Chapter 276: Out of the Cavern

Raze needed to remember to bring back food for all the others, as it was part of the plan to win the students over to his side. However, with his current robe at the level it was, he couldn't bring in enough, apart from a few rations here and there. So he decided that while he was away, he would upgrade a few of his own equipment as well. He had been focusing on others for a while, and it wasn't just weapons that could improve one's strength.

He didn't know how long he would be away or their situation, but with Dame, he was sure the others would remain safe, as long as more leaders didn't get involved.

Right now, Raze was preparing as he drew a magic circle on the ground of his seclusion room. Safa was keeping watch in one direction, while Simyon was keeping watch in the other. Lastly, Dame was standing by the doorway of the room itself.

"So, I know you have a way to get out of here, but have you figured out a way back?" Dame asked.

"Don't worry, I have it all sorted. I'll be returning right here when the time is right. My guess is it might be a week or so."

"A week!" Dame coughed, quite surprised. But considering almost one had already passed, it was no real surprise to think that the assessment wouldn't end for another three, or at least two more weeks since the last week would involve some display of results.

"You said to wait for the perfect time, right? By then, I think everyone will be in a desperate situation to dispose of the leaders. When I bring food back, we'll see how they will act. Either they will see me as their savior or as a vicious hoarder who should have helped them out sooner."

Raze was currently making a magic circle that would send him to the first dimension he had arrived at when he first got there. It was the same type of magic circle; wherever it was drawn, it would lead him to a different place in the other dimension. That wasn't too much of a problem because to return, he just needed to make note of where he had drawn the magic circle and create the same magic circle in the same position as before to return to the underground cavern.

"I trust that you will come up with good excuses if people come looking for me," Raze said. He was done with the magic circle and stood up, already having pulled out a power stone.

"I'll just say you're in the Dark Space; no one can confirm or deny since no one can see anything anyway. Besides, after what happened last time, I doubt anyone would want to go in there if they know you're in there," Dame explained.

With that, the power stone was dropped, and the magic circle lit up. The portal opened, and Raze had finally escaped from the underground assessment area.

The portal zapped up from behind, and Raze found his feet planted on the hard, dark cobblestone flooring. This time, rather than on the side of the giant wall-like structure, he found himself inside one of the cities. He had appeared in the streets with crumbled, fallen-down buildings on his side and the large wall off in the distance.

The scenery around him confirmed that he was in the right dimension, but there was something significantly different compared to the last time. When looking at the sky, instead of dark grey clouds, it was a mix of light swirling blues all going up towards the sky. It set a large glow to the area, slowly swirling like a cloud. There were some objects like bricks and sorts that looked to be pulling objects towards them like a type of black hole.

"The change in the area... is that because the dimensional boss was defeated?" Raze thought to himself.

He remembered Dame mentioning that in order to stop conflicts between the Light Faction and Demonic Faction, the portal that had originally been opened to this place was closed. The only way for this to happen was for the dimensional boss to have been defeated, and it was defeated by none other than Beatrix.

The thing was, the portals that Raze knew about from Alterian and the portals from Pagna seemed to be different. For one, portals didn't stay open, nor did things like portal breaks occur from them. They also didn't run into figures like that of a dimensional boss and were able to still open portals to such places. So for Raze, this was a first, entering a portal after the so-called dimensional boss was defeated. In theory, it was a place that could no longer be accessed by those from Pagna, but with Raze's skills, they were possible.

"After the dimension boss is defeated, there is also a lack of beasts here. They were only level one power stone type beasts in the first place, so there won't be much to get from here. Let's just make a note of where I am and get out of here."

Making note of the street, Raze could see up ahead there was an old-fashioned device that had a bucket at the top. It was made of bricks and a large circle at the bottom. When he went toward it, he could smell a sense of dampness. It was quite clear that it was a device used to draw water from underground with the bucket. Another sign that at one point, these dimensions that they entered had signs of life in them.

From the water drawing device, Raze counted several paces back as he placed one foot after the other. He had to be precise when he measured this since it would allow him to return to the seclusion room.

"I wonder if I made the magic circle slightly off; would I then be stuck in a wall, or perhaps just appear underground completely and suffocate?"

It was safe to say it was something that Raze didn't want to experiment with. After retracing his steps, he had the perfect location of where he needed to be, and now it was time to get out of here.

Walking away, he summoned the chalk into his hand, ready to draw up the circle.

"Stop!" a voice shouted.

'A human voice? That shouldn't be. There should be no one here; it shouldn't be possible for someone to come here!' Raze thought in his head.

He soon turned around and could see a hooded man standing there, his arm extended out. He was wearing white-colored robes with gold inlay. On the top of his head, there was a large 'I' icon in gold.

"You do not bear the same clothes as us. State who you are and your purpose for being here!" the voice shouted again.

Immediately, Raze was grinding his back teeth as he looked at the hooded figure. The way his arm was extended out pointed at him, even though they were standing a distance away. His light-clothed clothing was easily recognizable, and it flowed even though there was next to no breeze.

'It's a mage... and what are they doing in a place like this?'