“Dark Pulse!” A dark beam of magic shot out of Raze’s hand and went right through the dog’s head, killing it in one go. As soon as the dog creature fell to the floor, Raze immediately went and started pulling it apart in search of the crystal.
[Dark Attribute: 23]
This was Raze’s fifth kill since he had entered the portal, which meant he was now in the position of five power stones. Unlike before, he was no longer gaining one point of the dark attribute for one kill. It had taken two or three. The more points one had, the harder it would be to gain more.
The good news was that Raze was now able to kill the beasts with a single use of Dark Pulse, and there was no need for him to add the two-step shift to his attacks. With the ring, he was gaining mana back for each kill.
“Alright, things are looking good,” Raze wiped the sweat off the top of his forehead. There was still some physical work involved in getting the crystal out of the body. Looking around, he was currently on the large raised platform that led to the crumbling building.
The portal, having activated it in the same place, had taken him to the same place as before, and he had two options: enter the forest where there were most likely packs of these dog creatures or head up the stairs to the platform with the large wall where he could see beasts coming at him more easily.
The sound of growling was heard from behind, and as Raze turned, he could see a dog creature leap from one of the wooden crates. Its powerful legs crushed the crate beneath it, but Raze wasn’t worried.
When it was in the air, it was an easier target for Raze. Pointing his hand out, he said the words, “Dark Pulse,” and the beam went right through the dog. Stepping to the side, its body splattered limp on the ground.
‘This is turning out a lot better than before. There’s no mysterious powerful woman attacking me, no large beast just popping out of nowhere. So I can finally grind in peace and get as many crystals as possible. I need to get enough crystals from this trip to become a 2-star mage.’
The mana gained from killing a beast was just slightly under what he needed to use Dark Pulse, so Raze would have to take frequent breaks once in a while. Not because he ran out of mana but because he wanted enough mana to fight if the situation occurred that he would need it for a desperate fight again.
‘I wish this body was actually capable of performing martial arts to a certain degree. If I managed to become a 1st-rank Pagna warrior, I should be able to take these dogs out with just my fists, right? Then I wouldn’t have to use my mana up and join the Pagna academy where they have more portals. I still have time, though. It will be okay.’
Continuing his spurts of hunting, Raze had managed to kill 12 beasts, all of the same kind in total, and his Dark attribute had risen to 25. When this happened, the ring started to glow, and a dark mist started to pour out of it as a message was displayed to him.
[You have reached the maximum limit for Darkness attribute your current Magic Core can handle]
‘Now, no matter how many creatures I kill or how much I cultivate, it won’t grow, not unless I’m able to upgrade my mana core.’
It was starting to get a little harder to hunt on the platform outside. There appeared to be no beasts left, so he had decided to head into the building he had met the others in before. It wasn’t that Raze was afraid that he would run into them; it was more so he wanted to finish the important things first, gathering the crystals he needed.
Inside the building, Raze’s steps echoed as he made each step, the noise bouncing off the large hallway. If he remembered correctly, he had been blasted up to the third floor in the building. Finding a crumbly staircase, he started to proceed, with his hand held out in front of him. He needed to have a bit of caution; the only advantage he had over these martial arts experts was distance.
Reaching the second floor, there was no sign of anybody, and that included dead creatures. As he continued walking through the halls of this floor to head to the next staircase, he soon spotted something on the ground.
‘A dead beast, the same type that I’ve been killing as well, but its neck has been broken. Looks like there’s a Pagna warrior here after all.’
Whether it was the same people as last time or not, time would tell.
“Hey, state where you’re from, and don’t come any closer!” A loud voice shouted.
It was hard to tell from how far or close the words were due to the echo, but Raze slowly turned around and had his hand placed out in front of him. As long as he didn’t conjure his magic, it wouldn’t look threatening.
‘Wait… don’t I recognize that guy?’ Raze thought, tilting his head to the side like a dog to get a better look. The man on the other side was at least ten meters away.
“Stop being so on edge, Kirk,” Dame said as he walked past with his friends behind him.
Raze did recognize them; these were the same group of people as before.
“It looks like you decided to come after all. I thought I might not see you here. I’m right, aren’t I, Dark Magus?” 𝒪𝒱𝗅xt.𝗇𝓔t
With the new effect of his robe that he was wearing and his hood up, one shouldn’t have been able to recognize his facial features. That was why none of them thought this person in front of them was the same as the one they had met last time, except for Dame.
“It looks like after what happened last time, you decided to get a new getup. That’s understandable,” Dame looked Raze up and down and nodded in appreciation before stretching out his hand and giving a thumbs-up. “I like it, I like it a lot.”
Dame turned around to look at Fixteen, who was by his side, and shifted his fingers to tell him to hurry along. Fixteen went and stood in front of Dame and had something held in his hand, covered in cloth.
“Do you remember what I said last time? I wanted to repay you for helping out our team back then. So I brought you a gift.”
Fixteen walked ahead, and then, around halfway between the two, placed it on the ground. Although the group had been next to each other before, both parties were still wary of each other.
The tension could be felt by both, so it seemed better to do things in this manner. Raze walked forward, his fingers twitching, ready to strike at any moment, and knelt down, pushing the cloth off from the object and noticed the worn leather.
“A book?”
“Ah, I suppose it might seem like a strange reward, but trust me, it’s more valuable than you think,” Dame explained. “That’s not just any book, but it’s a cultivation book, a book that will be able to open your eyes to the power that we use, the power of martial arts.”