Chapter 553: Big Prep
Rayna still felt bad about everything that was occurring for Raze. It was the only way she could think of saving him, and he was being dragged along through all of this, and all of it at a young age.
Unlike her, who was one of the heirs to a great clan and had to follow rules, Raze wasn't. He was a free individual not related to any clan.
Many people in Pagna wouldn't see it this way because to them, status, power, wealth, getting stronger meant everything to them.
But to Rayna, at some points, she was quite jealous of the no-names, the wanderers that could do as they wished. Even if they were looked down upon and pushed around.
If anything, she was sure she would be more like Raze, having great strength and being able to protect herself. Still, because of everything that had occurred, now he was being placed in the same position.
'I guess I should be thankful for one thing.' Rayna thought as she was sitting still in a seat and several maids around her were working away.
She was currently in Repton city rather than the Neverfall clan, going through a trial makeup session. Everything was being paid for by the Clan.
'The fact that father is letting me and Raze take care of our own land, if we are to start a clan of our own, then it means we will also have more freedom.'
'And besides, if it was witb anyone, I'm thankful that it's him.'
As she started to think about Raze with his narrow-focused eyes, her cheeks started to flush.
"Oh dear, if this happens on the wedding day, we're going to have to get more powder." The woman said as she continued to pat down the cheek.
There was another reason that Rayna was in Repton, and it was all to do with the wedding. She was to focus on and organize the events.
Her father had set up a planner for her, while he sorted out some other details, but she was running the rest of the wedding.
She didn't dare get Raze involved. She couldn't stand if he had to force himself to do such things, so she let him be at the Clan base.
'It means leaving him and that Anna girl that is traveling along with him, but I just hope the two of them are alright… and she stays away.'
In the end, after a lot of huffing and puffing, Rayna decided to stand up from her seat.
"I think this looks perfect; I will be back in a couple of hours to sort things out. I think I forgot something at home!"
Rayna had already left the room before her makeup artist and planner could even say anything.
"Who does she think she's fooling? She hasn't stopped mumbling about another woman," The planner said, putting her hands on her hips. "Oh well, jealousy is a beautiful trait for one to have, right."
"Yeah, but when you're marrying one of the strongest families in the Demonic Faction, you have things to worry about. I wonder who's marrying the young lady."
This was the question on everyone's mind. News had already spread through the Demonic Faction of what was about to occur.
It was a big moment, but from someone as prominent as the Neverfall Clan, they thought that they would have known the person being married, the clan in question.
Marriage was a good way to expand relationships. They didn't expect the person to be from one of the other main large clans, but even a middle-sized clan adding their strength or having them in their pocket would be handy.
Yet, no one had a clue who the groom of the wedding would be. Everyone was trying to get to the bottom of it, and that included Bubble, the infamous reporter.
Back at the Neverfall Clan base, Raze and Anna were around the middle floors of the Neverfall Clan base. They were keeping an eye on the training rooms and had just been watching things for the time being.
The other members knew Raze was a guest, but had no clue that he was the one that was going to be marrying Rayna.
In the center of a circle, the Demonic Faction Clan members were practicing their clan's techniques. They welcomed the guests to watch.
Currently sitting on a stone bench by the side of the room, Raze wasn't studying those in front of him, but instead was looking at the book.
It was the Dark Edge Sword Arts. He would constantly read how the technique was to be performed and then shut his eyes imagining himself using them.
After a while, though, his head was starting to hurt. He was fatiguing, and he rubbed his eyes, closing the book, watching the training session in front of him.
"What's wrong, don't you understand what's written in the book?" Anna asked.
"I understand it well," Raze said. "However, understanding and performing are two different things. Just because I understand the logic behind it doesn't mean I am able to perform it."
"Isn't that just another way to say that you don't understand it?" Anna replied back.
Raze just shook his head. There were many fundamentals of the world that people understood, at least the basic understandings of it.
Such as how our feet stayed planted on the floor despite the space being out there. They understood what was hitting their face was the wind and the air.
They understand why we need to eat to survive, but did they understand why that was the case? The techniques of the Dark Edge Sword Arts required a person to understand even further.
At times it felt like he was skipping steps or the book was poorly explaining things.
'The next formation, the Phantom Edge Formation, is complicated.' Raze thought in his mind.
"Are you afraid?" Anna asked. "That if I was to read the book and perform it in my first attempt, I would be better than you?"
Raze was a little dumbfounded by Anna's revelation because all of the techniques required Qi, and to perform it fully, they needed magic; it would be impossible for Anna to perform.
"I can see why you are looking at me like that," Anna said standing up, and she looked at the students.
They were twisting their fist performing a special Qi strike created by the Neverfall Clan. A sharp twist of the fist was needed at the end with an explosion of Qi.
The strike's strength and effectiveness could be heard by the slap at the end. Like the sound of a loud whip.
Anna watched it a couple of times, and then bending her knees, she readied herself and threw out her hand just like them and twisted it right at the end.
A loud bang responded in the room after, that was deafening to everyone, far louder than any of them could hear.
"As long as I can understand something, or have seen something, I'm pretty sure I can perform it," Anna said with a smug look on her face.
At that point, Raze was wondering if maybe letting her see the book wasn't such a bad idea.
"Hey!" one of the students called out. "Did you just use the Falling Fist technique, that technique belongs to us. You might be a guest of our clan, but you can't just steal our techniques like that!"
"How did you perform that, who taught you that, if you don't inform us or if you hide the truth, it will be death for you and your friend!" The man called out.
"Death?" Raze said, standing up.