It was a new day with a fresh morning breeze flowing in the streets of Edenmont City.
Two figures wearing suspicious robes walked out of the building of Twilight Chaos Guild and disappeared away in a flash.
They conversed amongst themselves as they moved in the shadows of the alleys.
"You sure Mr.Dealer isn't lying to you?", Steve asked in doubt.
"I can vouch for him on this one as I've personally gone through there.", Felix replied with an assured nod.
"Alright then, we'll use that path."
Steve gave a nod while following behind Felix as they crossed several streets and arrived at a small inn.
"Here it is."
Felix opened the door of the inn and walked inside after the both of them had put a mask on their faces.
Steve stepped in after him and glanced around the empty inn where only a worker and a man wearing a grey robe were present.
Taking a peek at the grey-robed person who gave him a subtle nod, Felix walked into the corridor of the inn along with Steve and entered a room he had remembered.
There was a strange staircase in the middle of the room which they used to descend several floors under the ground until they reached a different dark area.
A guard stood at the bottom of the stairs to whom Felix gave some coins and exited the staircase as he turned around to Steve who had a curious look all along.
"And this is how you secretly enter the Underworld from the backdoor."
Steve gave an impressed face as he looked around the place they had arrived.
"Damn, why didn't Mr.Dealer tell me about this before?"
Felix smirked teasingly and replied.
"I guess he's aware of your loose mouth...."
Steve rubbed his head awkwardly, showing his tongue and started chasing after Felix, who gestured at him and walked away.
They moved under the shadowy alleys and a few minutes later arrived at Mr.Dealer's base building before entering inside.
There wasn't anyone in the hall except for another grey-robed person, who stood up and called out to his master from upstairs seeing the two of them.
Mr.Dealer walked out of his room along with his subordinate and smiled looking at the two.
"Oh, it's Felix and Steve, glad to have you guys in my humble abode."
Steve rolled his eyes at the man's eloquent way of speaking and said.
"Long time no see, Mr.Dealer. You haven't changed a bit."
"Haha, I'll take that as a compliment. But you both on the other hand changed tremendously. Nice work there Felix, you broke through the Rank 1, and...umm Steve you too...."
He congratulated Felix after scanning him thoroughly and continued while narrowing his eyes on Steve's body.
Felix smiled in return while Steve gave him a particular look in his eyes.
The three talked for a bit about the things happening around them before Felix inquired about his other teammates.
"Those three seem to have also broken through Rank 1. I don't know about Crystal and Bellard, but Falcon was hanging around in the underworld somewhere."
"Cough cough....of course not. What do you take me for....", Falcon quickly lied as he waved his hands in panic.
The two of them walked around the black market bickering among themselves for fun, glancing around the items that were being sold and checking the bustling place.
Felix turned to Falcon as he remembered the reason he came here.
"Right. Can you take me to those special facilities accessed only by the people owning an Exclusive card?"
He asked while taking out his blackish gold Exclusive card given to him by Mr.Dealer.
Falcon also took out his similar card and nodded with a grin.
"Absolutely. Even I've yet to enter those facilities. Come on, I wonder what we'll see there..."
Falcon pointed towards the direction for Felix and took him crossing several streets of the underworld.
They reached the entrance of the Underworld Arena and took a right turn from there for a few minutes before arriving at a black castle separated by a bridge.
The castle looked strangely fitted in the low-ceiling area of the underworld, but its magnificent architecture and design left people breathless.
"I was not expecting this at all.....", Felix muttered in disbelief.
Falcon nodded as he joked.
"Yeah, right? The first time I came here, I thought some hidden royalty lived here....."
The vicinity near the castle and the bridge looked scarce of people as Felix and Falcon stepped over to the other side of the bridge.
A small sentry of elite-looking guards stopped them at the gates of the castle, asking for their identification and the two of them took out their cards.
The guards turned more respectful as they guided the two of them into the gates and opened the large door of the castle for them to enter.
"Honoured guests, welcome to the Underworld Castle."
Greeted the several women dressed like maids standing on both sides of the door.
As for why call them women and not maids directly was because of the power they were emitting, which was on the same level as Felix and Falcon.
This humbled the two of them very much as they took a silent gulp and glanced at each other a bit taken aback.
It would have been fine if it were only the elite guards who were this strong, but to think even mere maids here were on the same level as them made them speechless.
'I should act more careful from here on out...'
Felix thought seriously as he could feel several powerful auras from all the corners of the the building he was in.
As the two of them took their first steps inside the underworld castle, they cautiously glanced around the place while holding back their breaths.
The place that they were in was called the Great Hall, which looked clean to the point of seeing your reflection on the walls and floor, a stark contrast to the dirty and dark black market.
The hall was adorned with strange paintings and ornaments, raising the overall charm of the place while adding a hint of mystery to the air.
Only a few people were present there who seemed to be busy with their work and not giving a care for their arrival.
Despite the foreboding exterior of the castle, there lay a labyrinth-like network of corridors and chambers within it, each serving its purpose.
Unfamiliar with their surroundings as it was their first time in this place, the pair approached a senior maid sitting at an office-like counter.
The maid took notice of them and smiled professionally as she inquired without any arrogance of her Rank 2 power.
"How may I help you, sir?"