The moment the portal started to open, Alba's instincts had kicked in. Rather than seeing this as an opportunity for them to get out of here, or to possibly see if those from the academy had found some way to help them, she had decided to run back and get the others to come with her.
Due to the fighting between Amir and the Crimson Crane before, a lot of the rubble that was on the floor had been pushed back by the shockwaves. Because of this, they had piled up, creating high hill-like structures, mixtures of sandstone trees and sand.
When she moved, the rest moved with her. They weren't quite as quick on the ball as she was, but they just decided to follow their leader.
Peering through the gaps in the structure they hid behind, they saw a portal open up.
"Hey, what are we doing back here, shouldn't we run through the portal?" Tilon asked.
"And what, just take it to some magical land filled with snow? We have no idea where those portals will take us," Lilly replied.
"Not just that, we know that no one has figured out how to get back into dimensions once the portal has closed," Reno commented. "Remember, we were all surprised that Raze could do such a thing in the first place, which means we can't just trust who comes out of that portal."
They first saw a single man step through, or at least the shape of a man with his broad shoulders. It was hard to tell due to the hood that was covering his face.
Immediately though, the clothing they had on their body looked strange to them. All of it, white with a gold trim, and on the top of their hooded head, a large I.
They were coming in one after the other and had some type of structure and order. As they came in through the portal, they were lining up and waiting for the others to come into the world.
In the end, there looked to be around fifty people. Once in a while, there was one that came in that looked slightly different compared to the others.
Rather than a rounded hood, his hood would have a sharp point. These ones seemed to be giving the orders to the others, telling them to move and stand back.
Then there was the last person who entered through the portal. Wearing a well-fitted blazer covering his body. It was in the same fashion as the others but no hood.
His light-haired face and neatly shaven beard could be seen by all. On the pocket of his blazer just above, he had the same symbol as the rest of them.
"Their clothes," Kizer whispered. "Doesn't it kind of remind you of what the Dark Magus looked like when we first saw him as well?"
The others had to agree, and there was something else that was similar to the Dark Magus. After everyone had entered through the portal, it had closed up behind them.
"These people, they're different from us," Alba commented. "We should be careful; we have no clue what it is that these people can do or why they are here."
"I don't know if they're related to the Dark Faction or what, and if they can do the same thing as the Dark Magus, I don't think we stand a chance against them."
The members, in their heads, were already imagining a battle with multiple Razes. The strange powers they had seen him use, and the weapons he had created.
It would be near impossible with how many of them were present.
"Alright, everyone!" The man in the blazer spoke. He wasn't shouting, but his voice was being projected loudly to the point that everyone could hear him, including the Crimson Crane.
"I don't want to spend longer than a week on this project. Do as you usually do, split up into groups and search the area.
"Any artifacts that are above the unique level are to be reported to your team leaders, and the team leaders are reported to me. You know the rest of the rules!"
"I know I am not usually out on these expeditions with you, but due to a certain incident we had in the past, I have been called out, but please just get on with your task as you usually would."
After the man had finished his words, he then placed both of his palms towards the floor. Right after that, a strong gust of wind blew out of them, and his body was lifted into the air.
The wind had stopped blowing out of his hands, but he was still in the air; he was practically flying.
"What in the heavens is this!" Elvlin's mouth was left wide open.
They had heard of Divine beings able to fly on weapons and such. Or travel hitting the air to give it the image as if they were flying, but there was an important fact in both of those.
When in the air, they had to be constantly moving; if they were just to stay still, then gravity would affect them and pull them down to the ground.
Right after, the palm of his hands he used to propel himself, and the man in the blazer was off in a particular direction.
"Isn't he heading to where the Dimension boss was defeated, I think that's where we spotted it," Tilon mentioned.
"I think you're right," Lilly agreed.
"Well, that's good, he seemed to be the head of these guys, and most likely the strongest, and he's able to do things that we haven't even seen Raze do," Alba mentioned.
The group continued to watch, and groups of ten mages with their captains, were heading to different areas.
They had all split heading off into another direction one by one; that was until there was one group of ten mages left in the current area they were in.
"Alright team, fan out, don't let any stone be left unturned! You heard what Eston said; we need to be done with this dimension in an entire week."
"It makes no sense," one of the other mages replied. "If we look at the sky, this dimension will still be open for at least two months. Why do we have to rush this search?"
"Didn't you hear, the last team that got sent out, they were wiped out and killed by someone."
"Wait, are you serious? Isn't that impossible? I mean, unless another guild has figured out how to enter these types of dimensions."
"That's why Eston is here; you know he works under Idore; he's a 6-star mage, so we should just listen unless we too want to be killed."
Listening to everything that was being said and what was going on, Alba eventually let out a relatively large sigh.
"You're worried, right?" Reno said. "I can tell what you're thinking. From the look of things, these people can use powers that are similar to that of the Dark Mage."
As Reno was saying these words using their powers, the groups were moving rubble without even touching them. While others were using a mixture of other powers, doing the same.
"You're worried, what if the Dark Mage is just one of these people that had shifted over to our side of Pagna? What if he was on the run because he was far weaker compared to the rest of these guys?"
