Dark Magus Returns

Getting out of the cart, Rayna, Anna, Fixteen, and Raze were all left on the edge of the town to assess their new environment.

Belil had barely said a few words to them and they didn't even have time to take in what they were looking at before he spoke.

"Enjoy my gift well, and when I need you I will come find you," Belil said, offering only those few words before getting back in the carriage and swiftly leaving.

The carriage that had brought Raze and the others didn't linger either. The driver quickly snapped the reins on his horses and continuously looked behind his back as he left in the distance.

"This is interesting," Rayna said, trying to keep upbeat about the situation.

Anna bent down and dragged her fingers through the hard ground. "This place is not good," Anna stated.

"This place now belongs to you, and it's not a place that you can just abandon," Fixteen hurriedly said, a little worried about the reaction because even Fixteen didn't think it would be that bad.

"The ground, it's hard to grow any crops at all. The terrain, it's essentially a dry desert and there doesn't seem to be anything in sight, nearly all of the land is flat around the area, and it's in the middle of nowhere," Anna continued to elaborate.

"If this town was to get attacked, then there would be no cover due to how out in the open they are."

The more Anna spoke, the more Fixteen was getting worried. Although Raze could do as he wished, abandoning such a place would put him in the bad books of not just the Neverfall Clan, but also the Demonic Faction as a whole.

"It's not that bad," Raze said, walking forward. He wasn't lying either. Compared to the conditions in the lower world back on Alterian, this wasn't too bad. "Let's have a look at the area first and see what we have to deal with."

The town of Flendon was originally built next to a rather large lake. At one point the town was quite prosperous and was known for its beauty.

Many would come to the town just to visit the lake. However, for some reason, rain started to never fall on the town of Flendon.

It no longer was a vibrant tourist city, and they struggled to even create any produce. The people that lived there were those that were originally born in Flendon, and were too poor to move.

They made do by working on passing carts, mostly manual labor for others. Once in a while, the workforce would even have to leave on expeditions to help work when other cities needed more help, then they would bring the income back to the town.

That was all they were good for as a workforce. At the same time, the other cities took advantage of them, never giving them enough coin to save up and move out.

At the same time, since they were a labor-intensive workforce, they couldn't just leave their families behind, although some of them did.

The town itself had several buildings mostly built in a crescent shape that was originally once around the lake.

The buildings were primarily made of wood, but they were run down with destroyed roofs, and such. They were tightly packed together with narrow alleys, but large walking paths.

At the edge of what used to be the lake, there was a house that was two stories taller than the others, it was wide in size, and colored with a bright oak on the outside.

However, just like all of the other places, it was rundown. When arriving at the large building, an old man wearing glasses, frail, was there to greet them with two others.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, DM!" The man said bowing down. He coughed a couple of times as he lifted his head. "The Neverfall Clan has instructed us that you will be setting up a warrior base in this town.

"It will be a pleasure to have you, I am Mayor Yarlston."

"What happened here?" Raze asked.

The mayor went on to explain how his duty was to report to the central government of the kingdom that resided in the Demonic Faction.

He was part of the general populace, but due to his position, he worked quite closely between the clan's warriors that would reside here and the people.

Unfortunately, when the Flesh Clan had moved out to attack the Dark Faction, the unruly people who weren't Pagna warriors who had a bit more strength than others started to cause a mess, and they were powerless to help them.

Raze did remember, stating that the general Kingdoms and Empires liked the Warrior clan's because at times they would act as a type of force or army that could stop the general public from getting into trouble as well.

Heading inside following Yarlston, they learned the state of the entire city. Yarlston stated that there were a group of buildings that the clan had used but not an actual base.

Still, it would be a place for them to sleep. He also told them everything about the town and how they would receive their income and the bright history of the place.

The group were in a meeting room, where a large map of the town had been pinned. It also revealed the location of the Portal which was behind the town.

However, the good thing was there were no other clans behind them, apart from the territory of the Light Faction but that was far in the distance.

Meaning if anyone was to attack them, at least it would be from the front.

"What did Belil exactly plan for the two of you to do in this town?" Anna asked. "From the looks of things, he has sent you to a town with no prospects of growth."

"At the same time, the mayor has even stated, no wanderers venture to this area unless they are lost or stranded. There are no longer any members left of the Flesh Clan here either."

"For you two to establish a place in the Demonic Faction, it would be easier for the two of you to venture and take over another clan."

Rayna didn't say anything back to Anna, as she usually would have done, but she had to admit she was right. Why did her father give her this gift, and then separate the two of them from the clan?

"Maybe that is an option," Fixteen said with his finger on his chin. "I have to admit, at some point, Sha Mo will come and attack you. That's if he's not on his way here right now. With everything here, maybe your father is trying to tell you when is a time to retreat and give up as well."

Rayna was thinking about it for a while, that was until Raze was the one that had spoken up.

"Fixteen, do you have some funds, the money from DM?" Raze asked.

Fixteen nodded.

"I do but some still needs to be collected, and we don't have an extremely large amount, you haven't made anything in a while."

"First, use whatever we have to buy the people some food, and buy ingredients to make more pills. People should never have to feel hungry if there is plenty of food to go around. Use the money of the Dark Magus and let's turn this town around." Raze said with a smile and a plan in his head.