as rivals. Me and my brothers, whatever we do, attain or conquer, we show each other in order to make the others feel jealous and inferior."

"I see… so it is like Earth," Rain thought.

"Well, we just have to endure this and then stay there for a while and in silence," Leiah said.

"They won\'t make that easy for us…" Roan said and then sighed. "I am sorry, but we lost almost everything that we had, and they will make sure to make us remember that Several times during the party."

"Definitely like Earth… just ignoring the bullies isn\'t enough; you have to show that you don\'t care about them at all," Rain thought.

"It is fine. We can start over as much time as we need," Leiah smiled. "We have each other, and Rain is with us as well."

"You are right," Roan smiled.

"Ugh… get a room," Rain thought. "One that is completely soundproof."

Several days later, Rain and his parents went to the party. The event was taking place in a house as big as his grandparents, but in the garden that was also massive… a bunch of people were there, close to two hundred in fact.

The tables were laden with an abundant variety of dishes that stimulated the senses. There were platters of succulent roasted meats, tender and juicy, seasoned with fragrant herbs and spices. Bowls of fresh, crisp salads burst with vibrant greens and colorful vegetables, enticing guests to savor their refreshing flavors.

An assortment of artisanal bread and rolls, still warm from the oven, are neatly arranged in baskets, ready to be enjoyed alongside an assortment of creamy cheeses and savory spreads. Fragrant soups and stews simmer gently in large pots, wafting their comforting aromas through the air.

"I wish I had enough teeth to eat all this," Rain thought while his mouth was watering.

Weirdly enough, Roan was kind of forced to leave his wife and son because his brothers were together as well… he had three of them, and they were all similar to him, tall, muscular, and annoyingly good-looking. It seems that all of them got the good genes of the family. Apparently, his overly serious grandfather and the deadpan grandmother had enough genes to spare.

In another part of the garden, Rain saw a group of women wearing silk dresses talking with each other while letting out some serious annoying laughs. There were some kids in front of them, and they were all younger than five.

"I guess the birthday kid is the oldest of my cousins," Rain thought.