Jack and the others were able to escape using a secret underground passageway leading out the city. To reach it, they have to go through a network of sewers, which seemed almost like a large intricate labyrinth. Jack was almost certain he'll get lost in here if not for Dingo and the others guiding him.

Not that he'd want to come down here in the first place. It smelled like ass in here, to the point where Jack gagged a little during the trip, trying his best not to vomit from the foul-smelling sewage. Maybe one of the reasons the guards haven't found this place yet was that they couldn't be bothered to search down here for hours on end just to look for a place like this.

After some traversing, they've finally reached the door leading to the passageway. On the surface, it seemed like a normal-looking stone wall covered in moss. However, once Dingo activated a small glyph on the palm of his hand and pressed it against the wall, a glowing set of runes gradually revealed itself on the stone's surface, with the most notable symbol being a red icon of a flame at its center. Then, the stone door rumbled a little before sliding itself open, allowing them to pass through before shutting itself behind them.

After some more walking through a mostly straight corridor, they've arrived at another magical stone door. Passing through that led them to the outskirts of the city, where they met up with their getaway ride, a horse-drawn carriage driven by a regular human man. Given how he'd simply allowed Dingo and the others to ride his carriage without asking any questions, Jack assumed he was a member of the Crimson Flame as well. Riding on that carriage, they soon make their leave away from the city and the guards were none the wiser.

Dawn strikes when they were a good distance away from Ingenwell, with the morning sun emitting a faint orange glow in the dim blue sky. During the carriage ride, Musashi was kind enough to heal Jack's forearm wound with its magic. After activating a small palm-sized glyph on its hand, the mushroom swordsman held it over Jack's wound. A reddish-pink aura emitted from the glyph, surrounding Jack's forearm until the wound was healed in a matter of seconds. In addition, Jack could feel the pain slowly washing away, replaced with a pleasant numbing sensation.

Jack stared at his newly healed forearm with a bit of fascination. "Woah, that is pretty cool. Thanks."

"You are welcome, sporeling," Musashi said calmly with a polite nod.

Raven then reached out to Jack with another small glyph of her own, her black feathered wing acting as a sort of large pseudo-hand. "Now, I'm going to place a dampener on you."

Jack curled his brow in confusion. "Wait, a dampener? What's that?"

"You don't know what a dampener is?" Raven seemed confounded by that question, as though Jack was asking about something very basic. "What kind of mage are you?"

"Like I said before, this guy is kind of clueless in a lot of things," Dingo said. "Give him a rundown for me, will you?"

Raven gave Dingo an annoyed glare but continued. "A mana dampener is a spell or enchantment that basically reduces the residual mana a mage produces when casting a spell. Residual mana is what was used by certain specialized mages, such as mana trackers, to track us. Every magical spell produces some kind of residual mana, with more powerful spells typically producing more residual mana. It's almost impossible to cast a spell that produces absolutely no residual mana whatsoever.

"Thus, when you used magic during the fight last night, you left behind a trail of residual mana. How easily the guards are able to track us is dependent on the size of the trail we leave behind. The larger the trail, the easier it is for them to find us. Mana dampeners essentially reduces that trail so that it makes it harder for them to track us down."

"Woah, that's interesting. I have no idea that that's how it works." Jack said, mulling over this new aspect of the magic system in his head. "But wait, there were a lot of people who used magic during that fight. How do they know which trail belongs to us?"

"Each trail of residual mana is slightly different from one another, depending on various factors like the person who casted the spell and the type of spell that was used. A skilled enough tracker would be able to distinguish which trail is made by which person. I don't doubt the Elrinthians have a team of expert mana trackers at their employ. Because of this, as standard practice, we routinely have our mana dampeners active at most times, especially before and after huge battles where powerful magic is likely be used. These dampeners either come in the form of spells or were enchanted within staves, clothing, or other items."

Jack stared at the dampener glyph with a questioning look. "And you're certain that this mana dampener would stop them from tracking us."

Raven placed the glyph onto Jack's wrist. "It's not entirely foolproof, but it's better than nothing. The Elrinthian mana trackers are good, but they aren't that good. My mana dampeners were sufficient in throwing them off our trail most of the time. This particular dampener only lasts for six hours, after which it needs to be reapplied again. While the mana dampener is active, any spell you cast will produces significantly less residual mana. Although, as an added precaution, you should refrain yourself from using any magic during our trip, unless in an emergency, in order to avoid leaving behind another trail."

Jack gave the black-feathered bird mage an assuring nod. "Right. No magic until we get there. Unless in an emergency. Got it."

Raven looked at Jack with a suspicious glower. "This human seems like a simpleton. Dingo, are you sure it's wise to rescue him?"

"Hey! I'm not a simpleton!" Jack protested. "I prefer the term 'moron', 'dumbass', or 'idiot'. 'Simpleton' is too posh of a word for me. I'll even take 'baka' if you're so willing. Tsunderes love throwing that word around."

Dingo chuckled. "Well, simpleton or not, he is certainly a fun guy to hang around with."

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"Hey, don't try to act like you didn't pull the wool over my eyes. I'm still kind of pissed that you haven't even told me you're part of the Crimson Flame before we made our escape."

"But I did tell you. I told you my name, didn't I?"

Jack raised an eyebrow at him. "Is the name 'Dingo Hwyte' supposed to mean anything?"

Raven and Musashi looked at each other in bewilderment, then looked back at Jack.

"You do know that Dingo is one of the most notorious members of the Crimson Flame, right?" Raven pointed out. "You know, aside from our leader."

"There isn't anyone who knows of the Crimson Flame without hearing the name 'Dingo Hwyte'," Musashi added. "The Elrinthians, in particular, had his name on the 'Most Wanted' list for years due to Crimson Flame-related activities."

"Yeah, so basically, like they said, I'm pretty well-known," Dingo said with a confident grin. "I am the right-hand man of the great 'Fire Soul'. I am the 'Howling Wind'. The mere mention of my name makes men wet their pants in terror and makes women wet their dresses in...a different kind of emotion...with a different kind of bodily fluid, if you catch my drift." He gave Jack a charming wink as he said that.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Alright! I get it! You're kind of a big deal around here."

Dingo sighed, his dog-like ears visibly drooping to indicate his mocked sadness. "And here I thought my name carries weight around these parts. Guess the name 'Dingo Hwyte' don't mean as much as it used to."

"Doesn't seem like you're all that great when you got arrested so easily over a drunken brawl. But, then again, you did escape pretty easily as well. It's almost like you wanted to be caught. What, do you frequently get yourself arrested and then break out of jail just for kicks?"

Dingo chuckled. "Nah, mate. Trust me, I've got plenty of other hobbies to occupy my free time, not that I have much free time to begin with. No, I purposely let myself be arrested in order to get closer to you."

Jack reacted with surprise. "Me?! Why me?!"

"I was there when you defended that old merchant. I saw the entire thing," Dingo admitted.

"You did, huh?" Jack felt a pang of shame knowing how that whole thing had ended for him.

"Yep. There I was, strolling down the streets on a pleasant afternoon, when I saw you fighting against those elven hoodlums. Imagine my surprise when a normal unassuming human blatantly disregard the magic prohibition law in order to save a complete stranger, only to be arrested at the end. Needless to say, I was intrigued, enough so that I wanted to get closer to you in order to figure out just what kind of person you are. So, I hatched a plan to get myself arrested only to be put in the exact same prison that you were staying in. We had our little chat, I get to know you a little bit better, and, if I'm so inclined, I might even offer to recruit you into our ranks."

"Wait, recruit me?! As in letting me join the Crimson Flame as a member?!" Jack asked, after which Dingo responded with an affirming nod. Jack then curled his brow in doubt. "Why me in particular?"

"The Crimson Flame is always looking for more members to expand our influence. We especially look out for people who meet certain criteria. For example, those who have decent potential in magic, those with a sense of justice, and those with a bone to pick with the Elrinthians."

"Well, I wouldn't say I have a bone to pick with the elves necessarily. I barely even know them."

Dingo wrapped an arm around Jack's shoulders. "Mate, you've just made a daring escape out of their confines. And out the the grasp of that jerk admiral Aldinar Faewynn, no less. You may have no qualms with them locking you up, but they sure as hell aren't going to let you off the hook that easily, especially not after that scuffle from last night. Like it or not, you've made enemies with the Elrinthians."

"So you made all this effort just to get a potential recruit? Seems way too elaborate if you've asked me. You couldn't just break me out first without allowing yourself to be caught?"

"Well, I want to get to know you better before I break you out. Trying to make sure you're not an Elrinthian spy or anything. It's not like it hadn't happened before. People who wanted to join the Crimson Flame but were actually double-agents sent by the Elrinthians to gather information and undermine our operations. That's why we need to be extra careful when it comes to our recruitment."

"What makes you so sure I'm not actually a spy?"

"Well, let's just say I have a gut feeling and I'm usually pretty accurate with those. You just seem...too peculiar to be a spy."

Jack felt slightly offended. "Hey, are you calling me a weirdo?"

"Well, I wouldn't put it like that. Regardless, you have passed our test. We are willing to offer you to join us if you like. The Elrinthians thought they have a right to restrict the usage of magic to the populace and it is our mission to prove them wrong. So, what do you say?"

Jack considered it for a long moment. In these sorts of fantasy RPG settings, the adventure usually starts with him joining a guild of some sort. From the looks of it, the Crimson Flame could be the sort of guild-like organization that he was looking for, even if it's an unconventional one. Despite that, he still had his reservations about joining them.

"Hmm, I'm not sure yet," Jack said. "I mean, I do think those Elrinthians are a bunch of assholes, but I also don't know much about the Crimson Flame. I need to know more about you guys before I make a decision."

"Fair enough," Dingo said. "It is a big decision after all, so I could understand you feeling a bit hesitant about it. Tell you what, why don't we take you to our base to meet our leader. You can make your decision afterwards."

Jack shrugged. "Sure, why the hell not? You guys did technically rescued me. The least I could do was check it out. Besides, you guys seem like a fun group to hang out with. A dog person with an Australian accent. A raven person with a menacing necromancer vibe. And a mushroom samurai who looked like something I want to put in my hot pot. Umm...no offense."

"None taken, sporeling," Musashi said rather calmly. "I've heard my kind taste great in soups, but even better in stir-fry."

"I'm actually a crow," Raven said with a refrained sense of irritation.

"Really? Well, that's just confusing as heck," Jack said. "Why is your name 'Raven' then?"

"Names are sometimes weird and don't make a whole lot of sense. Your name is Jack, but are you a jack?"

"No, but then again, the word 'jack' has a lot of different meanings. I know of jackhammer, jack rabbit, applejack, lumberjack, Jack of Clubs, jack of all trades, Jack Daniel's, jackass, jacking off...okay, I'm getting weird with my examples. I should probably stop."

Dingo let out an high-spirited laugh. Raven maintained her agitated stare while Musashi remained in his calm, zen-like state.