The Alter group that belonged to Marcus were accustomed to constant movement. Tensions were high within these groups, and for good reason; they were here secretly, after all.
There was a large, lacking presence of Alter in the Demonic Faction. One wrong move, and they would disappear with next to no support to help them. So, they needed to lay low for the entirety of the time they were here, which also meant moving a lot.
Graft headed to the job board, and on it, he could see a particular request that he was looking for. Pulling it off the board, he tore it down, ripping it up after. Now he knew where they needed to go.
There wasn't a lack of inns in the large city. Repton had a number of visitors that would come from all over and needed a place to stay, so it wasn't a surprise that their next meeting place was another inn.
When entering this one, it wasn't particularly empty like the last. They headed up to their rooms, and all three of them entered, seeing them all huddled up in a relatively small room.
There was a single double bed, one desk, and that was it. The whole group was standing about, and not much light was coming into the room due to Shing standing next to the window and his body blocking most of it.
"It looks like you made it; that was far quicker than I thought," Marcus stated. "I thought Shing said the items were rare and expensive. I thought you might even have to do a few favors to get what you needed."
"Anyhow, enough with that. I managed to get in contact with Himmy, which is good news."
Hearing this, Barlan and Graft were ready to act. All of the strange thoughts that were circling in their heads, they were starting to think that maybe this person wasn't from Alter after all.
It was quite possible that he had just killed an Alter member and stolen his emblem. It would explain a lot, with his story not adding up.
"All is good. Himmy confirmed that you are indeed part of his squad," Marcus said. "And he is happy to help bring you into the Dark Faction. So, after you're done with whatever it is you need to do with Shing, we can head off."
The news came as a surprise to both Barlan and Graft. Everything was fine, which meant that Raze had been telling the truth this entire time. They were sure that Marcus would have given a description of Raze to confirm.
"Is it okay if I pay for another room so me and Shing can have a bit more privacy, as I am unsure of what is going to happen?" Raze suggested. He didn't want something occurring like the last few times he had met the bloody woman.
Whenever they would meet, there would tend to be deaths that would occur.
"Sure, I don't mind that, but I'm not sure you are aware of this, but our funds are a little low, you see. We spent quite a bit at the Inn to clear the place out," Marcus explained with a nervous smile.
Tanya slapped the back of Marcus's head right then and there.
"You idiot, you said you convinced them, not paid them!"
"I convinced them with money, isn't that the same thing?" Marcus replied back. "Either way, I'm happy for you to go ahead and do your personal business, but you will need to pay for it yourself."
"That is not a problem," Raze said as he looked at Shing, who leaned off the wall and followed along with Raze.
As soon as the door shut behind them, Barlan couldn't help but make a comment.
"Yeah, he really wouldn't have a problem; that guy's a walking money bag."
"What do you mean?" Ponyo asked. "Did something happen while you were out?"
Both Graft and Barlan looked at each other as they went ahead and explained everything they had seen. Not only did they explain everything that had happened, but they even went on to talk about their suspicions.
They went on to say why they had these thoughts as well.
"That is strange, but I heard that mages that learn Pagna arts tend to learn them faster," Ponyo commented. "Because if they have a large amount of mana, they can essentially be the same as higher stage warriors. He would still have to learn the skills though."
"I suppose you are right," Barlan replied. "I also heard the same as well. Mana and Qi are quite similar in how they are used, so a mage can even learn skills faster. But then what about the money? He's so young, how can he have so much money?"
"Well, maybe he robbed someone," Tanya replied.
Graft didn't think that was out of the question, thinking about what he saw in the dimension that time, and there was also the times and connection to the Crimson Crane. Perhaps those were the reasons why, but he needed to keep his mouth shut.
"It's not our problem to deal with," Marcus replied. "It's Himmy's, and besides, we have been asked to step out of the Demonic Faction, so all of us will be traveling with him when he's done."
After paying for the room next to him, Raze and Shing had entered. Shing sat down about a meter away from Raze and started to mix the items up, including crushing the level 3 power stones.
He continued to do this, and eventually everything became a paste that he had put in a bowl. The paste itself was glowing, and Raze could feel the power, but he thought it was strange to be consumed this way.
It looked quite similar to the potions that the mages would make but was slightly different.
"This here, after I consume it, will temporarily increase my powers. It allows me to connect with the world we cannot see even more so. It is only a temporary measure, though," Shing explained. "I might be able to see this person attached to you; I might be able to speak to them, but my real body will be here, and I will be talking to you so you can hear."
Listening to it, what Shing was about to do sounded similar to the astral projection technique that he knew.
"When I connect with these people as well, sometimes it is harder for me to connect the next time, so this will be a one-
time thing, and this is very dangerous depending on who I connect with."
Raze understood and gave a nod.
"If all goes well, I promise I will reward you for this."
"Alright, before we start, I want to ask, is there anything you can do to increase your connection with this person? Think, how did you know this person existed; what did you first do?"
This wasn't hard for Raze. Whenever he performed the Demonic Cultivation Technique, especially in the Demonic Faction, his connection was the strongest.
"There is; I will start that now… Thank you for doing this… And I promise you, I will do whatever I can to protect you."
Those words caused Shing to hesitate for a moment as he lifted the bowl to his mouth, but a smile appeared; this was exciting for him. Now he was curious as to what this would be.
