The Bonum Society was a safe place. No one other than its members knew about its whereabouts, and they managed to keep it hidden from the Dark Faction as well as Alter for many years.
It was why they were so confident in leaving both Mantis and Raze alone in the same room. After all, the entire group were part of Raze's allies. They would send people to check on the two regularly to see if they were awake or not.
The issue was, with no signs of either waking, the Bonum Society members were slacking, doing fewer checks and even just peeping their heads through the door to see if there were any signs of new life.
That was when Mantis had finally woken up, his eyes wide open, and placed both hands at the side of his head. His heart was racing.
"What... what happened? My body, I turned into... I was a beast," Mantis said to himself. "The Martial Arts Tournament, it was going on, and then... then...
Mantis was unable to recall any memories past the match he had. What was the outcome of it, and who was the winner? Most importantly, why was he even in the place where he was currently?
"I don't recognize anything. I'm not back at the Clan. Did the Light Faction capture me, or was it the Dark Faction?" Looking to his right, there was a curtain hanging. He could see a light source above, allowing him to see a figure lying on a table next to him.
Pulling it back, he was surprised to see what his eyes were looking at.
"That's... that's... Raze, from the Crimson Crane. He was in the tournament with me. Why is he passed out as well, and on the table... was he the one that brought me here?"
Mantis could make no sense of what had occurred, he could make no sense of how things came to be the way they were, but as he thought about it more, why would the person who had taken him captive also take Raze along with him?
"We're both from the Demonic Faction. I doubt he has anything to do with it," Mantis thought as he got down from his table and started to walk closer to Raze. As he looked at him, he remembered everything he saw Raze do at the tournament.
"He's so strong... I was the highest-ranking student at the academy, and then he came out of nowhere." Mantis started to look at Raze's throat, seeing what a vulnerable state he currently was in just lying there.
"If he didn't exist, then I would still be the number one ranking student," Mantis thought as he moved in closer, his hands drawing closer to Raze.
As they did, he could feel something—a tingle going all over his body. It was as if they were passing through a force field, the hairs on his forearms were starting to stand up.
The further he pushed his hands forward, the more he had this strange feeling hanging over him. He felt like there was a knife being pressed up against his throat.
"Hey!" Mantis said as he grabbed onto Raze's arm. "Wake up, wake up, something is going on here."
Mantis proceeded to shake Raze's arm and then felt slight movement. Immediately as he did, he pulled away, no longer touching Raze. Slowly, he could see the body start to move, and then Raze's eyes opened up.
Raze stayed there lying on the table, staring at the ceiling for a moment. He looked at its metallic shape, the material quite strange; he had rarely seen it in the world of Pagna.
"Am I back in Alterian? Did I die again?" Raze said as he lifted his body.
"Die again?" He heard a voice repeat to his side.
Turning his head, Raze looked at the student, seeing his bare chest with a claw mark scratched right across it.
"I mean, it feels like I've been brought back to life," Raze replied.
He recognized the student—the one known as Mantis, who had the nickname of the Black Tiger. An extremely talented student, Raze thought, especially when it came to Pagna-like skills.
Before, he was extremely confident and cocky, but when Raze looked at him now, it didn't feel that way. The truth was, Mantis, until a moment ago, still felt like his throat was ready to be cut at any moment. Only when Raze woke up had that feeling gone. Still shocked by it, he hadn't had time to get his demeanor back.
"Where are we?" Raze asked as he got off the table. His head was a little sore, and he still felt slightly light-headed. He wobbled for a moment and then placed his hand on the back of the table to keep himself standing.
Raze himself started to think about what had occurred. He remembered the last moments, of the Divine being taking over his body, facing off against Murkel, and finally looking at Safa with hopes that she would use the Lux Sword on him to help him recover.
"I guess I didn't pass, but I would have thought we would have either been placed somewhere in the Demonic Faction or the Dark Faction," Raze said.
"There is also a chance that we were caught. This whole place is made of a type of iron," Mantis said.
The two of them walked out from their rooms and could see the vast size of the location they were in. The iron used was incredibly thick, either designed to keep people in or keep people out.
"If I were to take a guess, we must have been captured by the Light Faction," Mantis claimed.
In Raze's mind, that was most likely. Everyone was severely injured, and it took them a long time to deal with Murkel. With the number of artifacts they had, it was the most likely.
"Well, if we're captured, I guess we have no choice but to break out of this place."