Dark Magus Returns

Knowing that Simyon would make a full recovery, along with the fact that they wouldn't get in trouble due to the events that had taken place, all of them were able to get some well-deserved rest.

Simyon, who was unable to turn on his sides due to his pain, was sleeping on his back and snoring quite a bit, while the others were fast asleep, all apart from Raze. He was resting, but ever since the night of the attack, he hadn't had the best sleep.

Closing his eyes and cultivating at night would be enough to re-energize him, though, and resting his brain slightly would help him. However, he would cultivate with the Dark Essence technique, not the cycle of life and death technique.

While in the Demonic Faction, that was a big no for him. He didn't want the same to happen, especially not while the others were in the room. He would only attempt such a thing if Dame or someone on his level, whom he could trust, was with him.

'It's a shame that Dame won't be staying with us, or I would have liked to have found out what that was from before. It didn't seem to activate when in the Dark Faction, but I'm not too sure about playing with fire either.'

Trying to forget about it, eventually, Raze did go into a full slumber; he just didn't know when. When he woke up, the rays of light were touching his face, creating a nice sensation of heat.

Opening his eyes, it came as no surprise that the other three were still fast asleep. 'They must have been exhausted after yesterday,' Raze thought.

Nonetheless, he decided to get up and used his magic to activate his robe, placing the hood over his head. He wasn't the only one who wore a robe in Repton, so he didn't feel as if the events of yesterday would affect him too much.

But he did still need to travel to the auction house alone, just so no one could link things together if they did. When heading to the door, he looked back at the three.

'They won't get in trouble again. No one in this city should go against Dame's orders, so those students won't do anything. They have money now, and after yesterday, I doubt they would do something so dangerous,' Raze thought. 'Besides, I am a person of my word, and I need to get to making product and find a way of helping Safa.'

A short journey later, and Raze found himself down the long street that led to the auction house. Even early in the morning, the markets were set up with merchants shouting advertising the fresh or new products that they had gotten in.

It made him wonder if they ever went to sleep or how early they got here to set up. Raze started by going to each store and asked for the basics—the materials he needed to make the pills.

He already had the crystals he needed; he was just going for the base materials. He would ask certain questions such as how much quantity he needed to buy before they gave him a discount, whether they would give him a bigger discount for being a repeat customer, and if they would give him more discount if he bought more product from one person.

He had quite the business head on him. Even though he knew he could already make a profit, he also wanted to create future relationships that he could expand on. He also needed to pick someone that could expand with him.

The one thing he didn't want was not being able to sell his product if he had supply issues. It wouldn't be a problem now with only 30 or so level 2 power stones and a few level 1 power stones, but it could be in the future.

Eventually, Raze found the perfect person. It was a young chap running the stall, which surprised Raze. His hair was blonde, and he had blue eyes and a red fancy hat with a golden feather inside.

"Thank you for buying so much from us!" The man said with joy. "We do need a deposit before we send items to you, since you have ordered so much we will need to prepare. Are you sure it's okay to send this all to an Inn though?"

There was no base of operations for the group, so for now, Raze would just need to send the crates of items there.

"I'm fine with paying a deposit, but would you mind then if I took some of the product with me now?" Raze asked, as he had been running low due to all the other pills he had made when they had entered the dimensional portal.

"That's fine with us; please give us a few moments while we prepare," the man stated.

Waiting, Raze soon sensed a presence next to him, and at a glance, he recognized who it was.

"Oh, that's interesting," Reno commented. "I see, so are you an alchemist then? Are you going to use those ingredients to create Qi pills?"

Reno was the man that Raze had met at the auction before. It was soon to be at the time he had asked the two to meet, so he should have expected him to be here. In fact, Raze was planning to make do with his offer and get inside the auction house.

"I guess you could say that. Are you one as well?" Raze asked as he looked at his black fingertips.

"I don't quite dabble in Qi pills as such, but I also create things. I'm a certain type of alchemist," Reno answered. "I hope you know what you're doing and not hopping onto the fad like everyone else."

"Fad?" Raze replied.

"Yes, you see, a certain name has been going around certain alchemists, the name Dark Magus, who marks his items with his trademark DM."

"Ah, yes, I've heard of them," the merchant commented from behind the counter. "In fact, we have had a few fakes try to pass us already, but luckily we had gotten our hands on a real one so we know what to look out for."

"Yes, his red Qi pills interest me in particular since they have the strength to allow Qi into the body and activate the healing cells. It's quite amazing, and I'm trying to find the secret ingredient," Reno continued.

Raze actually felt a little bad hearing this because the secret ingredient was his magic spells, which Reno would never be able to figure out.

"I think I am getting there; I have combined a few pills with a couple of healing plants, but their effects seem to not be strong enough."

"There are plants that have healing attributes?" Raze asked.

"You don't know; I guess you are a beginner," Reno replied, shaking his head a little disappointed. "And here I thought the two of us could share our knowledge to help each other out. Otherwise, we will all be shoved out of the market by this DM person."

The reason why Raze was interested was that the healing plants, depending on how much energy or power they contained, might just be the thing he needed to activate his or Safa's magic, allowing him to heal her voice and for her to do more in the future.

Looking behind him, Raze waited until the merchant turned around, as he was making the final preparations, putting the ingredients into the sack, and he moved in closer to Reno.

"These plants, do you think you can tell me where to find them?" Raze asked in a low voice.n..1n

Reno couldn't help but smile. "You really know nothing about us alchemists, despite buying so many ingredients, I guess I was wrong about you after all. I guess you are just a strong martial artist."

It was normal for Reno to think this after he had seen the skills the person had used yesterday. Reno also had a careful eye and watched the hooded man's demeanor from before, which was why he knew it was the same person again.

Using the extract technique so well, he had to be someone well-versed in martial arts and was just on an errand for someone else.

"I tell you now, the ingredients, as well as where one obtains their ingredients, is a secret that an alchemist will keep with them, along with the recipe and technique. Sure, these things may be passed down within a clan, but I wouldn't tell a stranger who I have only just met and have decided to help out myself."

Moving his hand slightly, that's when Raze pulled something out and opened up his palm, revealing a single red Qi pill.

"You have been doing research into these pills, correct? I happen to have one on me myself. I am researching into them as well. If you help me out, then this can be yours as well."

This was the start of a business relationship Raze would have with Reno, who was a member of the Crimson Crane. Raze, who was unaware that the person in front of him was looking for him, and Reno, who was unaware that he was the person he was looking for.

When Dame said he had something important to do, he wasn't lying. It was because the news of his return had reached his father, and after learning of what Fixteen had to say, he had decided to return to his clan base.

Heading down to the bottom floor, Dame had returned to the hot fiery room and was now on his knees.

"I'm sure you have heard the news," Belil, the Clan master, said.

"I have," Dame replied.

"That's right, the Light Faction has carried out stronger attacks compared to before, sending out even a middle-staged warrior. Your sister had been sent to deal with the problem, and it seems she has been captured by the Light Faction."