Before completely leaving the portal area, Raze did one more clearance of beasts on his route back and managed to catch another two beasts. These worlds to other dimensions were quite strange.
As long as one waited a certain amount of time, it was almost as if new creatures would pop up again in the same place, somewhat similar to those games, but he didn't have all day to grind in one area.
There would be people who would start to worry about him, and he didn't have the right tools to camp all night in another dimension in the first place. In total, this meant he now had 14 crystals and headed back to his own world with a smile on his face.
The portal had zapped away, leaving next to nothing behind, and a few moments later, Dame walked down the stairs and was heading down the pathway that led to the forest along with the others.
"What was that thing he was doing with his finger?" Fixteen asked.
"Yeah, is that what opened the portal, how is that even possible?" Carlson said, who had run over to where they had last seen the Dark Magus. He looked on the floor, stretched his hand out in front of him, but was unable to feel anything.
"It's clear that wherever he is from, they can enter and leave these dimensions as they wish," Dame said. "The more I learn about this man, the more excited I'm starting to feel."
"Hey, I mean, if we get really close to him, do you think we could enter the portal with him?" Kirk asked. "I mean, he's from another world, right? So on the other side of the portal, that's a world with people that are like him, right? Don't you think that would be amazing to see?"
"Or incredibly dangerous," Dame replied instantly. He had thought about the same thing the moment he believed the Dark Magus was from another world. Even in the world of Pagna, clans, factions, and people fought against each other.
If two groups of people who knew nothing about each other were to meet, he could imagine a grand war playing out. It was just what happened when one was fearful of the other.
"Don't try anything stupid like following him; it will break our relationship, and this is a warning to you all!"
Dame and his group had returned to the Abyssal Pinnacle, the inverted mountain and the base of the Neverfall Clan. Descending down the stairs, Dame had passed the first floors and then had entered one of the caves of meditation.
There were countless numbers of large holes in the walls for the members to perform secluded training if need be. When one entered the cave, they were meant to move a large rock to block the entrance.
This would allow one to know that one of these rooms was being used. Closest to the staircase, there was one cave's entrance that had been closed, but regardless, Dame moved the large rock out of the way with his strength and entered with his group before closing it again.
This was because this was Dame's personal room. At least that's what he had claimed it as. Regardless if someone was inside or not, he would close the entrance so no one entered, and word quickly got around that it was his cave and no one else was to use it.
Inside the cave, it was not what a typical cave of seclusion should have looked like. There were several beds, a desk in the back with books stacked high, and even a few sparkly items, gems, and so on.
The cave had been turned into a second home of all things. Dame walked over and sat on the bed, looking at the bottle of blue liquid he had been given.
"What are you going to do with it?" Fixteen asked. "Are you going to try it out for yourself?"
"I just think that would be a waste," Dame replied. "I mean, if it really does what he said it does, then can't we gain some benefit from this? We could even sell it for a lot of coin."
The other members were already rubbing their hands as they started to imagine what they could buy.
"So you want to give it to the master?" Fixteen raised an eyebrow.
"No," Dame answered. "If we did that, then he would be asking all sorts of questions about the Dark Magus, and then we would no longer be able to benefit from all of this. Heck, we might not even be allowed to use the portals anymore."
"You mean the portals we weren't allowed to use in the first place?" Fixteen corrected him.
"Hey, you know, I heard that the Crimson Crane were in Repton. It's the closest city to us. Didn't you say you were close with their leader Alba, couldn't you go see them?"
Dame stood up and clicked his fingers. "That's perfect!"
The Crimson Crane were a unique clan, if one could even call them that. They were small in size, having only a total of eight members. Yet they had power just as strong as the other clans, which proved just how strong they were on an individual scale.
Another thing that stood out about the Crimson Crane compared to other groups was that they were wanderers. Wanderers were those that cultivated in martial arts that didn't belong to any of the three factions, so they weren't seen as a part of the three.
They were safely able to travel to all three areas, being respected by them all. It also was hard for people to get a hold of them if need be, since they would constantly move from area to area doing mercenary jobs.
"Alright, let's head out there fast and see just what we can get for this thing!" Dame held up the bottle. "Let's see if we can get a big reward for the Dark Magus!"
As this was happening, Raze had exited from the portal, and instead of heading back to the temple where the eyes of the others were on him, he had decided to head to a more peaceful area.
He had reached a bed of rocks that led to a stream of running water. It felt like the perfect place for him to focus and calm his mind.
"Alright, let's break through and become a 2-star mage!"