A slight panic had set into Graft as memories were starting to resurface in his mind. He took a look at the man who was sharply dressed in front of him.
When looking at his face, although there was no iron mask on it, one had suddenly appeared and everything had snapped back to him at once.
“You’re him… the one from Alter, that time in the Behemoth Clan’s Dimension!” Graft asked, he spoke in a strong whisper to make sure no one else was listening.
Because he was afraid. Already once, he had escaped death from this particular individual. The whole reason why was because Graft, a wanderer that had been working in the Demonic Faction, was a member of Alter and so was Raze.
The reason why he was spared though, was because he already knew that there were Otherworlders, those that knew how to perform magic in this world, but he did not know what the man in the iron mask looked like.
Yet now, right in front of him was the face of the man, he said he would never remember, never tell a soul about.
“Did you… decide to get rid of me, to clean up loose ends?” Graft eventually managed to muster again. “I guess, I should have expected this much.”
“The payment was too good for a simple job, and I got pulled away from my greed. At least you allowed me to see my family.”
“Calm down,” Raze said, interrupting Graft before he got any wilder thoughts in his head. “I already told you what I wanted, I need a way to get in contact with Alter, I need to get in contact with my squad.”
Graft paused for a second. He felt relieved that the person in front of him didn’t wish to kill him, but there was great confusion.
With the great power he saw, he was sure that the person in front of him would be a relatively high-ranking member in Alter.
So then why was he coming to him asking him for help and asking for a way to contact his squad?
“You need my help, but how would I even be able to contact your squad leader if you don’t know yourself? Every squad is a bit different in the way they decide to operate, did your leader not tell you how to meet him?” Graft asked.
Raze thought about the last time he had met with Himmy and Charlotte. It was confusing, it was only then that they had upgraded him from a field agent, that was just meant to supply information and continue their daily lives to a squad member and had given him this device.
Yet they hadn’t told him anything else.
‘Is it because I was a member of the Academy? Perhaps they assumed that I would be there for two years so if they wanted to ever come and see me for something, they would be the ones that came to visit me,’ Raze thought.
“My situation has gotten a little complicated, you see my original squad, they are currently in the Dark Faction. At the moment, I have no way to get to them, or a way to contact them.”
“You know that there aren’t many members of Alter in the Demonic Faction, which is why I thought that you might be able to help me in a way.”
Graft started to rub his beard and was nodding along. It was true, although Alter was a large organization that was well known between the factions as a group of helpers, the one area where they had next to no members or a base of sorts was the Demonic Faction.
Raze had remembered this detail and it looked as if it would be put to good use in order to convince the other party in front of him.
“You work usually as an informant you said, helping those in dimensions, so I thought you could best help me,” Raze continued.
Graft was still trying to observe the situation a bit. He was confused, in a way.
‘The person who had approached me, they were from the Neverfall Clan, and not just that, he paid me 10 silver coins to meet with this man.
‘Who is this person from Alter? How does he have such wealth to do something like that, and have a connection with a high clan like so? Maybe I’m overthinking it and he just paid the Neverfall Clan member.’
‘But still, although we from Alter are well-paid, not to this extent. Maybe the man will beat me later and ask for money. Or did he perhaps sell the items that we came across last time.’
A slight bang was heard on the table, as Raze had placed both hands on the edge. It was clear he was getting a little impatient in the middle of Graft’s thoughts.
The last thing Graft wanted to do was anger the one in front of him.
“Sorry, I apologize, good sir,” Graft said, bowing his head. “I was trying to think of the best option. As you said, there isn’t really much help we can get to move from here to the Dark Faction.”
“At the border there will be trouble as well, as they are quite stringent in their checks, apart from when the martial arts tournament is on.
“I guess if we were to get in touch with your squad on the other side, it would be possible for them to set up something so you can pass over and join them safely.”
Getting in contact with them would mean getting in contact with Charlotte and Himmy. He wanted to meet the two of them anyway, so it didn’t seem like a bad choice.
“Then let’s go with that,” Raze said with umph, thinking the whole thing was over, but judging by the narrowed shoulders and how Graft was retreating back down, it didn’t seem to be the only thing.
“I apologize, but I have no way to get in contact with squad leaders. I am a low-ranking member of Alter myself.”
Raze was beginning to think this whole thing was a waste of time. At this rate, it would have been better for him to just head to the border, and force his way through.
Then when in the Dark Faction just search for Himmy himself.
“But… my squad leader can. As you know, I am based in the Demonic Faction, based isn’t the right word but our current mission is based in the Demonic Faction.
“I can contact him, and he can get a hold of Himmy for you, and then we can escort you there.”
The proposal made sense to Raze, so he had no objections.
“However…” Graft added. “My squad leader won’t just get in contact with the other side just based on my word. I told you, It’s not as if I have a high say within our group.”
“So you would have to meet him in person and ask for a favor.”
Raze let out a slight sigh, but he thought it might come to this. Meeting another Alter squad or group of people. Would he be meeting otherworlders?
Someone like Himmy who wasn’t even from Pagna or Alterian, or would it be different people altogether?
“Alright, then take me to your squad leader.” After saying these words, Raze remembered well the warning from Amir.
Alter could very well be the enemy, and meeting with more of them could be putting him closer into the center of the fire.
Chapter 455 A New Alter Squad
Before breaking off with Graft, there were a few details that Raze needed to give to even set up the meeting. Raze had suggested even coming with Graft and meeting him in person, but Graft had to insist that it wasn’t the right move.
Those from Alter were already quite secretive about their tasks and jobs, and in this case when they were in the Demonic Faction where they weren’t supposed to be in the first place, they were even more secretive.
Graft would have to use his own method to get in contact with his leader, and then he would turn on his communicator and try to find Raze when they were ready.
In terms of the information that Graft had asked for, a lot of it was something that Raze couldn’t even give. He had asked for a squad name, which Raze didn’t know.
So in the end, the only thing he could say was his squad leader’s name which was Himmy, and he didn’t even have a second name.
Either way, Graft said that it would probably be enough. Worst case, the emblem coin that he had would be proof that he was a member of Alter and they would do their best to help him.
With that, Raze had returned to the inn that he was staying at. He had bought some materials for himself to create more DM marked Qi pills for himself.
Those that he could use in battle rather than sell, and once he was done he had decided to lie down and rest for a bit on his bed.
‘I feel bad… I get to just lie here like this, while I have no clue what is happening at the Academy?’ Raze thought. ‘I never imagined that I would feel this way again.’
‘I was right, it was easier to break off all connections and just focus on the task, because now there is more to lose as well.’
‘When I get to the Dark Faction, I should be able to find some information about what happened. From there I can continue on.’
While staring at the ceiling, Raze reached into his inner pocket and pulled out the Alter connection device, he ran his finger over the indented “I.”
“Idore, so far you’re the one that has the most involvement in this world of Pagna it seems. I wonder if the others know what you’re doing.”
Graft, with everything at hand, had done a few things to contact his leader. He had made a post on the job bulletin board.
A place where Clan members would ask for help from others in dimension raids, or even if they just needed someone to help guide them.
It was a place Graft frequently visited as part of his job. Since he spent most of his time guiding clans and wander groups.
When putting in a request, a specific one needed to be made. It was a fake request that would alert the ones he needed to, to go to a certain location.
Out away from the city of Repton, Graft had traveled across the hard orange dry ground, and had reached one of the large mounds.
It was a valley, a canyon that went fairly deep. In the mounds, he started to venture down until he had reached the bottom and patiently waited.
It didn’t take long, that’s when eventually dropping down from above, were several people one after the other. frёewebnoѵēl.com
The first, a large dark-skinned man, who was all muscle. He wore next to no clothing other than large pants revealing his well-chiseled upper body.
The front half of his hair was shaved as well right down the center only leaving half of his black hair.
Right after that, a thin woman fully clothed with darkened blue hair, and a large brown leather hat, landed on the ground.
On her back, was a long object with a thick base and a long thin barrel. It wasn’t a melee weapon, nor was it something that would be seen in the world of Pagna.
For it was a weapon that specialized in shooting projectiles at an extremely far range. However, walking around with it in public, many would think that it was just an ornament.
After that, jumping edge to edge from the cliff rocks was one that did look like a Pagna warrior, dressed in the same traditional cloth those from clans would wear.
This one looked quite young, a teenager at most, but one with a large burn mark that went across the side of his face.
Looking above, Graft could see one more, there was another male, dressed in Pagna clothing, with light-colored hair that was swept back.
The man had a cleanly shaved beard but looked quite well-
aged as most warriors. Instead of jumping down though, this one was floating slowly down onto the ground, and just before his feet touched the floor, the dust was pushed away.
Finally, there was one more, who had slowly climbed down, and had eventually reached the bottom. He had dressed just like any Pagna citizen.
Not warriors dressed in elegant cloth, but just wearing everyday clothes that looked fairly shabby, with a large sheet above him.
“Sir!” Graft said, giving a quick bow and salute. The person he had done this to, was the very last who had arrived, the leader Marcus Ford.
Although his clothing was shabby, his body was extremely lean, well-trained, and his jaw was sharp. His hair was relatively short.
“I didn’t expect the whole group to turn up, I thought that you would all be busy,” Graft stated.
“Well, it was unusual for you to call me, I thought that you might be in some type of trouble. Things have been going smoothly for us, and it’s kinda worrying me a bit.”
Graft was a little nervous, but in the end, he had informed him of the reason as to why he was called here.
“Another person from Alter, that is strange that they would be in the Demonic Faction. I don’t believe any other teams were stationed here,” Graft said standing up straight.
“I guess, we should help out our fellow people who are of the same cause as us. It is always troubling to be alone in this situation. Did he state what squad he was from?”
Graft shook his head.
“He didn’t, but he stated that his squad leader was a man named Himmy.”
Immediately, a smile appeared on Marcus’s face.
“Of course, of all people’s squads, he had to belong to his. This will be nice; it will be good of him to owe me a favor.”
“But still, it is a bit strange. Why would a member of Himmy’s squad be here? A member of his team shouldn’t be here.”
That was when the man with blonde hair spoke up.
“There was a report that a new member had recently joined Himmy’s squad. It was a mage.”
Usually, due to the size of Alter, one wouldn’t keep track of members and such, but those from the same world liked to keep track of those who joined Alter.
This was just in case it was someone that they might know, and it was the same this time around.
“A mage, huh…I guess I can see something happening. They are quite annoying at times to deal with. A mage belonging to Himmy’s squad, huh? Well, maybe we should give him a little test then.”
Chapter 456 A Weapon From Another World
?Raze’s eyes shot open, fully awake. The sun was shining through the windows, and the curtains to the room hadn’t even been drawn.
It was clear it was the next day already, considering he had been falling asleep when the sun was starting to set.
He quickly got out of his bed and touched the side of his head.
‘It’s been a while since I’ve been able to peacefully just sleep away. This might sound a bit crazy, but I guess I feel safer being in the Demonic Faction compared to all the other areas, even with the mess I’ve caused.’
Getting up, Raze began to do a few stretches. He was quite surprised that he still had gotten some sleep after he had been passed out for so long.
As he increased his Pagna stages, warriors needed less sleep; they also needed less food, among other things, but he had somewhat shut his mind off after everything, not wanting to dwell on too much.
He had become quite good at blocking out particular memories.
‘At some point, I will need to head back to Alterian in my spirit form and see how the others are doing,’ Raze thought. ‘It would be good to get an update on their end.’
‘I should also tell them that I might not be able to visit as much as I like, since there is more work to do on Pagna, and if I join up with Alter, who knows how much they will be looking over my shoulder.’
The Demonic Faction was his sanctuary, and the specially made cave was the place he would often use. Since using the spiritual form, his real body could still be attacked.
In the Dark Faction, he would have to keep this in mind as well.
Heading outside of his Inn, there was still some time before he was to meet up with Graft and see if there was any more information on the other members of Alter.
Raze had propped up his hood but was still wearing his sharp Blazer; his face and hair could clearly be seen, but since wearing the special magic robe, he had just preferred wearing a hood on his head more.
Walking down the marketplace, unlike in the Inn, he didn’t feel as safe, as he was twisting and turning his head.
‘The Behemoth Clan, or the Neverfall Clan, if I run into them in these last few days, it’s going to be a pain.’
The reason for currently searching the marketplace was to see if he could spot anything nice he could use. He was scouring the items with his hand hovering over them, seeing if anything would react.
There was a good chance that if he was in trouble with Alter, that he could be going up against a number of mages.
With his Blazer, he could store magical items freely and use them, possibly to try and escape.
After going from market to market, there wasn’t much he could find, and he had let out a rather large sigh.
‘I guess the auction is the best place, but I don’t want to cause a scene while I am here, or people to know me,’ Raze thought.
“What’s wrong?” The small old man behind the counter said. “Did you not find anything you were looking for?”
Raze shook his head, taking a second look at the items; most of them were handcrafted trinkets, most likely made by the man himself.
Some items had more affinity to magic depending on the crafter. It was strange because Raze couldn’t find the link. Since there was no magic in Pagna, why could some crafters from Pagna create more items that had good affinity with magic?
Whatever the reason, it was clear that this man wasn’t one of them.
“I know!” the man said, looking to his left and right before covering one side of his mouth with his hand and leaning forward.
“Are you looking for some special items, right? Well, I have some items made by DM right here.” The old man reached into his pocket and pulled out three different colored pills, each one with the marking of DM on them.
‘For a second, I was excited when he said special items,’ Raze thought, taking a closer look. ‘But all he wanted to do is sell me my own product, at least he is selling the real thing.’
“I can give you a special price, five silver for one of these pieces!” The old man said.
Raze nearly wanted to blurt out. Five silvers seemed exorbitant for what he had used. If only people knew how much the base ingredients cost for these things.
“I’m okay,” Raze said as he shook his head.
“Hey, you have no idea what you’re missing out on!” the man said. “Do you have any idea what these things can do? Clans from all over are coming trying to get a hand on these things.”
“I know, and unfortunately, I am not that skilled,” Raze said with a smile, turning around and walking away.
Now the old man was the one that made out a loud puff.
“I thought because of his body he was a skilled Pagna warrior. I guess I just met an amateur that doesn’t even know how precious these are.”
Walking away from the marketplace, Raze continued as he headed toward the Inn where he was to meet Graft.
He was ready to reach in and push the door to head to the inside when he noticed something.
‘It’s quiet… the inside is incredibly quiet… usually at any time of day you can hear people talking and making sounds.’
Looking at the street he was on, it was still busy with people, so why was it so quiet inside? Reflectively he decided to take a step inside the place.
When he did, his suspicions were true. The whole place was completely empty. There wasn’t a single person inside.
There were still seats, a bar, and the other rooms.
‘The door was unlocked as well, so I doubt it’s just a temporary closure that’s going on right now.’
Little did Raze know, through the second-floor window, on another building, a particular female wearing a hat was looking down at a large round object; she was looking down her scope that magnified the view of Raze.
“I have him in my sight, should I take the shot?” Tanya asked.
“Yeah, take the shot, but make sure it’s not a fatal one,” Marcus ordered.