Dark Magus Returns

Bargo had left the main building; there was nothing for him to do there, and he was more so hoping he wouldn't have to do anything.

If a fight did occur, he was unsure if he could even stop them from clashing, since he was only one person. Sure, he was strong, a middle-stage warrior, but that wasn't enough against an entire clan.

Anyone who thought they could go against a clan in their own base had to be a little messed up in the head.

Regardless, Bargo was now walking through the streets, picking up his feet in a joyful manner. He was using his ears to follow a specific area, and that was the recruitment barracks.

Arriving, the clan members greeted him, some of them he had shown his plaque to before he had been let in, and he eventually was in a sand outdoor area where the members were training.

Many of them were using weapons and bringing out a few items for the new recruits to be tested on.

"This is more exciting, I love this type of stuff!" Bargo commented. "Who knows, maybe I will see someone talented that I want to pick up myself and bring them to our clan."

"Of course, sir!" One of the Lethal Bite Clan members replied. "You are our guest, but please don't take all of our recruits; we do still need some for ourselves."

The Lethal Bite Clan members weren't too worried since these were just outsiders being hired. They weren't really members of the Lethal Bite Clan.

It would be incredibly rare to see anyone talented at these things, so they would just let the old man watch and do his thing.

---

Raze and Anna were both walking around a meter away from each other through the city. The two of them were looking for a recruitment center of sorts.

Clans regularly were hiring new members other than those who were raised in the clan. Often though, these members that would be brought in would do guard duty for the cities or even just the local tax collection for them.

They weren't directly involved in Clan affairs or got the chance to go to the Pagna Academy at a young age due to the tough selection process.

This was what the two of them were aiming for: to find a type of trail that was going on somewhere in the city, and it didn't take long for them to find it.

There was a queue leading up to the clan's barracks. The building had been built out of stone like most of the city and was on the edge of one of the outskirting walls that surrounded the city.

From the outside, no one could see what was happening, other than the sound of loud grunts and chants from those that were training on the other side.

Seeing the long queue, Raze and Anna had no choice but to line up, something that Raze felt like he had done just a couple of days ago.

"There are more people than I thought lining up for this. I thought becoming a Pagna warrior wasn't a path that everyone would take," Raze spoke.

"You are certainly one that is lacking information in many areas," Anna replied. "Although what you said is correct, have you seen the current state of Pagna?"

"Education is not free for the young. Their facilities are a mix between being advanced in one area and neglected in others."

"Even for the regular citizens, the cost of education is something only for the privileged. These people in front of you are desperate; they have nothing and need a way to earn coin, that is why they are here."

"I suppose you are just like the others of your own kind. Raised by a good family, given good food to eat, while disliking the education that was forced upon you as a child. Meanwhile, others would do anything to be in the same situation as you."

Immediately Raze turned and glared, furrowing his eyebrows as he looked right into Anna's eyes.

"You should be careful of what you say when you don't know a thing about me," Raze claimed and turned away, staying in the line as it progressed forward.

Anna was right in her assumptions most of the time. Because mages in Alterian were part of an upper class, 99 percent of the time her guess would have been accurate, but it wasn't the case this time.

After having calmed down slightly, it did remind Raze of something. If what she said was true about those in Pagna, there was something he had yet to find out the reason behind.

Why could he, Safa, and Simyon know how to read and write? The three of them weren't from prestigious families.

Safa was one to study and hit the books, so maybe having one out of three no-names learning how to read and write wasn't out there, but the fact that all of them did.

'Simyon did tell me a bit about his past, but it was hard to bring up. And I won't force it out of him. People have their own secrets that they want to keep, and that's the same for me as well,' Raze thought.

Pushing forward, they had reached the desk, and Anna and Raze both gave their names. For this, Raze had just placed his name down as Liam, since it was a fairly common name.

The same was done for Anna as well. They didn't put a family name down since they didn't have one.

"I'm warning you two now before you take part in this assessment," the man said. "We are one of the top clans that belong to the Dark Faction. We look for a higher tier of recruits compared to the other clans, so if you're just some nobodies off the street, you can just forget it."

Raze could see some of the people dressed in rags still moved forward and headed inside the building. There were also a lot of wanderers as well.

Perhaps changing their position from a person of higher to something more sustainable to them, and then they were them.

A group of people that were undercover.

"You don't have to worry about us," Anna said as she placed her hand on the table. "We are strong enough for your clan."

Lifting her hand, a deep print mark was left on the wooden table, something that could only be done by Qi, at least that's what most of the Pagna warriors thought.

"Fine," the man said, as he gestured for the two of them to go forward.

"A word of warning to you," Anna said as they made their way inside the barracks. "Let's forget about what I said. I made an assumption based on the data I knew."

"There is a reason why I work alone, and it's not just because I speak my own tongue. I will always do what allows us to complete the task."

"However, the captain has stated that at times because of that, I don't think ahead. I complete the mission one step at a time, with the chance of a 100 percent certainty."

"That is why I work alone. Because of the trouble that follows me around. I won't protect you if you need protecting; you will need to look after yourself, and by being next to me, you could get into trouble."

Raze looked down at the ground. "You bring trouble?" Flashes in Raze's head of the countless number of things that had occurred, including the amount of deaths that had happened in his short time being here went through his head.

"You're speaking to the wrong person," Raze said as he continued to walk forward. Death followed Raze everywhere, whether he liked it or not.