Dark Magus Returns

Raze stared at the sight in front of him; the energy from his large-scale attack had dwindled down to nothing. The sand on the ground had disappeared. The mounds in the distance were gone. All that was left was part of the ground, deep thick sandstone. The sky was still there in front of him and in the very far distance, mounds of sand.

Still, there wasn't a single person left, or a single body, and looking at it all, he could only think of a certain phrase.

"Eston, you were strong, but you were unaware, the sky that you always looked up to, that which was above you, the Grand Magus, there is another sky even above them.

"Although in my case, for me who was dragged to the bottom of the pits and always had to stare at the sky. I will drag everyone down below me, so my view is that of the top."

These words meant a lot to Raze, and in this instance, it felt like it was the first part of his revenge. Eston played a big part in Idore's Noble Guild. He wasn't his right or left-hand man, but still someone high up in the Noble Guild. If anything, this matter certainly would affect him.

Looking at the sword again, Raze liked the energy he could feel. It was a good sword, even with all of his Demonic Qi and his mana, the sword was still intact and it was able to even increase the output of his attack.

'It makes me wonder what it will be like once it's enchanted with a new effect as well. This is a sword that will be able to last me a long time… maybe even one that will help me accomplish what I was wishing for.'

Looking at the sword made him think back to the fight. The reason why he was able to accomplish such a strong blow, all of it was mainly due to him completing the Ten Descending Steps.

'Dame wasn't wrong when he said, those that could master all of the ten steps would be able to beat anyone. This might even be proof of it.'

For a while now, Raze was able to perform the last two steps, the 9th and 10th, but he was only able to perform them individually.

For him, who was a master of controlling mana, when it came to controlling Qi, due to the feelings being quite similar, he was also a master at that as well.

That was what allowed him to learn so many of the steps so quickly. A technique that would take years to learn or only by the very talented to complete, Raze was able to do it because he had spent all his previous life doing such a thing.

However, Qi and mana were not exactly the same, and it was difficult for him to connect the last two steps, that was until Raze started to refine his Qi down even more.

In the state he was in placed by Feebie, he had no choice but to control each time the perfect amount of Qi he was sending through his body, otherwise it would affect himself.

After learning how to use every inch of power from Qi to its utmost best, after Safa had healed him, it allowed him greater control, enough to complete all ten of the steps.

'My power has grown by a large amount. That woman would be rolling around in her grave if she knew how much she actually helped me.

'I said I would turn your punishment into a reward for myself.'

Turning around from the destruction he had caused in front of him, now he was heading back to the others.

The Crimson Crane members couldn't help but try to piece together everything that happened. They continued to stare at the aftermath of his attack.

It was something they could only imagine would come from a top-tier middle stage warrior, or a Divine being. More so, they were still confused.

Mysterious attackers coming from a portal, with powers similar to that of the Dark Magus, and once they had learned of who the Dark Magus was, they just went and vanished.

There were too many questions, and they weren't so sure they would get answers either.

However, there was one thing that they all had witnessed that they did understand, and that was the Ten Descending Steps.

"That footwork he did before the last attack." Alba mumbled. "Do you know how hard it is to complete all ten Descending Steps? I don't think that there's anyone in the Demonic Faction that can do such a thing. All those that can must be at the Divine Rank."

"I think you're right." Reno said. "And this guy, he's still at the initial stage and has those strange powers. As I said before, he really is someone special, right?"

The rest of the Crimson Crane had come together. They were trying to check if anyone was severely hurt.

The one that had been affected the most was Tilon, but it was expected with his fate being that of the defender for the Clan.

As they were in the middle of checking over everyone, they finally saw Raze approach them. For some reason, everyone felt different about him now.

The Dark Magus was a mysterious figure to them all, shrouded in mystery, but there was one thing that they were confident about.

That they, as a clan, with their strength and reputation they built up, were a bigger deal than the Dark Magus.

It was why some of them even felt that they were doing too much for the Dark Magus. That was until now. The figure looked bigger than ever, and they no longer thought of him as just a young man.

"Thank you for making this weapon for me." Raze stated. "It held out well, and I have to thank you all for protecting me while I was in the state I was in as well."

With the first words from Raze's mind being thanks, the tension left them slightly, but he was still curious about a number of things.

Looking up, Raze could see the sky swirling around, almost absorbing the world that they were currently in. It wasn't the first time he had seen something like this either.

"Why were those mages attacking you? What happened after I had passed out?" Raze asked.

It was the first time the others had heard this word, the word 'mage,' but they knew who he was referring to, and it was as Alba suspected, he knew what they were because he was just like them.

"If you're wondering, your friends at the academy have escaped out of this place, but for us, we're kinda trapped in here," Alba explained. "Everything started to change after the Dimension Boss was beaten."

"The portal was closed, and before we knew it, they had entered."

Everything so far was following the same pattern that Raze expected. Somehow, the mages of Alterian must have found a way to enter dimensions that were closed to the world of Pagna.

This fact must have been hidden by Idore and his guild and the larger society of Alterian as a whole. Since it would give him an advantage.

"But why would you stay here if you defeated the Dimension Boss?" Raze asked, confused.

That's when the rest of the Crimson Crane members stared at a particular man who was brushing sand off his clothing.

"I think you and I have quite a bit to talk about. Perhaps that includes your status as a student at the academy," Amir said.