Raze was lying there on the floor. It was so unexpected that no one had run over to him. No one was there to catch him.
The one saving grace was that he had fallen onto sand of all things. What was more shocking to them was that Feebie, the clan head of one of the five major clans of the Dark Faction, had been beaten.
It was something they thought they would have only heard about in passing or in the news, but here they were, seeing it in person, and in a way, all of them felt like they were a part of it.
The sight was so shocking that no one had moved, that was until Safa started to trod through the sand and went straight for Raze.
"Raze!" Safa cried out as she continued to run.
Alba recognized the girl, as she had seen this group before. Everyone let her pass as she went and grabbed Raze.
She held up his head from the floor and tried to get a look at his condition. What was worrying her was the fact that she could even do this in the first place.
If it was the Raze she knew, if he was still present, then surely he would tell her not to touch him. The fact that she was holding onto him right now was a big worry for her.
"I think you should go and help that girl out," Alba commented. "See if you can help awaken our little master. I need to talk to Dame."
The person she was speaking to was none other than Reno. A man who was in charge of the group's medicines and supplies before they had brought on the Dark Magus.
He didn't think there would be much he could do, but he decided to head off to check on Raze anyway because he was also curious as to what had happened that made him this way.
Alba soon jumped from where she was with Cronker following her by her side and was now in front of Dame.
Simyon and Liam had run off from the rest of the group to check up on Raze as well; they were just a step behind compared to Safa.
Now that the other students present had a closer look at Alba, they were starting to figure out that her description of dark red pigmented skin and a strong enough warrior to defeat the Clan Head, it could only be one person.
"The head of the Crimson Crane!" Tinson shouted.
"Did you not hear Feebie shouting about the Crimson Crane a couple of times? Man, you're a bit slow," Joe added.
Seeing the reaction of the cute students, Alba couldn't help but wave with a soft smile on her face, but when she turned to Dame the smile turned into a look of annoyance almost.
"Are you not worried for the kid, or should I say, the DM," Alba commented, making sure not to mention the other name in front of the students.
Dame saw this as a sign that it might be best he talk with her away from the others. After telling them to rest up or go see if they can help in some way, the three of them walked over to a nearby building.
They entered through the door into a dark-lit room, and the first sound that was heard was Dame letting out a big sigh.
"If that's how you feel, you should try to put ourselves in our shoes," Cronker commented.
"Well, honestly, I never thought I would see you, and in a place like this. I knew Raze would… the Dark Magus I guess I should say, struggle with the leader with the state he was in, but I thought he would have some type of plan to get out of it," Dame replied back.
"And he did have a plan, a good one that caused him to succeed. If anything, in a way, we were the ones that failed him, which is why he's in that state now," Alba commented.
There was silence among the group for a while; that was until Cronker couldn't take it anymore.
"You and the Dark Magus have been traveling for a while; the last thing I thought the two of you would be doing was being in some type of academy! And what's with that disguise you have on?"
Dame had taken it off now that they were away from the others. It begged the question though how they knew it was him even with the disguise on.
"Since the two of you have been traveling I assume, you know about the Dark Magus's plans, about him wanting to take on the academy," Alba asked.
Dame more than knew about it; part of it was his plan, to help build up their group even more. To expand their influence.
"I do, which is why I'm struggling a bit. We've gone too far now; the Lethal Bite Clan Head was killed. It was meant to be the signal for us to start this battle and be ahead of them having already taken out one of them."
"However, the way Raze fell, I'm not sure if he will wake up any time soon."
"It was unordinary," Alba replied. "If someone's knocked out it doesn't take long for them to come back. He might be tired and just sleeping, but even then, it could be a day or so till he gets up again."
"You guys should know by now that Raze is a person that is able to pull off the impossible with his powers and tricks," Dame commented. "If we were to start this fight without him, I'm not sure we can win against the Dark Faction."
"He has his ways, but for me, even with all the help and having to protect him, I'm not sure what to do."
At that point Alba grunted, complaining. "I need a drink; in this situation at least. Anyway, why don't you go ahead and explain to us. Why are you even attacking the Dark Faction? Why is the Dark Magus even here?"
"If we're going to help you in this, then we should at least know."
Dame thought about it for a while, but he felt like they were right; they at least needed to know some of it.
Dame didn't explain much in terms of the Dark Magus and his origins, just that he had followed him once and it led him to the Dark Faction Pagna Academy.
From there, a series of events unfolded. Raze seemed more interested in the Dark Faction and wanted to know more but was limited.
At the same time, he was also being targeted due to him being a no name. Dame left out that he had been attacked by another group.
From there, the targeting never stopped on Raze's back, to the point where all of them had even been put in a deadly assessment where the students were forced to kill each other.
This was the last straw. The students were sick of what the academy was doing, and Raze was sick of being targeted.
Due to what happened in the assessment, he had been made a target by Feebie, the Lethal Bite Clan Head anyway. She wanted him dead whether she went against the academy or not.
In a way, the whole situation came about because there were multiple interests and reasons to go against the academy. So it was more of a timing thing, and whether it was the right timing or not, they were being forced into actions earlier due to Feebie.
"I see, so the Dark Magus is from the Dark Faction, that makes sense," Alba commented after listening to the whole tale.
"The situation which Raze was in, it felt like he had no choice. The world has always been more cruel to no names compared to others."
"Maybe he should have chosen a different path and just become a wanderer as well. I wonder why he was so obsessed with staying in the academy?"
"With everything he had done with you and helping out the Neverfall Clan, I'm sure he could have chosen a different path and abandoned it."
That was something that Dame didn't know too much about himself, but he had to assume a couple of things. The markings in the cave where Raze would reside sometimes, the misty place. It was clear he was looking for answers, but about what he didn't know.
"Well, I actually had something to give Raze as well. Last time, he gave us some material to work with, and his weapon, his Ghost Blade, it's been improved and ready, and I have to say, this is something I wish I could have kept for myself."
