Although Raze and Reno had originally gone out with the purpose of obtaining a special flower that was more powerful than those he used in his own creations, he didn't bat an eyelid when Raze had taken possibly the most powerful flower and said nothing.
Reno had assumed that Raze didn't care for the other flowers they had gathered so far. It seemed like there was an objective on his mind. In the first place, they were also only searching for the flowers to create a pill as good as the Dark Magus, but now they had found the Dark Magus himself.
Rushing off, Raze had headed in a different direction from the Crimson Crane members. They had made their offer, and in response, Raze had given a simple reply.
"I'll think about it."
This was his answer, and for them, this was good enough for now. With their connection to Dame and him now owing them one, she was sure that she would be able to find the Dark Magus when she needed him.
On the way back, Raze was thinking about the advantages of joining a group like the Crimson Crane.
'As a no name, the body that I arrived in has no relation to any clan,' Raze thought. 'It wouldn't disrupt my status in the Dark Faction academy either, since to the world, Raze Cromwell and the Dark Magus are two different people.'
'So the Dark Magus is free to join whoever he wished, but I planned to start my own merchant group selling Qi pills, not to join a clan.'
It was a difficult choice, and the main reason was the level of trust. He was sure that the Clan had their own reasons for inviting him on board, but when push came to shove, how could he trust them?
He didn't even know much about the clan apart from the fact that they were wanderers and were quite well known. One thing for sure was that they had managed to prove their strength in that fight as well.
'The Dark Magus is most likely to become a known name soon, either already, or when we start selling the pills. At that point, those in Alter will be after the Dark Magus. Judging from the fight with the Light Faction Elder, I might not be strong enough to deal with them if they come after me.'
"But I can always go off the radar and lay low in the academy in the meantime."
There was one more thing Raze was worried about now, though, and that was those around him.
Entering the city of Repton, it didn't take long for Raze to return, and when he entered the room, Liam, Safa, and Simyon were all there waiting for him. They looked surprised to see him and happy at the same time.
"Raze, where did you go?! Do you know who's looking for you, the people from the Crimson Crane!" Simyon said. "I don't know what you did, but they said they were looking for this Dark Magus person and... and..."
"It's okay," Raze said as he went to sit down. "I met up with them, and as for the Dark Magus person, I guess by what you just said, you figured it out, they were looking for me."
The others were wondering why the legendary Clan would have come looking for him. They all turned to each other, and they were somewhat waiting for Raze to be the one to speak up, but he said nothing.
'Them learning about today... will it do them any good?' Raze thought.
After lying down just for a few moments, Raze lifted his head up.
"Where's Dame? I thought he would have come looking for me as well."
"Oh, Dame," Liam said, looking out the window as if he was trying to see if he could spot him. "He actually left a short while before you returned. Some guy called Fixteen had come for him. He said not to go back without him, though, and that he would return."
Going to the corner, Raze pulled out the items that he had gotten before. The red necklace, the pair of golden earrings, and the black gloves.
'These guys, they've been with me for a while now,' Raze thought. 'They even came to the Demonic Faction and caused so much trouble, but they have gotten quite involved in mine and Dame's business.'
The first thing Raze did was place the ring on the floor and started to draw away. Based on the amount of magic that had already been used during Raze and Nabi's fight, he thought enchanting an item wouldn't be enough to open a portal.
It was only because the last two items were at the mythical level, the statue, and the earring that Simyon had, that a portal had opened up.
'First, I need to create a ring for my Ice attribute. If I manage to get a stage three crystal and a well enough-made weapon, then maybe I can get a ring that will display all of the attributes.'
For now, though, Raze just created the ice attribute ring. It had done him well in the fight, so he wanted to increase its affinity if possible. When all ingredients were used up, Raze placed it on his hand, and he could finally have an idea of his strength.
Looking at them, he couldn't help but chuckle.
'In the past, it took so much for me to increase my Dark attribute. I guess having a Dark core really does help.'
Soon after, Raze placed another item on the ground, and then he looked up at the three. He pointed to the beds, somewhat telling them to sit down, as if he was a teacher in front of a class of school children.
"None of you have magic like me, and because of it, I have been able to protect myself," Raze explained. "Since you know about me and are involved around me, it is likely that trouble will follow you."
"As trouble has followed me for my entire life. It is a byproduct of my luck. Since it is not entirely your fault that you might get into trouble, I have decided to increase your strength in the quickest way possible, and that is by making both you, Liam, and you, Simyon, items that you can use.
"I don't think I have to tell you that these items should be kept a secret and only be used if your life depends on it. As for you, Safa, I told you before, I think the best thing would be to teach you magic directly."
Both Simyon and Liam both nearly sulked upon hearing that. After seeing the things Raze could do, they too wanted to learn magic. Why was Raze so against teaching them, and why was he willing to teach Safa so much?
From his sleeve, Raze pulled out the five-headed white flower. Originally, he was going to get the light attribute for himself, but since his Dark Attribute was already so strong, he would have needed something a lot more powerful than this to activate it in his core.
Still, it would be enough to help Safa, and then she would have to try to use her own powers to heal her throat so she could speak again.
"Before you accept these items, though, I need to tell you all something," Raze said. "The reason why trouble follows me everywhere and the reason why I am known as the Dark Magus.
"If you accept everything I am about to tell you, then I will continue to help you."
Raze looked deep into all of their eyes. He was thinking again, was he making a mistake? He had trusted people in the past. He had been betrayed once, but honestly, he didn't care about the betrayal in his past too much.
Because there was another time, just like what he was doing now, where he had accepted people into his life, accepted people to help him, to stand by his side even when he was the Dark Magus, but he had lost them all.
Was he just repeating the past again? Was he committing to the path of sorrow once more? When his eyes laid on Safa, they stayed still for a moment.
"Safa... I am not your brother."