After some shut-eye, Raze looked at the preparations that were made. He had changed a few things with the magic circles. For one, they would now be consumed every hour instead of every half an hour.
On top of that, if his mana dropped below fifty percent, then the Qi pill would be consumed anyway, giving him a chance to fight somewhat if there was a need to. His physical body was still more of an imitation, so using Pagna skills was pretty much a no-go, but he could still use magic.
Then, there were also a lot more light blue Qi pills that were to be consumed once in a while, allowing the effect of the mana leak from his body to be almost invisible to the naked eye.
So much preparation had been done, and finally, it was time for the meeting.
Closing his eyes, he started the Astral Projection technique as he had done before. The important part of the technique was making a connection with something from the Alterian world, and his connection was Dark Magic.
The Dark Magic that was lingering in the hideout he could move to, or the Dark Magic that was attached to the bodies of the other mages. The more Raze did this, the better he was at finding the connections.
Which was why, this time when he was focusing, he could almost feel multiple connections, different areas of Alterian that he could move to if he wished.
'I wonder if these are other Dark Magic users as well. I wonder what their situation is or has been that made them become this way. I am curious, but I need to focus on my own goal.'
Thinking about this, Raze went back to the weak connection he could feel. In the large building, there was still lingering Dark Magic, and he could feel another connection there already waiting. He assumed that this was Kelly, having already arrived.
After making the connection, he used the technique to its fullest and could feel a part of his body being dragged out from him. When his vision was coming to right in front of him, there was a single dark-robed figure.
"It looks like you made it in time. Come on, we don't want to be late and draw attention to ourselves," Kelly said, a little nervous because she thought that was somewhat impossible.
She was sure all the other students, even the teachers, would be expecting her to turn up with no one, and when she turned up with someone that was presumably her brother, they might try to start some trouble with her.
Both Raze and Kelly made their way through the slums of the underground city. They walked past many of the other people that were running about, and none of them seemed to pay them any attention.
Finally, they had reached the ladder upward and had exited out from the city. After which, Kelly had gone to a wall and pulled out a part of it, revealing two sets of clothes. One of them was the Central Mage Academy uniform.
While the other was a set of clothes for Raze. It was fancier than he expected. He himself was used to wearing robes, as did most of the professors or active mages.
But this, it didn't look like the regular clothing of Alterian. Instead, it fitted more like a fine suit over the top of him. Like a blazer jacket, only it hung further down past his waist and halfway up to his legs.
The clothing was primarily black in color, but there were white designs on the shoulder with swirling patterns on the jacket itself.
Then there was a regular pair of trousers and black shoes for him to wear, along with a rather thick belt. The centerpiece of the belt was white in color as well with a circular design.
"What is this?" Raze asked as he twisted and turned trying to look at his entire body.
"It's the latest trend in fashion for mages," Kelly explained. "We can't have you stand out wearing something strange. You are meant to have already graduated from the academy as well. Besides, it looks kind of nice on you."
Kelly wasn't lying either. The new clothing had brought out his broad shoulders and showed off his well-toned body. She had never noticed it before, but he had the proportions of an athlete rather than that of a mage.
This was because Raze had the body of a strong Pagna warrior, compared to mages who did next to no physical activity.
"If you say so, then I will accept this. Thank you for the gift. I will repay you for this, greatly."
Raze imagined that a student with no family couldn't have a lot of disposable income. Using his position, he felt like he was somewhat forcing her to do this, which made him feel a bit bad.
"Turn away, please," Kelly said, as it was now her turn to change into her uniform as well.
They were down a dark alley, and they could use magic to cover up themselves a bit, but they were in a rush, so she was just to get changed there and then.
'Why am I getting shy and nervous over a spirit? It's not even a real living thing, right? Just a creation of the Dark Magus,' Kelly thought, as she placed the last of her uniform pieces on.
She did realize, though, it really didn't feel like she was communicating with a spirit. She had heard of creations of mages having intelligence and a way to talk, but they sounded like systems.
They had next to no feelings in their voice. Would a spirit really state that they wished to pay them back? Which just made Kelly wonder more, if this wasn't a spirit, then who was this person that knew so much about the Dark Magus.
Their body certainly wasn't normal either.
With the new clothing, the two of them were out of the alleyway, and Raze could see the tall buildings along with the barriers and magic power that was in the air.
"This is Alterian... I'm back... It's time to head to the Academy."
