Raze had continued his enchantments in the dark, large space. It was an area that not many would venture into, one because they were completely blinded, and the fear of going into the unknown was difficult for them.
After witnessing one of the students murdered, they would now be even less likely to venture inside. Without being able to see, it was a place where students wouldn't bother coming anyway.
Still, Raze was careful to listen out to hear if anyone was coming in his direction. Due to the shape and size of the room, the moment someone stepped in, their steps would have echoed, unless they had some type of technique that would silence their footsteps.
In the end, Raze had finished enchanting all three of the remaining blades from the auction, and he was holding one in his hand that had become incredibly light after the enchantment; it was practically weightless.
"With the three swords, I used a basic 1-star enchantment along with a level one power stone. Since there was a large risk the weapon would break if I went any higher due to their affinity with magic," Raze explained to himself. He swung the sword in the air, and as he did, the strike itself was silent.
The sword he had in his hand was enchanted with a wind magic enchantment. The two effects that were added to the sword were its weightlessness and the fact that it was silent in its swings. There was no noise like a sword would normally make when cutting through the air, somewhat perfect for the situation he was in at the moment.
"With the other two swords, I have enchanted one with ice and the other with lightning attribute. Leaving the Ghost Blade alone. The swordsmanship techniques I am currently learning involve one-sword style techniques, and it's the same with the Devil's formations I know as well. I have tried utilizing two swords, but the distribution of Qi didn't feel right, and I am by no means a master who can figure out how to create my own techniques. So I will just have to switch out the swords for the current situation, and in this case, I will keep the sword with the wind enchantment while I am down here for now."
At this very moment, he had switched to his lightning blade. When he input his own magic into the sword, there would be a small blue spark that would travel across the blade. The current on the sword wasn't strong enough to do much in a fight, but in this particular situation, he could use it to light up and explore the dark area he was in. It took up less magic than using it without the sword since it worked as an amplifier, and now he had a giant sharp glow stick.
Holding it up, he could see around a meter in all directions from where the sword was showing.
"This is bringing me memories back of the mist; why do the academies have so many places that are like this?" Raze pondered.
Searching the room, Raze was trying to find if there was anything that was missed. After all, the other rooms were lit up, while this one in particular was kept in the dark, and there had to be a reason for it. Perhaps there was an exit of sorts, a storage place for food or water, or maybe even a way for the teachers to enter if needed. He continued to search, mainly using the sword right up against the walls. Certain areas of the walls were a little damper compared to the others, but there was nothing noteworthy. It really felt like just a large empty, dark room.
"So then why would they have something like this here?" Raze mumbled to himself.
"To give a perfect place to hide some dead bodies," a voice said from behind.
Raze immediately swung his sword behind him, startled by the voice. As the lightning illuminated the area, he soon saw a familiar face.
"Are you trying to create a beacon of light to let people know where you are? I thought you had already figured this whole thing out; the Darkness can be your advantage and disadvantage," Dame stated.
One of the few people who would know a large number of foot techniques was Dame, and, of course, he wouldn't be afraid to walk around in this place all on his own.
"I did figure it out, and your hints of not telling us made me realize it as well," Raze answered as he used his magic to quickly change his sword back to the wind-enchanted one. The room was covered in pitch black once again.
"But it's hard for me to believe that they wouldn't give some advantage to the main disciples. I thought maybe there would be a secret storage room full of food and water, allowing for them to get ahead compared to the others," Raze explained.
"It's comments like those that make me realize that you're not from Pagna," Dame commented. "Sure, there are a few families willing to support their disciples, but that's only if they feel that it will do well for the sake of the clan in the future. With something like this, maybe many of the clans are thinking if they did die, then that was how far they would get.
"In Pagna, what even matters above the bloodline is the clan itself. The main disciples are treated well not because they are related but because they are strong."
He somewhat was starting to understand the thought of the Pagna warriors and why they might be even crueler to no-names that belonged to no clan at all. Even now, if Raze didn't join the Crimson Crane, he would be part of no clan.
"Does this mean that even with Simyon and Safa being red headbands, they will continue to be discriminated against in this place?" Raze thought.
"Anyway, I did come here for a reason," Dame chuckled and rubbed his belly. "I've seen you put stuff and make stuff out of thin air with your robe and magic stuff; do you happen to have any food?"
In the darkness, Dame had no clue what face Raze was pulling, but through the air, he felt like it was one of disappointment.
"I actually do, but it's more so raw ingredients with magic; I could whip up some things together that would make a type of dough that would be edible. I also have some water stored in bottles for emergencies. However, I don't have much. It wasn't as if I expected to come down here in the first place. Since I don't have much, don't you think it's better for me to give it to the others when they're struggling rather than a warrior that can obtain a large amount of nutrients through cultivation?"
Dame didn't say anything, but he supposed that in this case, as the adult of the group, he was quite right.
"What if the others get seriously ill from this?" Dame asked. "The willpower of the students could be quite strong; this might go on for a while, you know. The longer this goes on, the weaker everyone will get.
"Can't you create a portal and get out of this place?"
"I can," Raze answered. "However, the issue is getting back. Right now, I can open portals to other dimensions, but it's unknown what the dimensions will be like. If I created a dimension here, I could enter and leave, but who knows what's on the
other side. The other option is to head back to the academy cave or head to the Demonic faction. With those, it would be hard to re-enter this place without causing suspicion."
"I see," Dame said. "So I guess the best thing would be to open a dimension to another place like the one the Light faction owned. Then I guess you could head to the Demonic faction, obtain some supplies, open a portal back to that dimension, and then open a portal back here?"
It was a convoluted way of doing things, but it certainly would work. The biggest risk being what type of portal Raze opened. He could always go back to the place where he met Dame as there was a low level of risk. He had heard that the Light faction had defeated the dimension boss, getting rid of the portal in hopes of calming tensions between the two factions, which made him wonder what the state of the place would be after the dimension boss was defeated. Would there be no beasts? Would life still be alive on the planet?
"So, if you can do that, you know you could save a lot of people. You could bring food for everyone," Dame explained.
"Do you think if they were in my situation that they would do the same for me?" Raze replied. "I think you already know the answer; they would use every advantage they have, and they already are treating me like the enemy.
"If I helped out all of the others, it would also mean that, in a way, I would be going against the academy. Since it would be going against the whole idea of this assessment in the first place."
"Does that sound like such a bad thing?" Dame asked. "To me, it feels like the academy has lost the plot. Going through with this will mean a lot of deaths of the students. It's crazy how the adults can go this far, making a decision as if it was nothing.
"I don't know what your plans are for the future and in this academy, but maybe having some of the students on your side won't be such a bad thing."
Raze started to walk through the dark area, heading back to the hallways he remembered. He was heading back to the seclusion rooms.
"Before I think of any of that, I want to find out the one that tried to frame me and pay him back. After all, there is a quicker way to end this assessment, rather than all of us starving."
