The muscles all over Raze's body were contracting extremely lightly. It felt like someone had grabbed him like a towel and was now twisting, trying to get everything they could out of him.
Equally, he was sweating like a drenched towel as well, as he could see droplets of sweat falling off him and onto the ground. All of them were slightly black in color, coming off from his body.
The pain was too much, and it felt almost like he couldn't breathe.
'All of this is too much… can my body actually handle something ! Am I dying right now?' Raze was trying to think through in his mind if there was anything he could do to make it easier.
"Hey, what is happening to him?" Reno asked the others as they had come over, but Alba placed her hand in front of them, informing them not to get any closer.
"Can't you see the black droplets of sweat, more impurities are coming out of his body," Alba explained. "He's going through a breakthrough."
"A breakthrough?" Kizer said as he leaned on his long sword. "But is it meant to be this painful? What stage is he breaking through anyway?"
That's when Reno remembered, when they were traveling together, he had asked him. He didn't believe it at first, but everything he saw of the person proved that fact. Other than his powerful, strange powers, it was clear.
"He was a second-stage warrior," Reno replied. "He's breaking through to the third stage."
"Are you kidding me?" Tilon said as he walked over, placing the shield on his back. He had recovered most of his energy now. "He was able to do that much against a middle-stage warrior. If he's a second-stage warrior, then he must be the strongest second-stage warrior in existence."
Hearing all of this, it just made Alba smile even more. She was already imagining how much stronger he would be now that he was at the third stage.
"Can you… can you help me?" A voice called out.
When they looked up, they could see that it was Rayna. One of the top members of the Neverfall Clan, and the reason why they had come here in the first place.
"Right," Alba nervously laughed and clicked her fingers. With the exciting news of finding the Dark Magus, she had almost forgotten about the original reason as to why they had even come here in the first place.
Quickly, Cronker and Lilly came over. They started to lift their weapons and bash away at the chains. They had hit it several times, and even then, they were hard to break. They were made to keep Pagna warriors in place, after all.
A couple of techniques later, and the chains had finally snapped at the wrists. When free, Rayna wasted no time as she got up and headed away from the others.
"No thank you?" Lilly asked.
Not saying a word, Rayna went to the edge of the pyramid; she had her eyes locked on one thing. Quickly, she knelt to the ground and then plucked something carefully out. Soon she ran right past the others again and headed straight to the hooded man who was knelt over.
'I can't believe all of them are just standing there while he's in pain,' Rayna thought.
With the flower in her hand, she went next to Raze, and carefully she went and reached out for his hand. Raze was in so much pain that he wasn't even in control of his body, yet for some reason, the moment he touched her hand, he started to feel slightly better.
Soon after, she had placed the five-headed flower into the palm of his hand to hold, and the muscle cramps that were appearing all over his body were starting to fade away.
'This flower?' Raze noticed it. It was the same type of flower that he had been looking for with Reno, but strangely, this one had five flower bud heads sprouting out from one stem, and the effect of its healing powers he could feel it working instantly.
Since his body was in less pain, Raze was finally able to get in the sitting position. Black sweat was still running down his body, and a couple of times, a few of the other members of the Crimson Crane tried to get a sneak peek look at his face, but due to the effect of the robe, up to his nose, it was all dark and disfigured no matter how hard one tried.
They could just see a tinge of white hair from time to time. Finally, the pain had stopped all over, and Raze could feel it, his dantian having grown even stronger than before.
'I did it!' Raze inwardly smiled. 'I managed to break through to the third stage. It was a struggle and it took not just a big event, but for me to even use the extraction technique on a middle-stage warrior.'
As usual, Raze could feel his new body was incredibly powerful, and clenching his fist, he could feel the great new force he had. Now with his three-star magic, stage three warrior, and his enchanted items, Raze was sure he was a force to be reckoned with.
'But it's still not enough. It's clear if the Crimson Crane weren't here today, then I would have lost my life, lost my second chance. I can't have this happen again.'
Seeing Raze smiling and standing up, Rayna had gotten up off the floor as well so she could take a good look at him. She too wanted to see his face but was unable to.
"Thank you," Rayna said. "Thank you for coming to save me. I know what you might say, that it was a coincidence that you came here, or a chance, but it doesn't change the fact. If you weren't here today, then they would have never been able to best the Light Faction Elder. As a token of my appreciation, if there is anything you want or need, I am happy to comply."
Raze looked at the girl in front of him. She was quite the beauty even with the markings all over her. She had this fierce look in her eyes like a cat; even injured, she seemed quite intimidating. Still, he had a good impression of her since she had helped him when he was in pain.
While waiting for Raze's response, Rayna's heart was beating several times faster than it should have done. She was truly prepared to accept anything that this person wanted, even if it was marriage.
'It's normal, right? If he marries me, it's his chance into the powerful Neverfall Clan; he will have access to great wealth and techniques. It's the greatest prize one can give!' She thought. 'At the same time, what happened today, the Light Faction, they will not forgive him or the Crimson Crane.
'They will most likely try to hunt him down as news gets out.' Rayna had seen that behind her on her side of the Pyramid, there were a couple of Light Faction members that were still alive. When the situation started to look bad, they quickly left the area. No doubt news of what happened would spread quickly.
'If he is part of our family, then I will be able to protect him.'
Raze lifted his hand up and looked at the flower in his hand.
"This flower, is it okay if I keep it?" Raze asked.
"Ah, the flower, of course you can," Rayna replied.
"Thank you," Raze said, and with that, the flower went into his robe, disappearing from his sight. While Rayna was left a little confused.
Raze didn't even know who she was, so he didn't even know what she could ask of her. It wasn't that he was letting her off; if he knew of her status, he would have at least asked for some technique books or some gold. Instead, he was just focused on the flower for now, the main reason why he had come here.
Turning around, it felt like it had been a long, tiring day for Raze, and meeting the mage, it brought up memories for him, not good ones either.
Just as Raze was ready to head back, Alba, along with the rest of the eight Crimson Crane members, stood in his way.
"Dark Magus!" Alba shouted in a loud, booming voice. "Today we fought together side by side as allies! Without your help, without your pills and your strange powers, we would have lost our lives.
"Now, there exists a bond between us that will always be there!"
When speaking, Alba was quite upbeat, and the smile had never left her face.
"We are the legendary Crimson Crane, and after today's events, you leave me no choice. I wish to invite you to officially join the Clan as a member!"