Raze was lying there on the floor. It was so unexpected that no one had run over to him. No one was there to catch him.
The one saving grace was that he had fallen onto sand of all things. What was more shocking to them was that Feebie, the clan head of one of the five major clans of the Dark Faction, had been beaten.
It was something they thought they would have only heard about in passing or in the news, but here they were, seeing it in person, and in a way, all of them felt like they were a part of it.
The sight was so shocking that no one had moved, that was until Safa started to trod through the sand and went straight for Raze.
“Raze!” Safa cried out as she continued to run.
Alba recognized the girl, as she had seen this group before. Everyone let her pass as she went and grabbed Raze.
She held up his head from the floor and tried to get a look at his condition. What was worrying her was the fact that she could even do this in the first place.
If it was the Raze she knew, if he was still present, then surely he would tell her not to touch him. The fact that she was holding onto him right now was a big worry for her.
“I think you should go and help that girl out,” Alba commented. “See if you can help awaken our little master. I need to talk to Dame.”
The person she was speaking to was none other than Reno. A man who was in charge of the group’s medicines and supplies before they had brought on the Dark Magus.
He didn’t think there would be much he could do, but he decided to head off to check on Raze anyway because he was also curious as to what had happened that made him this way.
Alba soon jumped from where she was with Cronker following her by her side and was now in front of Dame.
Simyon and Liam had run off from the rest of the group to check up on Raze as well; they were just a step behind compared to Safa.
Now that the other students present had a closer look at Alba, they were starting to figure out that her description of dark red pigmented skin and a strong enough warrior to defeat the Clan Head, it could only be one person.
“The head of the Crimson Crane!” Tinson shouted.
“Did you not hear Feebie shouting about the Crimson Crane a couple of times? Man, you’re a bit slow,” Joe added.
Seeing the reaction of the cute students, Alba couldn’t help but wave with a soft smile on her face, but when she turned to Dame the smile turned into a look of annoyance almost.
“Are you not worried for the kid, or should I say, the DM,” Alba commented, making sure not to mention the other name in front of the students.
Dame saw this as a sign that it might be best he talk with her away from the others. After telling them to rest up or go see if they can help in some way, the three of them walked over to a nearby building.
They entered through the door into a dark-lit room, and the first sound that was heard was Dame letting out a big sigh.
“If that’s how you feel, you should try to put ourselves in our shoes,” Cronker commented.
“Well, honestly, I never thought I would see you, and in a place like this. I knew Raze would… the Dark Magus I guess I should say, struggle with the leader with the state he was in, but I thought he would have some type of plan to get out of it,” Dame replied back.
“And he did have a plan, a good one that caused him to succeed. If anything, in a way, we were the ones that failed him, which is why he’s in that state now,” Alba commented.
There was silence among the group for a while; that was until Cronker couldn’t take it anymore.
“You and the Dark Magus have been traveling for a while; the last thing I thought the two of you would be doing was being in some type of academy! And what’s with that disguise you have on?”
Dame had taken it off now that they were away from the others. It begged the question though how they knew it was him even with the disguise on.
“Since the two of you have been traveling I assume, you know about the Dark Magus’s plans, about him wanting to take on the academy,” Alba asked.
Dame more than knew about it; part of it was his plan, to help build up their group even more. To expand their influence.
“I do, which is why I’m struggling a bit. We’ve gone too far now; the Lethal Bite Clan Head was killed. It was meant to be the signal for us to start this battle and be ahead of them having already taken out one of them.”
“However, the way Raze fell, I’m not sure if he will wake up any time soon.”
“It was unordinary,” Alba replied. “If someone’s knocked out it doesn’t take long for them to come back. He might be tired and just sleeping, but even then, it could be a day or so till he gets up again.”
“You guys should know by now that Raze is a person that is able to pull off the impossible with his powers and tricks,” Dame commented. “If we were to start this fight without him, I’m not sure we can win against the Dark Faction.”
“He has his ways, but for me, even with all the help and having to protect him, I’m not sure what to do.”
At that point Alba grunted, complaining. “I need a drink; in this situation at least. Anyway, why don’t you go ahead and explain to us. Why are you even attacking the Dark Faction? Why is the Dark Magus even here?”
“If we’re going to help you in this, then we should at least know.”
Dame thought about it for a while, but he felt like they were right; they at least needed to know some of it.
Dame didn’t explain much in terms of the Dark Magus and his origins, just that he had followed him once and it led him to the Dark Faction Pagna Academy.
From there, a series of events unfolded. Raze seemed more interested in the Dark Faction and wanted to know more but was limited.
At the same time, he was also being targeted due to him being a no name. Dame left out that he had been attacked by another group.
From there, the targeting never stopped on Raze’s back, to the point where all of them had even been put in a deadly assessment where the students were forced to kill each other.
This was the last straw. The students were sick of what the academy was doing, and Raze was sick of being targeted.
Due to what happened in the assessment, he had been made a target by Feebie, the Lethal Bite Clan Head anyway. She wanted him dead whether she went against the academy or not.
In a way, the whole situation came about because there were multiple interests and reasons to go against the academy. So it was more of a timing thing, and whether it was the right timing or not, they were being forced into actions earlier due to Feebie.
“I see, so the Dark Magus is from the Dark Faction, that makes sense,” Alba commented after listening to the whole tale.
“The situation which Raze was in, it felt like he had no choice. The world has always been more cruel to no names compared to others.”
“Maybe he should have chosen a different path and just become a wanderer as well. I wonder why he was so obsessed with staying in the academy?”
“With everything he had done with you and helping out the Neverfall Clan, I’m sure he could have chosen a different path and abandoned it.”
That was something that Dame didn’t know too much about himself, but he had to assume a couple of things. The markings in the cave where Raze would reside sometimes, the misty place. It was clear he was looking for answers, but about what he didn’t know.
“Well, I actually had something to give Raze as well. Last time, he gave us some material to work with, and his weapon, his Ghost Blade, it’s been improved and ready, and I have to say, this is something I wish I could have kept for myself.”
Chapter 414 Raze Healed back at 100 Percent!
The weapon had been brought in by Tilon. Surprisingly, it was hidden behind the large shield he had on his back; when he took it off, it was attached to the other end.
Wrapped in cloth, it was slowly placed on the floor.
“Is that really a good place to put it? What happens if your shield breaks, and then it breaks the sword?” Dame asked.
“Ha!” Tilon laughed. “Someone would have to break my Qi reinforced shield to break it. I have yet to meet someone who can do so.”
“Besides, if the shield is broken, then doesn’t that give a reason for the Dark Magus to make my item next?” A cheeky smile appeared on his face.
“To be honest, if someone could break this sword, I don’t think they would be in this realm,” Alba commented.
Dame knew what she meant by that; she was referring to those in the Divine realm, but how could a weapon be so special.
When the cloth was unraveled, immediately a strange power could be felt from the weapon in front of his eyes. A slight orange glow could be seen in the reflection of his eye.
“This… is not the same Ghost Blade that I know,” Dame commented.
The blade itself was almost completely black in color. From the hilt, even to the sharpened blade was like that of obsidian.
However, running through the blade was a single line in the center. Branching on this single line were several swirls making it look like a mystic tree was growing up the sword.
All of it was glowing with a strong orange color.
“This blade, is it made out of Aldantium?” Dame asked.
“I thought you would recognize it; it’s one of the hardest and rarest materials known in Pagna. Do you think someone could break it now?” Alba asked.
“But why? Why do you have such a powerful weapon for Raze, why would you give him something like that?” Dame asked.
He knew there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. So there had to be a catch. Especially with the give and take relationship they had with the Crimson Crane.
“That’s because the materials belonged to him in the first place,” Alba replied. “I just got a well-known blacksmith to work on it for me, which was not easy to find. I’m hoping the next shipment of pills can be on the house because of that.”
“He got those items, but where, and when would he have the time?” Dame went into a mumble.
It was then that Alba realized something herself. Although on the outside, Dame and the Dark Magus appeared close, their relationship couldn’t be that close. There were things that the Dark Magus didn’t bother telling Dame, or at least kept it from him.
Wrapping the weapon back up, they had decided to place it back with Tilon for safekeeping.
“It will be a nice surprise for him, and give him a nice edge when he wakes up,” Alba commented. “Speaking of, maybe we should check if he’s up right now.”
The group, talking for a while, headed back out, and could see the students still gathered around Raze. Reno was no longer around him, and when Alba made eye contact with him, he just shook his head giving them an answer.
“He’s not waking up then?” Alba asked.
“I used some potent poison on him; that should kickstart him, but nothing seems to be working. The good news is that he has a pulse and is breathing, although barely breathing.”
“So what do we do, who’s in charge now?” Cronker asked. “You told us to treat his order like he was the boss, and now the boss is silent.”
“Hey, he gave us an order, remember, to help him take down the Dark Faction Pagna Academy, so that’s what we will do, and what about you, any bright ideas?”
The question was placed on Dame.
“We might have to just head back and see what happens. In the academy, there were those that thought it was best we followed the rules.
“Amir, the Vice Principal, he knew that Feebie had a target on our back. If we explain we were attacked, and the other main disciples can back us up on that, as long as they’re alive, we might still be okay.”
“But won’t questions pop up then?” Alba asked. “About where is Feebie eventually right. The clan will ask about it, when they find out Feebie is dead, they’ll start to wonder how is that even possible, and all of you will either be brought in for questioning or killed on the spot.”
“And I’m hoping it’s not the latter. With Raze the way he is, it might be best to keep him here though.”
The group was thinking about it, but while doing so, they could see Safa was shaking her head and lifted both of her hands in the air.
“That’s it, I don’t care anymore,” Safa declared. “I don’t care if he doesn’t want me to do it. I can’t stand him being in pain, even now he can’t breathe properly.”
Safa placed both hands across Raze’s throat, and soon she started to use her magic, in an attempt to heal him. His body started to glow slightly, and as soon as they saw this, Simyon and Liam were telling the others to give them space and to go elsewhere.
They didn’t want them to see her magic at work. It was still a secret after all, even between allies and not their secret to share.
The glowing around Raze’s throat was strong, and slowly his breathing got better. More oxygen was being let in.
No longer did it feel like he was in pain, and his heart rate started to settle as well. Just from this, Safa could tell that her magic had worked.
It had healed Raze back to what he was. However, although his breathing got better, he seemed to still be asleep.
Doing this, she tried to use her magic in other areas. Trying to heal any part of the body including the head she could, to try and get Raze to wake up.
None of it was working though, and it seemed like it wouldn’t work.
“Hey, you already did a lot,” Dame placed his hand on Safa’s shoulder. “Look he’s a lot better, even his face looks calmer now he can breathe.”
It was hard for her to be satisfied with this, but it was what they needed to be.
Now, what they needed to figure out was how to move forward without Raze. So far, the only plan they really had was to head back to the academy.
Staying here too long and some of the other students return, a party would be sent out looking for them.
“We should return to the academy,” Dame stated. “And, Cornker, you’re good at staying hidden, right? You should stay with us and report back to Alba when you can, while the rest of the Crimson Crane stays with Raze until he wakes up.”
“Hey, but we still haven’t even figured out how you are going to fight all the clan heads and the principal!” Cronker asked.
Dame just smiled back.
“That one is for him to figure out, and now that he’s all healed up, I can’t wait to see how much stronger he is when he wakes up.”
Chapter 415 The Academies Bluff
The mask was placed back onto Dame’s face, transforming his looks back to his student self known as Pink.
The group had reached the portal entrance where they had entered from and they had one more person with them, Cronker from the Crimson Crane.
A member of the Crimson Crane that hid in the shadows attacked with his dagger and was well known for his assassination styled arts.
‘If it’s him, he should be able to stay out of trouble, and even if he’s found, he should be able to escape.’
“I believe my job is the highest-risking one here,” Cronker said with his arms folded. “Therefore, when the Dark Magus is awake, I shall be the first person to request a new item from him.”
Nodding along to his own words, it was the only thing that would somewhat satisfy him.
“Everyone remember, they’re most likely to investigate the dimensions that we entered. Each one of you is to state that you faced a member of the Lethal Bite Clan and managed to come out alive,” Dame announced.
It might be hard for them to believe that the students managed to beat full-fledged members of the Lethal Bite Clan, but in the cases of some of them, it was true.
It was also the only way to explain the death of the guards by each portal, to pin the blame on the Lethal Bite Clan.
If they tried looking for answers, it would be impossible because the Head and Vice-head of the Clan were dead.
Once they found this out, this was where the problems would start, but at least they would buy some time.
‘I still haven’t achieved the Middle stage just yet, but I can tell I’m close. I need to breakthrough before any of this kicks off,’ Dame thought, stepping through the portal.
Once they had reached the other side, Cronker said the last few words to the group.
“Try to stay together; otherwise, if you’re in trouble, I won’t be able to protect you.” Just like that, right in front of them, it looked as if Cronker had disappeared from their eyes.
But they were sure he was around somewhere watching them all.
“Man, I hope we get to be that skillful someday,” Tinson commented. “Watching everything has been quite amazing.”
‘System, did you manage to catch that?’ Liam asked.
[Negative, the user’s skill level is too low to catch the movements. I am limited by the user’s perception skills]
‘Are you saying I suck too bad?’
[Affirmative]
‘If you had balls, I would be kicking them right now.’
Walking back to the academy, they all had to admit they were nervous. Their leader in a way, the one that was in charge of this pushback against the academy, was in some type of coma.
They were nervous to say the least. Sure, they now knew that Dame was some type of powerhouse, but could that save them if they were made suspects?
Eventually, they had reached the Academy, and the staff at the front looked at each other for a few moments with raised eyebrows.
“Where are your respective guides, why are you all together!” The staff declared.
“An emergency matter has come up,” Dame replied. “We met each other on the way, after being startled; we would like to report this matter to the Vice-principal!”
Dame was very careful with his words. He wanted them to think this was a matter not too important for the Principal, but of importance that the Vice-principal would be asked to come out.
On top of that, the Vice-principal knew the history between the Lethal Bite Clan.
One of the staff members had told the group to wait outside, meanwhile another rushed in to get more information on the situation.
A short while later, he had returned.
“Follow me,” the staff member stated.
While following the staff member they walked across the large courtyard, and in the distance, they could see the other students, the new first-year students training away.
They were practicing the first skill books they had gotten from the library. Just a few months ago, they too remembered being in their place.
It felt strange that they were doing this, while they were always fighting with their lives on the line.
They carried on forward until they had reached the main academy building. Then they continued until they reached a large empty hall.
The hall was filled with dark tiled floorboards, and upon entering they could see Mada and Ricktor present, standing there with their hands behind their back.
At one end of the hall, there was the Principal Murkel, the Vice-
principal as well as Gunther as well.
The students stood next to the others and started to line up side by side.
“These two only arrived a few moments before you, and they stated that they had something to report as well,” Amir, the Vice-principal, commented. “Please inform us why you were not escorted back by the Erupting Fist Clan members.”
The others looked at each other glancing, too nervous to speak. It was in this situation where Dame felt he needed to take the lead and take charge.
“There was a situation in our dimensions. We did as asked, and when entering we were fighting against beasts, but for some reason while in there, there were other members inside.”
“I was attacked and found out that they were from the Lethal Bite Clan. I did my best to fend them off and managed to defeat them.”
“When exiting, I found that the guards as well as our escort had been killed. I was worried for my classmates and rushed over.”
“We eventually met up, and it seems that they were all in similar situations.”
The Principal and Vice-principal seemed to be taking in what was said before eventually asking another question.
“And to you, Mada and Ricktor, is it the same, did you experience the same thing?” Amir asked.
They didn’t answer immediately because going into this they didn’t know what to say. Mada was ready to repeat the words that his brother had told him, but the situation had changed.
“It’s true,” Mada blurted out.
“It is the same for me. I found the Clan’s symbol on their clothing. The Lethal Bite Clan targeted us for some reason,” Ricktor answered.
Hearing this, Murkel let out a big sigh.
“I will run an investigation into the Lethal Bite Clan. This is unacceptable. I will try to get an answer from Feebie and see what she says about this, but I have a question, have any of you seen the student Raze.”
The group swallowed their saliva that was building up into a lump before every one of them shook their heads.
“This could mean he is still stuck in the portal,” Amir stated. “I am a bit worried about it. Feebie seemed to have a grudge based on what had happened before. I wonder if this is the reason why she sent her clan members to go against you.”
“He is an important student for us. If I may, I would suggest that I go into the dimension to go look for him.” Amir suggested.
“Agreed, bring him back quickly, and see what’s up,” Murkel ordered.
Dame was a little worried, would the Crimson Crane now have to go up against the Vice-principal?
‘Well, who knows, maybe we’ll be able to just take them out one by one this way as they investigate.’ Dame thought.