The morning sky was out, and the city was covered in a nice orange hue. Raze was walking through the busy street of people, listening to the sounds of people haggling for produce or just having a general chat with one another.
He himself was wearing his stylish blazer that made him somewhat stand out, but in a city as big as this one, there were countless people that had a strange sense of fashion.
At the moment though, he also wore a hood over his head, covering him up somewhat, but it wasn't his usual enchanted hood that would cover his face; he had it clearly on display.
With this look, not many people knew it was him or the Dark Magus. Very few people had seen him in combat with the blazer, one of them being the head of the Neverfall Clan, and one of the main disciples that he was technically wedded to, although there had yet to be a ceremony.
'I have to be careful while I'm in the city of Repton to not run into her. I can't be dealing with the whole Neverfall Clan mess right now, not when I have no clue what's happening to those at the academy,' Raze thought.
How many times had he been in the Demonic Faction, and in this city in particular? It had become a sort of safe haven for him.
For some reason, there weren't many operators of Alter in the Demonic Faction and he was certain there wouldn't be those from the Dark or Light Factions either.
So it had become somewhat the perfect place for him, but even here he had to keep his head low from others.
The city of Repton was where Raze had transported the rest of the Crimson Crane back to. Allowing them to continue what they needed to do, but he didn't plan to stay in the city long.
Because his aim was to meet those from Alter, to work his way deeper into the organization than before. He could grow stronger, find out more, and possibly get items that would help those out at the Academy.
But he didn't know enough about the Dark Faction or the world of Pagna in general to get from one place to another, so the current situation was a little troubling.
Taking a right, Raze had entered into a small Inn. There were few people, it was an odd time of day for drinking, but there were those that would enjoy a snack or two as usual, and a few people that didn't mind drinking no matter what time of day it was.
At the back, Raze sat at a square table, but there was a particular person that was also sitting at this table.
"You know, I'm still not quite happy about this," Fixteen said as he placed a large pouch on the table.
Raze took the pouch, opening it up, seeing a number of gold and silver coins that were inside. He then quickly hid it away with a flicker of his magic.
"I know, did you manage to get any information?" Raze asked.
Fixteen reluctantly shook his head and folded his arms.
"The Dark Faction seems to have gone on complete lockdown. Apparently, it was hard to get information on the Dark Faction even before this."
"The last piece of information we got was that there was an impressive rising star called the White Dragon, but since then, it seems that all informants can't get any information at all. So as it stands, I don't know the state of Dame or the rest of them," Fixteen said.
It wasn't particularly news that Raze wanted to hear. When Raze had arrived at the Repton he had asked the Crimson Crane for a couple more favors.
One was to meet Fixteen; upon their meeting, Fixteen had become somewhat aware of what was happening.
Him and Raze seemed to be on the same wavelength as both of them were wondering if they could get any information about what was happening at the Academy.
In the meantime, Raze would supply more pills to the expanding business that Fixteen was conducting on their behalf.
Raze had done this as the ingredients were supplied to him, and this was the advance payment he had received. The payment would help him fund his travels and anything else he might need to do.
"Look, I want to make this clear, we owe Dame a lot, a lot of us do. He's stuck his neck out for us multiple times. A lot of people think he's a useless man with no ambition, but that's just not the truth."
"Well, part of it is, but either way, if you're going to help him or rescue him at some point, then we want to be there when it happens. This is something that we won't be left out of," Fixteen said.
Raze understood, shaking his head, building up allies at this point, it was becoming natural to him. After all, his true enemy, the Grand Magus, were groups with giant guilds themselves.
And he had a feeling that at some point maybe the world of Pagna and Alterien would be going at each other.
"My other request, are things going well with that?" Raze asked.
"Sure, sure, 3 in the evening, just meet at the same spot here and it will be done," Fixteen answered, getting up from his seat and leaving.
There wasn't much for Raze to do, so he took a long rest until the meeting time, and he had returned to the Inn sitting in the same spot and place Fixteen was at.
This time, he was the one that was staring at the door waiting for the visitor to arrive.
'After this, it's time to get out of here and to head to the Dark Faction… but where should we go, maybe it will be best to ask him.'
Entering through the door, was a short man, with a scruffy beard and a large backpack on him. He looked to be around his fifties.
As he entered the place nervously, he was looking around until he eventually found out where he was going to be.
Coming to the corner of the room.
"I believe, I have a meeting with you at this time," The man said.
Raze gestured, allowing him to sit down, which he had done so.
"I heard that you had a request for a guide in one of the dimensions. Your friend paid me quite generously," The man said. "I was a bit worried that it might be a setup for something else."
Raze looked the man in the eye for a few moments and then pulled down his hood. The old man was quite surprised to see that his client looked relatively young.
"You don't recognize me, do you?" Raze asked.
The man took a deeper look, but no recollection had come to mind.
"I apologize, in my time I have met a lot of people, so it's hard for me to remember them all," The man replied.
Right after, Raze had reached into his inner coat blazer, and had pulled out a round device, pressing a button on it.
At that point and time, a buzzer from the old man started to vibrate as well. He pulled it out and the two of them placed it on the table.
"It seems you kept your promise, Graft. You didn't remember my face and you didn't tell Alter about me," Raze stated. "But this time I need you, I need you to take me to Alter."
