Dark Magus Returns

Raze's eyes shot open, fully awake. The sun was shining through the windows, and the curtains to the room hadn't even been drawn.

It was clear it was the next day already, considering he had been falling asleep when the sun was starting to set.

He quickly got out of his bed and touched the side of his head.

'It's been a while since I've been able to peacefully just sleep away. This might sound a bit crazy, but I guess I feel safer being in the Demonic Faction compared to all the other areas, even with the mess I've caused.'

Getting up, Raze began to do a few stretches. He was quite surprised that he still had gotten some sleep after he had been passed out for so long.

As he increased his Pagna stages, warriors needed less sleep; they also needed less food, among other things, but he had somewhat shut his mind off after everything, not wanting to dwell on too much.

He had become quite good at blocking out particular memories.

'At some point, I will need to head back to Alterian in my spirit form and see how the others are doing,' Raze thought. 'It would be good to get an update on their end.'

'I should also tell them that I might not be able to visit as much as I like, since there is more work to do on Pagna, and if I join up with Alter, who knows how much they will be looking over my shoulder.'

The Demonic Faction was his sanctuary, and the specially made cave was the place he would often use. Since using the spiritual form, his real body could still be attacked.

In the Dark Faction, he would have to keep this in mind as well.

Heading outside of his Inn, there was still some time before he was to meet up with Graft and see if there was any more information on the other members of Alter.

Raze had propped up his hood but was still wearing his sharp Blazer; his face and hair could clearly be seen, but since wearing the special magic robe, he had just preferred wearing a hood on his head more.

Walking down the marketplace, unlike in the Inn, he didn't feel as safe, as he was twisting and turning his head.

'The Behemoth Clan, or the Neverfall Clan, if I run into them in these last few days, it's going to be a pain.'

The reason for currently searching the marketplace was to see if he could spot anything nice he could use. He was scouring the items with his hand hovering over them, seeing if anything would react.

There was a good chance that if he was in trouble with Alter, that he could be going up against a number of mages.

With his Blazer, he could store magical items freely and use them, possibly to try and escape.

After going from market to market, there wasn't much he could find, and he had let out a rather large sigh.

'I guess the auction is the best place, but I don't want to cause a scene while I am here, or people to know me,' Raze thought.

"What's wrong?" The small old man behind the counter said. "Did you not find anything you were looking for?"

Raze shook his head, taking a second look at the items; most of them were handcrafted trinkets, most likely made by the man himself.

Some items had more affinity to magic depending on the crafter. It was strange because Raze couldn't find the link. Since there was no magic in Pagna, why could some crafters from Pagna create more items that had good affinity with magic?

Whatever the reason, it was clear that this man wasn't one of them.

"I know!" the man said, looking to his left and right before covering one side of his mouth with his hand and leaning forward.

"Are you looking for some special items, right? Well, I have some items made by DM right here." The old man reached into his pocket and pulled out three different colored pills, each one with the marking of DM on them.

'For a second, I was excited when he said special items,' Raze thought, taking a closer look. 'But all he wanted to do is sell me my own product, at least he is selling the real thing.'

"I can give you a special price, five silver for one of these pieces!" The old man said.

Raze nearly wanted to blurt out. Five silvers seemed exorbitant for what he had used. If only people knew how much the base ingredients cost for these things.

"I'm okay," Raze said as he shook his head.

"Hey, you have no idea what you're missing out on!" the man said. "Do you have any idea what these things can do? Clans from all over are coming trying to get a hand on these things."

"I know, and unfortunately, I am not that skilled," Raze said with a smile, turning around and walking away.

Now the old man was the one that made out a loud puff.

"I thought because of his body he was a skilled Pagna warrior. I guess I just met an amateur that doesn't even know how precious these are."

Walking away from the marketplace, Raze continued as he headed toward the Inn where he was to meet Graft.

He was ready to reach in and push the door to head to the inside when he noticed something.

'It's quiet… the inside is incredibly quiet… usually at any time of day you can hear people talking and making sounds.'

Looking at the street he was on, it was still busy with people, so why was it so quiet inside? Reflectively he decided to take a step inside the place.

When he did, his suspicions were true. The whole place was completely empty. There wasn't a single person inside.

There were still seats, a bar, and the other rooms.

'The door was unlocked as well, so I doubt it's just a temporary closure that's going on right now.'

Little did Raze know, through the second-floor window, on another building, a particular female wearing a hat was looking down at a large round object; she was looking down her scope that magnified the view of Raze.

"I have him in my sight, should I take the shot?" Tanya asked.

"Yeah, take the shot, but make sure it's not a fatal one," Marcus ordered.