Dark Magus Returns

"I know you have your magic and your Pagna martial arts, but there are certain situations where that can be more handy than either of them," Himmy said as he handed over the weapon. "It might be tricky the first time you use it. It's loud, and the weapon will kick back. Also, it will be hard to aim if you don't practice with it, but you don't have time for that.

"Some people in my world would say I'm irresponsible for handing you such a thing without showing you how to really use it, but you're a quick learner, I guess. You've seen how I use it."

Just then, Himmy pointed out with the weapon and went through a few of the basics, as he went through the last step of pulling the trigger.

"This weapon can help save many lives, but it can also take many as well, and don't go showing it around or using it willingly. You're in the Dark Faction now, so some people will know what that thing is, especially the Bonum Society."

Raze placed the item away in his blazer using its magical properties. Although he knew it was strong, he couldn't imagine it being better than his magic and Qi, but what he did think would come in handy was as a last resort.

There were times when maybe he would run out of Qi and Magic. If that was the case, then he would still have the powerful weapon to rely on.

There was a linger in the air of a particular word though, the Bonum Society. According to Alter, they were looking for a god-tier item, but as to what it could do, he didn't know.

He wondered if Bonum wanted to summon these Divine beings down as well, or was it something else. For now, there was still too much information he didn't know.

The group continued to walk through the city, and Raze kept his eyes on the warriors that were scattered about. They would walk past as if doing protocols or head area to area doing tasks.

The sound of them training in particular sections of the city would be heard once in a while as well, and Raze could recognize some of the techniques being used since many of them had been used against him.

"You look different compared to before," Charlotte commented. "Your eyes, they seem to have aged quite a bit. They're deep. I know it sounds crazy since it hasn't been that long since I last saw you, but you just look different."

Charlotte was staring at Raze quite a bit, and he certainly was different compared to before. He was walking more upright, he was more comfortable, and he even seemed confident.

All of these traits were something that she had noticed before in him, but they were just amplified this time.

"And also, your Blazer, it's a magical Blazer, right!" Charlotte said, quite pleased. "I can sense its power. Did you enchant it yourself?"

For a moment, Raze was going to deny it. This was not his handy work, and claiming that he had done something himself when the talented mage wouldn't get credit was against his morals and something he didn't want to do.

So he decided he would just say yes, but when opening his mouth, the words just wouldn't come out.

"The Blazer is enchanted," Raze finally answered. "A lot of things seemed to have happened between the times we saw each other."

Leaving it at that, the group continued to walk until they had reached a large stained glass building. It looked similar to the one that Raze had first entered when the clans were sorting out the wanderers and others into groups.

Upon entering inside, the area was incredibly large. The floor was paved with marble inscribed with names, and large paintings could be seen above.

There were benches that spanned across the center of the room with people who were in prayer.

"Are you sure we're in the right place?" Charlotte whispered. It was so quiet inside she was afraid to even make a noise. Noticing this, Raze immediately cast a silent spell around them.

"You can speak freely; they won't be able to hear us," Raze informed them.

Himmy was quite surprised by this and almost looked at Charlotte, wondering why she hadn't done such a thing. There were times when such a spell would have come in handy.

"This is definitely the right place," Anna informed them. "The Alter group had originally stayed at an Inn, but then moved their base of operations to this building. There are many people that believe in the Sun God Rylon, so they come here to pray for good fortune and good weather for their crops.

"The building houses the workers of the Rylon Religion, and it also was where the Alter group stayed, until their death."

Walking around, Himmy was looking for a particular person to talk to. The Rylon workers were covered head to toe in a bright yellow robe, but judging by how they were talking and doing their work diligently, they weren't the right people to talk to.

But that's when he could see a disgruntled cleaner. A man who was mopping the marble floor, an ordinary citizen just trying to make his way.

Himmy had approached him with his tall self towering over the man, who gulped just at the sight of him.

"I wanted to know, around a week ago, last Friday it would have been, we heard that there was an incident that had occurred here, do you mind speaking about it?" Himmy asked.

The man somewhat ignored Himmy as he moved to the side and continued to mop the ground.

"A lot of things happen in this place. Things happen every day, scuffles, people enter running away from other people. There is gossip, and even theft; you will have to be more specific than that," the man said as he continued his work.

"What I'm talking about is an incident that perhaps wouldn't happen in this facility every day. A group of five people, all of them dying in the room that they were staying in," Himmy said, pressing hard.

For a moment, the man had stopped mopping completely, frozen in place, and then he continued working on the floor. That small moment was all he needed to know that the man knew something.

"I don't suppose that we could have a look at that room, can we?" Himmy asked. "Or if you are inclined to give us more details about what took place."

"I know nothing," the man said. "I'm just a simple cleaner, and as for getting into those rooms, you can forget about it. Only staff of the facility and those who get permission from the Meisters can enter."

"Meisters?" Raze asked.

"Meisters are the head of the religious organization in certain areas, or this building in particular," Anna answered.

"Look, you should know as well as I do that they're not going to speak to us," Himmy said. "So can't you do us a favor?"

From his hand, Himmy had a single silver coin and was trying to hand it over to the man, but he turned his head and continued to work.

"Wait, if the others managed to stay here, why can't we do the same?" Charlotte whispered.

They took a step back, leaving Himmy to deal with the negotiation in all of this, but Charlotte was never sure of Himmy's actions.

"Because we don't know who is involved. It could be the religious group, the clan that is currently here, or anything. Even small individuals, so we need to be careful and make sure as few people as possible know we're investigating," Anna explained.

The group waited for a while as Himmy was trying every trick in the book to get the cleaner on his side. He was also thinking about giving up and trying on another target, but there was one thing about Himmy that made him a great and a horrible detective: it was his stubbornness.

He wanted to convince this man no matter what, and that's when Raze had enough. He took a step forward and approached the two that were still talking.

He then extended out his hand.

"Will this be enough for you to take us to where they were staying?" Raze asked.

When opening up his hand, Raze had a golden coin on show, and the man's eyes lit up instantly.