Raze stared at the man in front of him for a while, hoping that eventually, he would disappear into the mist, and it would all just be a figment of his imagination. Instead, the man known as Dame Narfous, one of the sons of the top clans in the Demonic Faction, was there right in front of him.
‘The portal stays open for a few seconds after I enter it, but I never thought he would follow me,’ Raze thought. ‘From my interactions with him, sure, he had a bit of a wild side, but he seemed like a sensible person. Why would he take such a big risk and even hop into the portal?’
‘Who knew the dangers of the world I was going to. If I really was heading back to Alterian, there is a good chance that he could be trapped there, and can martial arts really stand up to magic.’
Just thinking about the whole situation was tiring for Raze, and he eventually placed his hand on the top of his head.
“Sorry to jump on you like this,” Dame said. “I brought you to my world, and you learned a lot. I guess you could say curiosity got the better of me after I saw what you could do, so I wanted to do the same.”
Dame started to look around and placed his hand on the wall. He could see the carvings and the writings in the cave, yet he didn’t understand a single word of it, which brewed even more excitement inside him.
‘What do I even do?’ Raze thought. ‘Once we leave this cave, he will quickly learn that it’s not the world of Alterian. That is if we can even get out of here somehow. I can’t subdue him; this man is a high-stage Pagna warrior. Even with all my skills, I would be at a complete loss.’
With everything said and done, Raze couldn’t even stop Dame from following him if he wanted to. So he felt like the only choice he had was to come clean. Using the effect of his robe, he started to put it away.
There was no longer any need for him to keep his face hidden either, especially now he was back in the world of Pagna. Not that he had ever left.
“You aren’t going to like what you are about to hear,” Raze stated. “But I promise I had no intentions of tricking you, and I fully was planning to commit to our deal regardless.”
Now, Dame really was raising an eyebrow. He was even looking past Raze into the mist. A world filled with those like Raze; he just imagined it would look quite different to this.
“When you asked if I am from another world, you are correct; I am not from the world of Pagna,” Raze said with a deep breath. “However, where we are now and where I have been for a while now is still the world of Pagna.”
“Huh?”
“Not ‘huh,’ the world of Pagna,” Raze continued. “Right now, we have returned to where I was before I met you in the Demonic Faction. We are in the Dark Faction right now.”
There was silence from Dame for a few moments. The Dark Faction? They had entered a dimension portal and had traveled from the Demonic Faction to the Dark Faction.
“I’m in enemy territory!” Dame shouted. “No, that can’t be. I mean, what the heck are you even doing here? Are you making deals with them as well? Have you been two-timing me?”
Raze shook his head, trying to figure out a way to explain his situation. Usually, Dame would have been beyond furious about this, but just like how Raze was cautious of Dame’s strength, he was cautious of Raze as well, since there were many things he could do. He was afraid that he might be incredibly powerful.
“It’s a long story…”
Raze went on to tell a grand lie. He told a tale of how he had entered a dimension portal in his world one day and had ended up in the world of Pagna, not just anywhere but in the Dark Faction. He didn’t mention the fact that he was part of Alter now, and there were groups of other people that had also come into this world, but he did state that he currently knew no way back to Alterian, which was his home. Yet, when making dimensions and trying to go back, he had entered the dimension the two of them had met.
“I see… you have been in quite the tricky situation yourself, I see,” Dame said. “Honestly, I can’t even blame or be angry with you for what you did. You were just trying to better your position.”
“Hey, I guess it’s a good thing that you met me in the end. So I understand that you were in the Dark Faction for a while, so where exactly is here? Where are we?”
“The Dark Faction’s Pagna Academy.”
Dame let out a loud “Da!” sound from his mouth. It was so unbelievable, not only in enemy territory but in their academy, it was quite the problem.
“I guess you’ve been learning your martial arts. If I had known, I would have never given you the Demonic cultivation technique. It could cause some problems for you,” Dame said. “The biggest issue is my face. I’m not the most popular man from the Demonic Faction, and I’m sure there will be those that recognize me here.”
Thinking of that, Raze did have a solution.
“I could send you back; I can open up a portal from before. It will take us to the other dimension, and you can find the portal leading to the Demonic faction.”
Dame shook his head.
“I’ll be honest; right now, I don’t want to go back. There are some things going on with me as well,” Dame stated. “Don’t worry; I’m not saying to go back on our deal. Fixteen was dealing with all those matters anyway, and when it’s our meeting time, I’ll make sure to talk to him.”
“But I kinda wonder if I can use this as an excuse to get away from the Demonic Faction.”
“I don’t care” Raze said.
The reply came as quite a shock to Dame, who looked at him in disbelief.
“I mean, I don’t care about your family troubles; I can only care about what troubles you’ll bring me. I’m guessing you were planning on tagging along with me. If you follow me with that face of yours, then everyone will make me a target.”
“Well, isn’t there something you can do with your special powers?” Dame asked.
Raze wanted to deny there was something he could do, but he paused and hesitated.
“I guess that means there is something, huh? Come on, help me out. Think about it; if I join you in the academy, I can help out as well. I can protect you from any bullies. I’m a 6th stage Pagna warrior. I’m probably on the same level as the top teachers at the academy.
“Of course, I would play dumb and tone down my skills here and there.”
Thinking about it, having an ally in the academy as strong as Dame by his side might be a large plus after all. And no doubt Dame would be loyal to him. It was his only way out of the place without causing trouble.
“Alright, but you owe me another level 2 power stone when we get back,” Raze said, and a mask appeared in his hand.
“If you wear this, it will give you the appearance of a completely different person.”
“Seriously?” Dame said, taking the mask and holding it up to his face. Slowly, its magnetic force was pulling it toward him. After lighting up, all of Dame’s features had completely changed. He now looked like the young warrior whom Raze had taken up as a disguise.
‘This shouldn’t be a problem; only Fixteen and the others saw what I looked like on the battlefield. Dame was too busy fighting.’
“Did it work?”
Raze nodded and started to walk out into the mist.
“Now we have two other problems we need to solve. What to say about who you are and what happened to us, and how do we get out of here.”
Dame looked up. 𝚘𝒱𝑙xt.𝒸𝞸𝕞
“Did you fall from up there? Then the answer’s easy. I’ll climb us up. Come on; it’s been a long time since I joined an Academy. This is getting a little exciting.”
