"Listen carefully, that lady you just saw is the daughter of Allan Mor'Deus. The strongest hero in this our south-west region, he is even rumored to be at the same level as Lambert Dellagado and both of them are Level-S heroes."
'...father?'
"But that young lady has surpassed her father, she broke into level O"
Raith's eyes widened with dilated pupils, even he knew what it meant to be a level O.
Heroes are grouped into alphabetical levels according to their power levels. Amongst heroes, there are some whose abilities surpass expectations and defies the norms. These are the extent of level-Os.
Raith has always aimed that high because he knew the only way to impress his father was to surpass him. But right now he was pretty much not interested in what his father thought but the thought of seeing a level-O right before his side and not realizing it made his mind quiver.
'How could I not realize it...'
Sometimes, when people are incredibly strong they are able to perfectly hide their strength such that only those who can measure up to a fraction of them can notice how strong they are... and right now, Raith realizes how weak he was.
It made him want to crawl back into the abyss.
And as a resonance to his frequency.
[The Black Flames burn within you]
[The abyss stares back into your eyes]
[You have 7:05:59:59 until the second death trial]
Raith froze.
'No, no, I didn't... shit'
Indeed, he could sense that the dust within him responded to the sudden frustration he felt upon realizing that he was still weak.
He just really hated the thought of going back to the abyss right away after coming out.
'If it's seven days, then I have more than enough time to prepare. There are also some things I would like to test out but first let's sell these items'
He took a pick at the peeled-leather wristwatch on his left wrist.
"So what do you want Raven."
The vibrant teenager asked.
~fuuu~
"Huh?"
She froze with a discomfiting demeanor as she noticed the change of air.
"Fuck, I've lost my appetite."
He said and walked out without a response to the young girl.
"What the hell?"
She could feel the tensions on her unconsciously scrunched shoulders drop.
In that split moment, Raith exuded a presence that scared her, like a potential danger that she could sense but can't put her fingers around. It was an odd feeling, considering that she is also a hero although a low-leveled –very low.
"...I guess going to the abyss is not a bad idea."
He muttered. His mind won't sway away from the thought of the hero from earlier, he couldn't feel her presence not to talk of the measure of her power.
Yet he defeated an asura.
His feelings were hurt, and a sense of unfairness haunted him.
'Damn, I thought I was strong'
Perhaps Raith was self-consumed in his victory that he forgot that there is a greater world.
Would she have been able to defeat Thard-Harl in one go?
All these thoughts put his mind in a positive turmoil because, for the first time, he began to look forward to his going to the abyss.
***
As arranged, Raith met Mael in front of the shop right on time and the two proceeded to their destination, taking a cab to Primrose Highway. An intersected road that could be considered a center of transportation within the city.
The lowest intersection is connected to a tunnel and in that tunnel is a subway that leads further down.
"...But there is a passcode"
"A passcode?"
Raith was disappointed but immediately garnered his expression...
"Do you know this code?"
He asked.
"No."
His expression relaxed and he sighed before realizing.
"Wait! No? I thought you meant yes."
"No, I don't. I don't know the code."
"Then how are we supposed to enter the–
He paused immediately he was about to blurt out the sensitive word that could land them both in jail.
His eyes rolled to the taxi driver who focuses on the steering wheel but stole a few glances at them through the front mirror.
Raith leaned into his seat and decided to let it rest because it was too sensitive of a thing to discuss here.
But his expression wouldn't stop displaying how disappointed he was for blindly trusting and following Mael who he had forgotten was just another kind of dumb adult.
...
"You can drop us here..."
"Ayie, I can't do that... this is not a stop."
"It doesn't matter Mister... this is where we need you to drop us."
Mael responded with a subtle raise in his tone.
The place they had demanded to stop was just beside the road, although there were no particular laws that required a particular stop for taxis still it was dangerous to move considering that there could be patrolling polices any time of the day–it was a risk.
But there was more to the taxi driver's sudden and uncalled alertness.
Mael had it rough with him for a while and aggressively logged out of the car. Raith kept his silence all through, this sought of stuff was always not his turf, and the fact that he didn't use to belong to an environment like this had a lot to do with it.
It was a miracle that he had survived this long on his own.
But on second thought, he did have help.
The taxi driver drove away with an equal rate of aggression looking like he was going to cause a disturbance to both of them.
"Let's move fast."
"You say that but you don't even know the passcode."
Raith finally got the space and time to express his disappointment. He sighed after slapping his palm softly on his face.
"Bro, do you think the passcode is the only way?"
His sudden diversion rose a sprinkle of hope in Raith's eyes.
He continued:
"You see, it is called a black market, a back door to get exotic items, it only makes sense that a black market should have a black door, one that contradicts the normal way... In fact, the normal way is because of formalities, this one is the true door to the black market."
"What are you talking about?"
His words were confusing, the more Raith tried to digest them, the more confusing they became.
'Back door, Black door, Normal wag, True door... Just fucking find a way to get into the black market'