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nThinking about the prospect of teaching another person magic was quite interesting to Raze, but as he thought about it more, he realized there were larger problems to consider. While he was the only one who knew his secret, he could control himself. Who knew how others would react if they learned of magic, especially since right now even someone at the top of the initial stage would be able to best him in a fight like Beatrix, and there were plenty above that.

nThis also brought up the initial trust factor. If Raze suddenly taught her magic, wouldn’t she ask questions? And if she eventually found out that Raze wasn’t her real brother, there was a chance of betrayal, something he had already experienced too much in his previous life.

n“On top of that, for some reason, the Clan leader’s words keep hitting me in the head. I have no idea if this body had betrayed his own family or not? If it is the case, then it would have meant the original owner of this body would have wanted Safa dead as well.”

nThis was a long shot because he wondered why his body would react a certain way when looking at his sister if that was the case. But there was another possibility.

n“Safa survived that day as well. If the Clan leader’s suspicion is on point, then there is a good chance that day, everyone was meant to die in the family apart from Safa, and there was a chance that she could be the one that plotted to kill her own family.”

nFor now, he couldn’t do anything rash until he solved those problems. Eventually, Sonny and Kron had returned to the room, both of them with half-hearted smiles. They didn’t know what was the best face to have in this type of situation; not many people did.

n“Raze, there is some business I have with the Red Brigade while I am here,” Kron stated. “Sonny will be staying here with your sister. So I wanted to ask if you wished to come with me or stay here until we head back?”

nStanding up from the floor, it looked like Raze had made a decision, but he actually had something else in mind. “Can I explore the town on my own?” Raze asked.

n“But, Raze, we can’t do that, you know that there are people after you?” Sonny said.

n“I know,” Raze clenched his fist. “But can’t I make my own decisions? I mean, you guys are going to let me go after a year anyway, right? If I can’t protect myself now, then how is it going to be different in a year’s time?

n“Besides, I want to live and explore my life a bit. Say I turn sixteen, leave the temple, and get stabbed in the back. Or let’s say I stay at the temple, and something like what happened to Safa happens to me, only that I end up dead.

n“So I get to live a few days more but trapped in a temple of all things? Look, I know you guys have done a lot, protecting Safa, but I’m my own person; you don’t need to babysit me.”

nBoth Kron and Sonny looked at each other; they knew Raze was making sound arguments.

n“You’re right,” Kron said. “You can make your own decisions. We can only advise you on your journey. You know, Raze, you sound more and more like a Pagna warrior by the day. We will leave together when the sun starts to set.

n“If you travel in the city, stay in crowded places, and try to always be within a hundred meters of a clan member if possible. They will help you out if need be.”

nThe convincing was a lot easier than Raze thought, and he was thankful for that. Otherwise, for him to progress, he would have had to consider leaving the temple and trying to find a new place of shelter.

nAfter leaving the physician’s place, Raze walked around outside for a while. He was passing most of the shops, having a peek here and there, but he was mostly trying to check and see if there was anyone following him.

n“It wouldn’t be much of a surprise for them to have put someone on me,” Raze thought. “It’s a good way for them to catch their target as well if they needed to, but it seemed like the two of them were too busy involved in their own things to do that.” It was good news for Raze.

nHeading all over the place, Raze had eventually stopped outside a shop with barrels outside. It was filled with all sorts of different equipment, old machinery, sewing kits, and even had weapons here and there.

nPeople were coming in and out with items and coming out with Coin.

n“This is it,” Raze said, his hands on his side. “A pawn shop. These are the type of places that have connections. Since nowhere is selling Beast crystals, it’s most likely an item that not everyone can find a buyer for, but a pawn shop has to have contacts with experts from all over the place. 𝒪𝒱𝗅xt.𝗇𝓔t

n“Not only that, but pawn shop people are complete scum. They’re always trying to undervalue the worth of one’s items and might even claim that some items are fake, yet still buy it off you. These are the type of people I need.”

nRaze waited until he could see that the shop was empty. Since the town wasn’t full of people in the first place, the shop would have around one customer or so every hour. Entering through the front door, the shop was even more disorganized on the inside.

nThere were helmets hung up on the wall with pieces of armor, jewels placed in cabinets and tables on the side. On the other side, was a man who had a pear-shaped body, a small top but a large belly and bottom.

nHe had his trousers up fairly high just above his belly button and a long winding mustache. He actually stood out quite a bit among the other people who Raze had seen so far.

n“I don’t deal with time wasters here; if you have no money or nothing of value, then shoo!” the man said.

nRaze wasn’t offended, based on his basic temple clothing and his age. Most people would be considered time wasters. With a smile on his face, he glanced back behind him to make sure no one else was inside the shop. Then, pulling out a crystal from his hand, he placed it down on the counter. A clinking noise was made as the crystal hit the glass.

n“Hey, if you damage my shop, you’re paying for it even if I need to use your body!” The man shouted, and his mouth soon opened wide as his eyes sparkled, and his head tilted back.

n“Is that a… a power stone?” The man said in amazement.

n‘Power stone?’ Raze thought. ‘In his world, they called them beast crystals, but he supposed it was quite normal for other places to have different names for these things.’

n“It is,” Raze confidently answered. “I’m looking to sell this, and believe me, I know its worth, so don’t try to scam me with this. If you do, my boss will be very upset.”

nIt would be hard to believe that a non-Pagna warrior and a person so young had gotten their hands on this ‘power stone.’ So Raze had come up with a backstory that would hopefully make sure the man didn’t try anything.

nHe had brought out a magnifying glass and was looking at the crystal carefully. “Are you sure you know its worth, kid?” The man replied. “If you did, you wouldn’t have brought it to a place like this, and your ‘boss'” The man made bunny ears with his fingers saying this word. “Wouldn’t have sent you here of all places.

n“In a small town like this, there are only two things you can do. You can have it sent off to an auction, but they will take a percentage of your earnings. Having just one isn’t worth your time. Or you would have to have a connection with the clans to try and sell something like this.”

nNow it made sense why no one was publicly selling power crystals. Sonny had explained how the crystals could be used to make Qi pills, so only the Pagna warriors had a use for them, and it was far too small for a town for the rich merchants to look for power crystals here, especially a clan that didn’t even own a portal.

n“I’ll tell you what, kid. I know someone who will buy this from you. Let me just give him a call, and he’ll be here in a moment. You don’t mind waiting, do you?” the man asked.

nWith no other solution, Raze nodded, and he took the crystal off the counter before the man could take it away. The two looked at each other in the eye for a moment, while the man went out the back.

n‘Wait a moment, call? Do they have phones here? This place really is a mix of technology, isn’t it? I guess it will be a landline-like service, though, rather than a mobile. Probably only a few places have one; not even Kron has one at the temple.’ Raze thought.

nAfter waiting a few minutes, the door opened, and a large-headed, bald man had entered. He was wearing a sleeveless shirt that showed the outside of his large muscular arms, and he was around six feet tall.

n‘I don’t have a good feeling about this,’ Raze thought.

nAs soon as the man had entered, he had closed the door and pushed in a button on the handle. A clicking sound was heard, and a large smile appeared on his face.

n“Kid, why don’t you take this as a free lesson,” the pawn shop owner said. “I don’t know where you found that power stone from, but having something so valuable in your hands is just going to make you a target.”

nRaze stood there in the center, his fists shaking. ‘I thought something like this could happen. It was a variable you always considered, Raze; just take a deep breath.’

nAfter taking a deep breath, Raze opened his mouth. “Just let me walk back out that door, with the crystals in my hand, and no one has to get hurt.”

nThe large man and the shop owner just started to laugh. The large man immediately rushed over and grabbed Raze up by the collar, lifting him up in the air.

n“Hand the crystals over now!” he shouted.

nHis body sunken, not saying a word, Raze lifted his hand and opened his palm, pointing toward the man’s face.

nHis lips were quivering, his body shaking, until he finally opened his mouth. “DON’T TOUCH ME! DARK PULSE!”

nThe magic gathered around his hand, and before the man could react, the pulse went out and had gone right through the man’s head, making a large hole. His body fell over backward, dropping Raze onto the ground.

n“What the… you killed him, you killed him, what the!” The owner was looking for a way out of the place; he started to run out the back, but Raze was already on his feet and had his hand pointed at the owner.

n“Dark Pulse.”

nThe attack left his hand and went right through the owner’s body and through his heart, dropping him to the floor.

n“Ah, crap!” Raze said, scratching his head. “What do I do now?”

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