"Naive brat, just wait till I br-" a voice from the back of Liefs head mumbled.

"W-who!?" Lief gravely asked back to the voice.

Lief's eyes skipped around the old stairwell, the walls were empty and bland and no matter where he looked there was not one person in sight, but he definitely heard someone...

"Hello?" Lief asked as he slowly stepped down the stairs, if there was someone here they could have only gone upstairs, it was the closest exit.

Lief was sure he would have seen him if he had tried to escape downwards.

Other than the muffled sounds coming from down the stairs the only sound Lief heard was his own steps.

Every time Lief stepped down he made sure to check behind him.

Like this, he continued down the stairs without hearing another peep.

'Surely I hadn't imagined it...' But the chances of someone appearing out of nowhere just to call him naive was a little...

As whoever it was that scared Lief is gone, Lief decided that he should hurry with his business and find the Rogue Class.

Liefs foot left the last step, in front of him towered a tall steel door.

It had what looked to be a slider at eye height.

*thud, thud, thud * Lief knocked twice on the door.

*Shhllt* the sound of steel sliding drew Liefs eyes towards the gap.

"Occupation?" a deeply modified voice clearly questioned from behind the door.

"Oh, Butcher," Lief replied almost immediately before the voice asked another question...

"Reason?" Although the question was vague, Lief understood that he wanted to know why Lief was here.

"To gain a class," Lief replied honestly.

'I can't lie. If he's the doors guardsman, its best to be honest just in case he has a special skill that detects lies.

Green eyes peered through the gap at Lief, his eyes felt like they looked into Liefs soul.

The man stared at Lief for several seconds before asking,

"Hm, okay, the two of you can go through." Heavy metal locks were heard as the door opened.

"two, what do you mean "the two of us"? Lief paled and turned around.

"Huh?" Lief was confused, there was no one there...

"Excuse me, door guardsman. Did you say the two of us could go through?"

"Yes, that's correct. Please hurry through, I have to close the door."

Lief glanced at the towering man, he was at least 7 foot tall. The only part of his body you could see were his eyes, the rest was covered in a black tainted iron armour, however, the block of text still appeared:

[(Concealed)]

Age: 28

(Door Guardsman Lvl 83)

(Level 75)

(Knight Level 51)

The man's name was concealed, Lief had expected it to be so, however, his level still surprised Lief. He's level 75 and he's just a door guard?

'What would I amount to here?' Although Lief knew far more than most of the people here, without the level he wouldn't be able to use it properly...

Lief spared a moment to think before stepping inside and asking the guard "I didn't see the other person, where are they?"

The armored man smiled before replying in a deep but no longer modified voice "If you don't know yet, you will soon. Although I can see more than most doesn't mean I'm able to disclose everything. With skills like mine, being a guardsman is one of the best choices, I don't need to explain to others why I don't allow people entry, I just decline the people who will cause problems inside." Before the man finished speaking he had made his way back to his chair and began to read from a scroll.

'Able to see but not tell, there are indeed many spells like that, I suppose the skill would be active at all times, right? Anyway, thats not the important thing, the important thing is that I now know that I need to heighten my senses more if I am to become a rogue. I can't have others be able to sneak up on me like that again.

All that was separating Lief from the black market was a hanging curtain, he just needs to push through.

Lief walked up to the curtain and noticed a side table beside it holding a bundle of maps.

[Map of Candleglow Market]

It wasn't specific but just by opening it Lief could tell that the "market" it was talking about was the black market.

Several places had simple names that clearly stated what they sold, places like:

Weapon store for Knights.

Potions.

Terminal.

The list went on, this place had several "Official" shops including shops for specific classes, however, unfortunately, it seemed that there were no shops for Rogue classes, so, Lief would have to use the "Unofficial" shops made by regular people who paid for their spot.

'But what's a "terminal"' Lief asked himself as he finally walked through the curtains, taking a map with him.

-Guardsman-

Picking up my book, I couldn't help feel bad.

'Shame for that poor kid, he must have gone through something shitty.'

"Sigh, Oh well, nothing to do with me anyway.

-Lief-

The black market. Truly a strange place, it was completely underground, you could see the roof, yet there was sunlight.

'There's still a lot to learn...' Lief marvelled at the sight, he had only ever been underground a few times in his life, yet seeing something lit up without a torch or the real sun was new to him.

The market stretched out further than Lief could see, it may even be bigger than the city above, even with the map Lief would be unable to find the Rogues domain or even an unofficial shop. Luckily for him, there were many official and unofficial sign posts pointing the way for him, there were some things marked that Lief didn't yet know, however, he could follow them and learn at a later date.

The black market wasn't anywhere near as crowded as the world above currently, Lief didn't know why.

Maybe he just came at a strange time.

There were many paths Lief could take, all of them looked pretty similar.

They all had many store owners standing behind counters or just regular looking tables, some had used a lot more money on their space whereas others had just thrown together a small shop.

The whole place was quite silent, there weren't many people yelling and the shopkeepers seemed to just watch you.

Lief followed varies different signs that had [Rogue] carved into them.

It wasn't detailed but Lief assumed if he followed this he would find a part of the market specifically for rogues, when Lief came here using Out-Of-Body he had seen many entrances, the one he entered was the entrance right in the middle, maybe a kind of visitor entrance?

Lief hadn't seen anything that caught his eye. Even if he did he didn't have the money to buy anything.

After walking for about an hour through many unofficial shops, Lief's scenery changed.

The previous sunlight turned dim, looking up the roof of the underground was now a dark orange. It gave Lief a strange feeling of unease... As if he was currently in danger...

In front of him lay a large sign:

[Rogues/unchosen only.]

If you continue and you are not a rogue you will be trespassing. Surely your not stupid enough to trespass on a class such as ours right?

If you want to submit a request turn back and submit it to the correct people. Ask around if you don't know.

Even if you're a king, if you trespass thinking your request is too important to do it the proper way, your end will be the same.

Special message to anyone under the church. We are not a completely dark guild like some think, we don't only accept assassinations and kidnappings, we also do demon subjugation. Before thinking that we need to be cleansed you should remember the times you have requested help, and how we can make that impossible.

Although confusing Lief understood their meaning, Lief felt strangely about the special message, after all, his city was once part of the church. It was before he was born so he doesn't owe anything to them but Lief felt that their way of talking to the church was a little to the negative side... If possible Lief would prefer not to anger the church.

Since he is able to continue Lief passed the sign and walked towards the building in front.

The reception.