Chapter 54 Upgrade [2]

"Yawn..That felt good."

I immediately closed my eyes again because of the bright sunlight. Then I waited for a few seconds for my eyes to adjust while lazily sitting on the bench. Sleeping outside was more comfortable than I had thought.

Stretching my body, I stood up and looked at the bright blue sky.

"Is it noon already?"

Scratching my chest from underneath my shirt, I let out another yawn only to choke on it.

I again looked at my surrounding slowly. My eyes widened at the realization that it was already noon.

I missed the classes today!

Without minding my appearance, I ran towards my classroom.

"Why did I sleep so much?"

Ward was too strict with bunking classes. And I was sleeping on the bench in broad daylight!

I could only pray for what was about to come.

"Ah!"

I let out a weird sound, and my feet stopped. I again looked at my surroundings.

The area was packed with people to and fro. The buildings were only about 5 floors tall and the area wasn't as well maintained as the area I had been seeing for the past month.

I wasn't inside Ward.

Massaging my eyebrows, I slumped back into a bench.

"Right, I was here."

Ward has given us a two-week holiday after everyone was diagnosed as healed. Since Isabell said my parents weren't home so we decided to stay in Ward during the holidays.

The next day she went somewhere saying that something came up. She didn't look willing to leave me alone but still left. The tough life of a spy, if I say so myself.

Anyway, this was the perfect opportunity for me to go out and get some upgrades.

"One hamburger, please."

Buying my breakfast for today, I walked on the road. I took a bite of the hamburger while looking at the flying vehicles. In this world, barely any vehicles had tires and were rather floating in the air.

This was the 5th day I was wandering the south side of Downtown.

Bermuda Island was divided into four areas. The North, the Middle, the Sides, and the Downtown.

The North, covering a total of 1/5th of Bermuda Island, was under Aegis' control. This area contained portals going to dungeons all over the world. Naturally, this area was mostly visited by Adventurers and heroes. Equipment, potions, skills, there was a market for everything here.

The middle was where Ward was located. This area alone covered 1/4th of Bermuda Island and was free from the control of Aegis and the Families.

The Sides denoted the west and east area of Bermuda Island. This was a residential area owned jointly by various high-class families. Though it was said jointly, it was mainly owned by the big three families.

The Downtown was located in the south and covered 1/10th of the Island. This was a lawless area of the Island which was controlled by gangs.

Yes, gangs.

"Why the hell are there gangs in fantasy!?"

Elves, Dragonborns, Vampires, Dwarves, Demons, this was fantasy. Not Gangs!

I sighed. I knew how small-time gangs, which weren't even in alliance, were able to take hold of a small portion of Bermuda Island, the center stage of Earth. The reason was exactly why I was here.

"Maybe I should have gone to a Ruin."

A few days back, I reached a proficient mastery in the Art of Eridu. My new ability gave me a large boost to my fighting capability. Moreover, my Ether control had improved a lot since the Dungeon of Trials event.

Thus, I decided it was time I broke into Iota rank.

When Leon killed the Royal Demon, a portion of exp was given to me as I had killed a large number of minions, and I reached Lvl10.

Lvl10 meant peak Meta rank. Now to reach Lvl11 or Iota rank, I needed to have a breakthrough.

But with my low potential, it would take me at least a few months if I decided to rank up naturally.

I needed to reach Enma-rank this year. I couldn't waste more time in Meta rank.

So I decided to buy some herbs to help me break through faster.

Although I did have money for the herbs, it would take almost everything I had. I didn't want to use all my money before I started earning anything.

"I can only get herbs for cheaper in the Underworld."

Black market, Underground market, Bootleg market these were all the names of Underworld.

For obvious reasons, I knew the routes to go there, but this didn't mean I could use them.

Underworld wasn't some neighborhood market. If I went there as a Meta-rank and nothing backing me I wouldn't even know how I was sold as a slave.

This was why I was in Downtown.

The only reason these gangs could exist on this Island was because of backing from the Underworld.

BUCK-

I bumped into somebody making my hamburger fall.

"Sorry."

Sighing, I apologized to the person I bumped into and walked back to the shop. It was good I only bought a single hamburger because I could only carry a single one at one time.

As for my left hand, it was glued over my stomach with a cast, that I was wearing underneath so that my arm didn't flail every time I move.

"Where do you think you are going, huh?"

Suddenly, someone grabbed my shoulder from behind.

"Are you trying to run without paying for the medical bills, huh?!"

The person with a buzz cut spat while pointing to the arm of the person whom I think I bumped into.

It was daylight extortion, but everyone around us acted as if they didn't notice us. This meant that this extortion wasn't anything new.

"Can you stand a bit away? You are spitting everywhere."

I spoke while covering my face. It seems they didn't like my answer as the person who was standing in the middle grabbed me by the collar.

"What did you say, huh, brat? Do you know who we are? We are the Black t-shirt gang."

I cringed a little at the name. Taking a better look at the three of them, I noticed that they were wearing black t-shirts with a white skull on them.

"Pfft"

This time, I failed to maintain a poker face. What was with the childish name and fashion sense of the gang?

"You! Come with us."

I was about to fight back when I sensed two more people behind me. Without waiting for my answer, I was pulled into a back alley.