Two days went by, and it was finally time for Raze to go back to Ravenhold to get his new bat, as well as check up on the crimson auction house; he needed to collect what he earned.

In only a few days, the town had gone through several developments. More than fifty percent of the houses in the town were already fully renovated, and the ten-feet-tall stone block walls were coming together.

He left everything in the hands of Elaine, while he and Ella headed back to the city. He visualized his room, thinking that since it was probably empty for school period, he could make a gate there and his roommate wouldn't be in.

He stood in the compound and opened the gate. He and Ella immediately walked into it and walked out into his dorm room.

Kiss, kiss.

The sound of lips smacking was the first thing they heard, followed by the moans of a lady and a dude. Raze's eyes turned, landing on his roommate and his girlfriend. His eyes immediately twitched.

"What the actual fuck?" he said, his voice immediately pulling the attention of the two. Ella stood there watching with a blank expression and wide eyes.

His roommate and the girl froze when they saw them; their expressions were a mix of confusion and shock.

Luckily, their clothes were still barely on. Raze palmed his face and dragged his hand down. "Alright, I'll not tell on you if you don't say what you saw here, okay?"

The fact was that sexual activities on the academy grounds were prohibited and could lead to expulsion. It didn't mean students didn't do it, but they did it in secret.

The boy propped himself up and tidied his clothes. "What happened? I definitely didn't see anything," he said in haste.

"Thank you," Raze replied and walked to the door with Ella following. She looked back at the two in greeting before she walked out of the door.

The girlfriend of the roommate stared at the door for a few seconds after Raze had left. The boy tried to wrap his arm around her again, but she pushed it away, confusing him.

"I'm not really in the mood anymore. Let's meet later," she said before dressing up. He bit his lip, angry at the fact that Raze had basically spoiled his good time.

[....]

Outside the room, Raze and Ella walked, heading out of the dorm building. She was one step behind, so Raze couldn't see her face. There was a slight blush on her face as she kept replaying what she had seen there.

She always thought that things like that had nothing to do with her. She was only here for magic, yet somehow, for a while now, her feelings barely made sense to her.

"What's up?" Raze suddenly asked as he walked.

"Huh?" she replied.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"No, just replaying what we just saw," she said.

"Hmm, don't let it mess with your head. In as much as it was inappropriate for us to see, it's still something considered relatively normal. Everyone will do it at some point, maybe," he said.

Her eyes widened when he said that. She stared at his back. "Everyone?" she asked in a low voice. Her cheeks got redder. She quickly fought to push the thought out of her head.

They made it out of the academy and into the town, straight for Rufus's shop. But while they headed there, a certain person spotted them and immediately got intrigued by where they were going, so they followed at a safe distance.

Raze walked into the shop. Rufus was behind his counter looking at a stack of wood that a group of adventurers had brought for him. They seemed like low-level adventurers, four of them, three men and one lady who was their mage.

Mages easily existed outside magical academies, struggling for their own lives. Many of them couldn't get into academies or lacked the money for it, amongst many things, and so they turned their strength to adventuring and grew that way.

The mage here, despite being young, was probably in her mid-twenties, far past the age for an academy.

Raze headed for the counter. He already knew what those sticks were, they were best used for crafting magical tools like wands and staves. Made from the Green Wood tree, it was rumored to have ancient roots tied to the World Tree, which would explain its ability to harness magic.

It wasn't too hard to harvest, but getting to it was pretty difficult, which was why parties were needed to take on the task.

Rufus looked up and saw Raze. His eyes shined immediately. "Kid, seems you are back," he said, pulling out a small pouch and paying the party before turning his full attention to Raze and Ella.

"Yhup, I am, and I got what I promised." Raze said before pulling out a handwritten book that he had compiled in his free time on runes and some secret rune techniques. He placed it on the table, as well as a few vials of perfume.

Rufus grabbed the book eagerly and flipped it open. When he saw it was written freshly, he was about to complain that he was lied to about it being a real text, but as his eyes moved through the text and he saw what it held, the light in his eyes flashed brighter.

"This… this is incredible," he said, then looked at Raze. "There is no way I could take this for only a bat. What you have given me will make me one of the best in my field," he said eagerly. He pulled out the bat and placed it on the table before rushing into the back. "Wait for me," he yelled out.

Raze stood there, confused.

"Seems he liked it," Ella said.

"Yeah, seems so."

Rufus returned with a black box. He placed it on the table and opened it. Inside was a black gauntlet. It was crafted to perfection, clean and detailed, with a red crystal on it and several runes on it.

"This is my masterpiece."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.