Raze had headed to the alchemist warehouse where he had met Reno, and just outside, he could see the man waiting for him. He looked the same as ever, with large black circles under his eyes and fingertips still dirty.
After seeing him working away that time, Raze understood why, and his fingers were proof of his hard work. These types of people, those that especially dedicated themselves to a field of research, he didn't dislike them.
"Didn't you say the place was dangerous and there could be beasts?" Raze asked.
He had noticed the lack of weaponry on him. Most Pagna warriors used sword skills, but there were a few of those that used different types of martial arts. From just appearance alone, Raze didn't think Reno was a martial artist that used his fists.
Yet all Reno had on him was a strapped large basket on his back. That was used for gathering herbs.
"We should only fight if necessary," Reno answered with a smile. "Besides, the strong beasts have already been dealt with from the portal break. The only thing we need to worry about are low-level beasts."
The two of them walked through the city and headed out of the east gate. The demonic faction mostly had black and dark orange hard ground like a desert that never saw water. Yet plants did still grow on the wasteland.
It made Raze wonder just where he was going to go or be. After all, this was the place the Dark Faction Founder had fled to. Although Repton was the closest city, he could have gone anywhere in the Demonic Faction.
Raze remembered Dame mentioned that his techniques could be found at his clan, and if that was the case, then it meant the Dark Faction founder was likely to have visited the Neverfall Clan as well.
"Alright, I'll direct you, and you can set the pace. We're in no rush, though, but it would be good if we could get there and come back in the same day," Reno said.
Raze had to agree; the whole group needed to get back before the Academy started again, and he was still a little worried about what could occur with Safa.
Raze ran, using a pace that was comfortable for him. He was able to cover around five meters with a single push of his leg, but it wasn't enough.
"I'm at the second stage, and even with Qi pills, I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to break through to the third stage. It's just like Dame said; I'm going to need some type of breakthrough. But I wonder if plants and herbs can be used, just like crystals as well?"
While thinking this, Reno continued to follow from behind with a thought in his mind.
"I know I said that we weren't in a rush, but he is moving quite slow. I guess he likes to take it easy."
Following Reno's instructions, they had soon gone through a forest of dead trees. There were no leaves on the branches. What they noticed was the large amount of destruction that was around it as well.
Some of the trees had fallen over, and it didn't look natural, as the trunks had been broken. It wasn't just one or two places, though; it was many.
"Was this because of the beasts in the area?" Raze asked.
"I'm not sure," Reno replied. "This is the first time that I'm collecting the plants myself. What they told me was that they were next to some ruins, so we should see it soon."
It wasn't just some ruins; they could see it as clear as day. There were large giant stone pillars across the floor, some still standing and others crumbled into large rocks.
The area was vast and large in size, and the pieces of ruins seemed to have been there for a long time. As there were plants and vines that were already growing up on the rocks. What stood out the most was that there was a giant pyramid structure, and unlike the rest of the ruins on the ground, it was in pretty good condition.
One of the large pillars next to them, Raze was placing his hand on the greenery attached to the pillar.
"That's strange; I wonder why the plants only grow on parts of the ruin, yet the rest of the place is a wasteland," Raze said.
"Yep, that's what the gatherers said." Reno answered. "We need to search near the pillars that seem to have their own Qi energy. It's giving life to the things close to it."
Reno searched the pillar, and right on the bottom, he could see the head of a small bud with a single white flower. It was what they were looking for. Digging underneath it along with its roots and soil, Reno placed it into the basket on his back.
"Don't worry, I will give you half of these for keeping me company," Reno said. "Besides, we want something better than this, right? Something a lot more powerful."
The two continued to search, and they were only able to find the same type of flower with a single white head on top. They had gathered around ten of them so far. The good news was, they were still on the very outskirts of the ruins, so there was a good chance that they could find something better the further in they headed.
On top of that, they hadn't seen any beasts at all. That was until Raze had spotted something on one pillar. It had splashes of the color red on it.
'That's blood,' Raze noticed immediately, and on the ground, he could see the body of a beast. It was around the same size as a dog but was round in size with spiky bristles on its back. Judging from the wounds as well, it looked like they had been killed quite recently.
It was clear to Raze what that meant, that they weren't alone at these ruins.
"Hey, it looks like we have two wanderers from the Demonic Faction!" A man shouted.
Looking up at the noise, Raze could see one of them jumping right from the pillar, and another had gone after Reno, but he needed to focus on protecting himself first.
The man in a light-colored white uniform held a sword as he jumped down right toward Raze and gathered his Qi in the weapon.
Reacting fast, Raze swung his sword from the bottom.
'The third devil's formation!' Raze thought in his head, and he added his wind magic to the sword as well.
He didn't have time to think and had pulled out his non-ghost sword, which was in his sheath to his side rather than on his back. As he swung out, and the two swords clashed, Raze could feel an intense amount of Qi energy that caused his knees to bend slightly.n).1n
'This person... they're strong, I didn't expect that!' Raze thought.
Luckily, with the wind magic, he was able to push himself away, and he slid back along with his opponent.
Reno had already dealt with his opponent and had turned around.
"Damn it, you must have gotten the hard one!" Reno said, as he dashed forward turning into almost a blur for Raze. Immediately, his hands had grabbed the Light Faction warrior's head, and all Raze could see was the warrior starting to foam at the mouth before Reno let go, dropping him onto the floor.
"Wait a moment, he was just as weak as the other guy, he didn't stop my attack at all?" Reno said. If that was the case, then how did the mysterious hooded martial arts master struggle.
"Hey, you don't mind telling me what stage you're at, do you?" Reno asked.
At this moment, Raze thought there was no harm, since Reno was clearly someone on his side.
"I'm a stage 2 Pagna warrior," Raze answered.
"Hey look, it's the Demonic Faction!" More voices shouted from the side, as more of the Light Faction were coming over and spotting the two due to the commotion that had occurred.
There were now around six of them or so.
"Did you say a second stage, you're an initial stage warrior!" Reno shouted, shaking his head.
Reno had clearly made a big mistake, and right now, they were both in a very dangerous place. Even the Light Faction warriors that had just attacked them were at the third stage.
'We might just be in some trouble here,' Reno thought.
