Dame was back at the clan base again, on one of the lowest floors in the room filled with intense heat and a path leading directly to the Clan head, his father. Just like before, he was seated on his own in the same position, facing away, while Dame sat on top of his feet and calves.
"I assume you have an idea of why I called you here," the Clan Master stated. "You have done a good job. If I'm honest, you managed to complete a task I never expected you to complete." n.----(/--/--1..n
Dame felt like if it were anyone else, maybe they would have taken this as an insult, and in a way, it was. But he was fine with it, as long as he could keep his father off his back and stop using him as a sacrificial lamb, as he had done before.
"It appears that I was wrong. I thought that you might not be suited for the next position as clan head. But after your performance, being able to perform miracles, I am considering you for the position again. There is a good chance that you may be able to do something for the Clan after all."
It was a complete change of heart for the Clan Master. Clenching his fist, Dame wasn't happy with the result. If he was going to be considered for the head, that would mean he would need to be involved in more tasks surrounding the Clan as well.
When in reality, he wanted nothing to do with the Clan. But how could one of the Clan leader's sons just up and leave? It would be an embarrassment to the family, and he would rather have his son die in war than leave on his own free will.
"I have also heard that you have managed to acquire quite the talented alchemist, this Dark Magus person," the Clan leader said. "You have a gift for attracting certain people to you, I will give you that. I just hope you don't upset this person. Bring them in close to you and welcome them into the Clan if you can.
"You may go, and expect to hear from me soon."
Walking away and out of the room, Dame was hoping that he wouldn't.
The next day, Dame had trouble sleeping, thinking about what his father had said, but he tried to ignore that as he looked forward to the future and everything else he needed to do.
One of them was a meeting he had scheduled with Alba. It was at the same place as before, right outside the three-tiered red restaurant. Dame had met with Fixteen and entered the building.
They headed to the private room where Alba was already waiting, and she had another person with her, with a black mask covering his face, standing at the back of the room on her side.
"Don't mind Jax!" Alba said. "He's just here to keep me company, and he gave me some interesting news saying that people have been talking about the Dark Magus, about my Dark Magus," she winked.
Sitting down, Fixteen placed the bottle of pills on the table. It was hardly full because there were only six pills left, since each of them had taken a pill during the battle.
"Yes, we had met up with him recently. He had brought the pills you asked for and had even prepared some for me. I'm sure you heard about my success on the battlefield," Dame answered.
He had learned from Fixteen that word had somewhat spread through the city about the pills from Dark Magus, which was the aim in the first place. So he knew what was on Alba's mind.
"I have no further information on him, other than the fact that we will continue to meet up exclusively once in a while."
After that, Dame didn't really stay for chit-chat like he usually would have done. Neither did he have a drink; he stood up and bowed as if he was already ready to go.
"Hey, wait, what is this? I asked for ten pills, and you're just going to leave like this?" Alba asked. "I wanted to talk more about this guy."
"I'm sorry," Dame said. "I have important matters to deal with now, and we might have to meet less often now."
The serious look on Dame's face made it so Alba wouldn't press anymore. It was a face she had hardly seen on the young man, so she would take the six pills and leave it at that.
"I want ten more of these things," Alba shouted. "And the four that you took yourself. I'll deliver the money to the usual place."
There was a reason why Dame had decided to leave early, and that was because he wanted to meet with the Dark Magus again. Having missed him yesterday, he had somewhat felt like he might not see him for a while again.
'Although he said he would try to learn the skills for a while before he went, he will soon realize that those skills will take years to learn, and decide to head back. So I should try to grow my relationship with him more.'
Heading to the inn, a knock was given on the door, and he and Fixteen were called in. When they entered, they could see the young man in a robe, starting to draw something on the floor.
"Are you making something else?" Dame asked. "Did we interrupt you?"
"Actually," Raze said as he stood up and dusted the excess chalk off his hands. "I had decided to head back and just finished."
For some reason, Dame felt a little saddened about his new partner leaving so soon. Perhaps it was because working with him was a large distraction from everything else he had to deal with.
"It's a shame you have to go so soon, but I knew that you would need to leave sooner or later. At least we can say goodbye here," Dame said. "And I have to say, thank you for everything you have done to help."
For Raze, he didn't feel saddened by his leaving; instead, he felt more determined and confident. He had now learned five of the ten descending steps and how to connect four of them together. He had also learned three formation of the sword techniques, which would be enough to get him through the Academy.
"We will meet again. Although we might have to find a new meeting spot, for now, let's just try to meet in the same place," Raze said.
Raze had drawn the magic formation he had formed in his head, which was written by the former Dark Faction leader. He assumed it was what would send one back to the cave. He was confident but wasn't a hundred percent sure. However, going to the portal the same way he had come would be rather risky.
Using some of the gold coins, Raze had purchased some regular power stones and placed one on the ground. Activating his magic, the circle lit up, and right above, a dimension had opened in front of them.
"He really can just open up a dimension from anywhere; these guys must be way ahead of what we can do," Dame said out loud, and Fixteen couldn't keep his eyes off the portal either.
"I will see you all," Raze said, stepping through.
Stepping through the portal, Raze was zapped in and zapped out. When he landed on the cold ground and could feel the chilly air, he felt like he was in the right place. Looking ahead, he could see the entrance of the cave and the mist that covered the entire area
.
"It looks like it worked, and I'm back after all," Raze said to himself.
"Oh, so this is the world that you're from, it looks different to what I expected."
Hearing a familiar voice, Raze's heart sank. He slowly turned his head around to see the handsome young man with curious eyes looking around the area.
"Dame…"
