Dark Magus Returns

Upon further observation, Raze assumed that Reno was an alchemist, but after seeing his powers and having come to his place of work a second time, he realized that it wasn't the case. An alchemist was either a single individual or a group of people that large clans would have.

They would supply the clan with the best type of Qi pills as well as medical herbs and more, all for the sake of improving the clan's condition. In some cases, they also worked with the physicians, helping them create the right combination of things to progress healing.

They were an important and essential part of large clans. Some of them knew how important their position was, and rather than work for an individual clan, worked on a for-hire basis or with merchants, creating a market of sorts.

These individuals were seen as part of Pagna, and at the same time not quite part of Pagna warriors since their cultivation in terms of strength wasn't usually so high, although there were exceptions.

Since they worked mostly with Pagna warriors and within clans, some would also pursue the world of martial arts. But this was more of a safety measure.

However, what Reno was, he was a poison arts user. One of the arts that very few people delved into, since those that practiced the art had their fair share of deaths. It was easy to make mistakes when it came to tools as powerful as poison.

Not only that, but it was a difficult path for many to take due to the requirements that were needed as well. For instance, for one to constantly improve their art, they would have to go on the search for deadly poisons across the continent, making their own special herbs and Qi pills in order to increase their cultivation power.

Consuming these poisons allowed the body to create antibodies as well as producing the same powerful type of poison back was part of the art. Learning all of this, Raze was just gaining more respect for Reno, for not having taken an easy path, and based on how hard he worked each time he saw him, as well as his dark black eyes, one could tell he was fully involved in his path.

Helping him out they had hired a room for the Dark Magus to work in. It was in the large metal warehouse-like building that was full of multiple rooms where alchemists and those similar worked.

It was all covered by Reno, of course, and the room appeared larger than the one that the Crimson Crane member would work in. It was the same size, but with it being barren of plants and equipment, he could see everything clearly in the room.

There was a large furnace, boiling pots, as well as shelf space and a large center table in the middle as well. The entire area was cleared. What was most important for Raze was the open space between the center piece and the furnace; it was large enough for him to draw several circle formations on the ground, which is what he would be needing to do.

After inspecting the room, it wasn't long before Reno knocked on the metallic door and pushed it open. Both him and Kizen entered the room pushing two large wooden wagons that had containers on them.

They took them to the side, parking them up, and then slid the top of the lid off. "This right here should be everything that you need," Reno commented.

Taking a peek, Raze could see it; the crate was full of level 3 power stones. From the bottom to the top, there had to be at least fifty power stones in there.

'This is all of just his collection of power stones? Is this all that he gathered over the years of being a warrior? I can't imagine how many large and high numbers of power stones the Crimson Crane have as a whole,' Raze started to think.

'I would be able to consume these, or attempt to combine them and make higher-level power stones to try and increase my magic. This is a gold mine!'

Raze was getting excited, but he quickly threw away the thought. He was already going to get a lot out of this exchange, and a promise was a promise. He would take this seriously.

As for the other crate, it was filled with pestle grinders that could be used to enchant the object, and they were the best one could buy on the market, made with well-balanced materials.

"We will leave you be, since I'm sure you will be busy," Reno replied. "I will be in the other room waiting, or if I am not there, I will be resting, but you will eventually find me at this place either way."

Reno knew that alchemists tend to keep their secrets with them. They knew how special such things were, but in this case, knowing the Dark Magus had some strange powers, they thought it was more so.

When the others left the room, Raze didn't waste any time as he got to work. After drawing the magic circles on the ground, he had placed the pestle grinder along with the power stone on the ground.

He sat down, and the Dark magic started to flow out of him. 'The enchantment I have made is a basic enhancing one, but still, as long as the grade of the item is high, it will be an item that is highly sought after and worth putting the marking of DM on!'

This time when the magic circle lit up, Raze continued to pour his magic power into the circle and started to go over the lines with his magic again and again, pouring more power into the item.

'There was a theory that one of the professors came up with, the more magic spent condensed into the item, the more likely it was to become a high-graded item. Of course, it was something that was nearly impossible to prove.

'Because at times, the results still seemed random since there were many duds, but I looked into the research papers, and although it seemed that there was no correlation, that was only when one took a broad range of mages.

'If one was to look at the results from the talented mages or those with great magic control, there did seem to be a slight increase chance of something better! So let's do this and make this item!'

Raze stretched out his hands, and the dark magic drifted from either side with the power stone, and as it swirled, the item was done. The glow faded, and it fell to the floor clanging.

[Elite Grade cursed Pestle has been created]

Raze didn't even bother to read the rest of the information about the item as he placed it off to the side. It was in his eyes a failure. He knew using Dark Magic with the items he had he would create an Elite Grade item; he needed that 10 percent to work in his favor and create an even higher-grade item.

'I guess I still have fifty more tries; this is taking me back to my research days,' Raze said as he started the process again.

Inside the Demonic Faction, in another city that was built inside a mountain landscape, Alba was currently present with two other members of the Crimson Crane. She was with Forma, the small red-cheeked bow user, and Talon, a blonde man dressed in all black with a mask on his face.

The three of them were currently walking across a large wooden bridge. There were many of these in the cities as it would take

one person from one area to the next. As large building structures were built up and down the side of the mountains.

This was the way that they would pass through. At times, the bridges could hardly be seen due to thick fog, but today it was bright, and they were walking across the bridges as many others were passing them as well.

"So are we waiting on the Dark Magus to do the next raid on the dimension?" Cornier asked. Raid was a term that one would use when a clan entered a dimension. They would either go on hunting for beasts to gain crystals, or if asked, it was a raid, a large group of several clans, or a singular clan with the goal of destroying the dimensional boss.

"It is assumed that the Dimension is at the high Initial stage level or low Divine level, which might be too much for us," Alba replied. "I want to try and gather more information about it, and build up supplies. Honestly, having the Dark Magus by our side might give us more confidence.

"But we're still not sure what he's capable of just yet. Let's see what type of items he can create for us. If they help us quite a bit, then maybe we can just head into this Dimension.

"For the meantime, I want to gather a few more things."

Alba had only recently received news that the Dark Magus had returned to Reptum and was working on items. She thought that it would take a while, and it would be wrong of her to request he make an item for every single one of the members straight away.

So she thought it was best to leave him be for now. The group was midway across the bridge, and immediately Alba had drawn one of her dual blades on her back, swinging it to the side.

It clashed against another sword, and a man with black spiked hair stood on the other side with a smile on his face.

"Alba!" Cornier shouted, as he charged in, ready to attack, but immediately three men jumped from what appeared to be the side of the bridge and got in the way of him helping his clan head.

"The side of the bridge, but that's a deep drop; they must have come from underneath." Crocker thought. "That means these guys were targeting us."

The man with the sword gathered his Qi and swung it, pushing Alba back; she looked unfazed, but for a strike to actually push her back meant the other person had to be at the middle stage as well.

"The legendary Alba, huh?" The man smiled. "Do you remember us?"

Alba looked at the man's face for a while, and it did ring a bell, and that's when it hit her.

"The Behemoth Guild... you're one of their captains, Wild Fang! What are you doing attacking us?" Alba asked. "We have no problems with you."

Soon the bridge was filled with multiple members; the three Crimson Cranes were surrounded by what looked like fifty Pagna warriors, all of them either at the high initial stage rank or at the middle stages.

"Oh, but we have business with you; tell us, where is the Dark Magus?" Wild Fang asked. "Otherwise, the Crimson Crane will no longer cease to exist. And don't worry the fact that we have appeared in front of you know means we have been able to locate every single one of you Crimson Crane members, wherever they are."