Phaesevell…

An underground town that lived up to its infamous reputation. It was, indeed, a town for the underground folk. Those who had nowhere to go, whose lives were soiled by the empire, and who carried ill intentions, they all took shelter in this town beneath the mountain. This was a definite recipe for a disaster town, yet somehow, it managed to stand on its feet, getting itself a corrupt mayor to set the rules and pass judgment and even gaining the favor of the empire city and providing them with proper off-the-book supplies. Because above all else, it was a place for business and entertainment, although it wasn't anything grand, it all fit the criteria for the lowlifes that fell down to it.

It had a certain charm to it that grabbed the attention of anyone who dared to set foot in it. Buildings were stacked on top of each other, packed densely within the small space that called itself a town. Lamps were wrapped together in a long string that extended throughout the whole place, forming enough light in this once decrepit cave that it didn't need sunlight. Above these lamps were pipes that seemed to form the shape of this cave, like dozens of snakes covering every little tidbit in the town. If you managed to clear out the never-ending crowds, it would take you about two minutes or so to take the whole town from front to back. There were no living quarters — it didn't need them. Resting was something to be longed for in a place like this. Citizens, as they called themselves, always believed that while they rested, others could be out and about making money and getting richer. Because that was all there was to this town. You come to this town, you either make money to benefit yourself, the mayor, and the empire, or you remain a lowlife drifting with sickness in the back alleys that only the most dangerous inhabit.

Nevertheless, you couldn't deny the joy you get from seeing this hidden town booming with life from every nook and cranny.

Aten was baffled by the town at first sight, but he quickly realized the danger that hid in plain sight and was careful not to fall victim to the beasts that lived in this place. Eeira, on the other hand, was in her best shape. She wasn't bothered by anything at all, as if she felt right at home. It would make perfect sense considering she might have possibly lived in this place before. And besides, her house was right outside the entrance. However, it was still quite odd how comfortable she was considering her young age that did not fit well with the adult atmosphere of this town.

'Hello!' A barker approached Eeira, and bluntly held her hand, to which she was surprised, 'Would you two lovely couple be interested in our La Grande Suite?'

'Uh…,' she touched the base of her neck, as she tried to pull her hand back. La Grande Suite certainly sounded like something that barker just pulled out of his ass. There was nothing "Grand" in this town.

'Too rich for your liking? Worry not, we also happen—'

'Not interested!" Aten stepped in, and grabbed Eeira's hand away from the barker, she sighed in relief. The barker tried to capture their interest once again, however, Aten pulled his gun on him, 'Not. Interested.'

Despite pulling out a weapon on someone in a crowded place, it didn't garner much attention. Perhaps this was something usual that would happen in this town. After all, it was filled with a bunch of lowlifes — like this barker who wouldn't shut up without a threat.

He stepped back in fear, as Aten and Eeira left to the rest of the town.

'T-Thank you,' Eeira said with a downturned head.

'Better watch out. I thought you knew this town like the back of your hand,' Aten said, 'Don't stray too far, next time, okay?'

'He-Hey!' She punched his shoulder, 'Besides… I'm not really an… outside person, per se.'

'You sound like you hate that.'

'Well, I spent most of my time in the house working my formulas, and sometimes, I'd be tending to the garden or in the temple,' she explained, 'And the place here is just… I got used to it and the people within it, but it's not really welcoming to someone like me. I know, I know it's weird to dislike all this fancy entertainment. I wish I could — for the life of me — I wish I could have as much fun as everyone else does in this place. But… I prefer being on the working table than anything else, that's how I am. Now go on, call me a shut-in and make fun of me however you like, I won't refute.'

'That's actually pretty admirable. I respect that.'

'Huh?! But—'

'All this fancy entertainment is just a surface, it's nothing but a trap. Once it's sprung, there's no going back, and it's all downhill from there.'

Contrary to Eeira's beliefs, the ordinary people, aside from the lowlifes seeking business, who came to this town always came with the intention of having fun. It was what they always saw at first sight, what they always got at the beginning, but that same "fun" was a great poison that would insert itself the moment one is hooked, spreading endlessly until it shook all those people of their worth, throwing them away on the sidestreet to beg for survival. Just like the denizens of this town, its visitors were to be trapped and in a constant struggle of "eat or be eaten."

Eeira knew this town was dangerous, but not to this harsh extent. That was why Aten needed to sell the elastinum and be out immediately. Overstaying their welcome would only open doors to their demise.

The two made their way to the central marketplace of the town. As opposed to the rest of other streets, which seemed like tight alleyways, the marketplace was a huge area circled by all kinds of shops, but the crowds made it seem like just any street. If anything, it was worse.

An odd pack of swallows drew Aten's attention to the giant building at the rear overseeing the town. He did not make a stir and simply marveled at the building. It was plated in neon, shining brightly throughout this monotonous town. But he didn't know what was odder, the fact that birds flew through this cave town as if it was real, or that there was a giant building towering over the rest of the town. Without second-guessing, Aten knew this tower belonged to the mayor.

Not long after, a swarm of commoners haled Aten out of the marketplace, but Eeira grabbed hold of him before he could get lost and possibly mugged.

'Oh look who's straying too far now,' she gave him a sly smile.

He tried to let go, but she clenched her hands even more and took him along with her as if they were on a tour.

Tons of wagons circled the marketplace — and even more, people covered their surface. They varied from a merchant selling normal goods, to rather shady ones who would prefer you'd follow them somewhere else. Eeira stopped near a wagon of fruits. She longed for something sweet.

'Is that really necessary?' Aten commented.

'Eh, it's the grape season. I can't miss that.'

The grapes, to Eeira, were something akin to holy fruits that she would get to enjoy once every summer. Just remembering its sweetness and the tart flavour was enough to get her excited. It had her undivided attention. She was not moving from there unless she had already collected a few bags.

However, that did not sit well with Aten, who saw this as a perfect opportunity to get this bizarre girl off his chest and search for the proper merchant. And indeed he left her to her affairs, and quickly faded among the crowds. But her mind was not completely there to even bother.

Aten's little detour threw him off to a wide alley on the right exit of the marketplace. There were no wagons, but actual shops on each side. It would be downright haunting to step in when everyone's asleep — that was if there was any sleep in this town — as the shops were the only source of light in the alleyway. The lights were out on this side of town for some reason. Perhaps this was the dangerous part that Aten tried to avoid before. Since he was by his lonesome this time, the danger was nothing to him.

As usual, crowds occupied the narrow space. It was hard for Aten to determine which shop to approach as he barely got a look at any of them. Nevertheless, he pushed through and hung tight on his bag.

"NEW HAVEN" was the first shop to catch his eyes. He stepped through the vacant store after a long struggle with the crowds outside. The store itself wasn't anything special. It was a junk store at first glance, all the goods within lied in various categories that didn't quite add up together. A middle-aged man sat idly behind a glass counter, his features were barely visible and almost menacing, due to the dim green light flickering above him. But that didn't stop Aten from approaching him.

'How much?' Aten pulled the elastinum out of the bag and onto the counter.

'Heavens… Heavens almighty, what now?' said the man, half-asleep, drooling in his sweat. His smell was enough to give a reason why no one dared to set foot in here.

'How much for this?' Aten repeated.

The man looked at him with glazed eyes, then looked at the elastinum, and once again at him, before grabbing glasses from the drawer behind him. He put them on and studied the elastinum with ease.

'What is it?' He put the elastinum down and eyed Aten with the same blank stare.

Aten rubbed his forehead, 'Nevermind…'

He put the elastinum back in the bag and rushed out of the store immediately. If half the merchants in this place were like that man, this search wasn't going to be easy. It was a waste of time, he had a feeling, but he could not back out now.

Moving through that tight alley was quite the tiresome task. Aten tried to make his way to the shop on the other side. But, on the spur of the moment, he found himself being pulled by a young woman in ragged clothes, sitting on the ground. Her skin had turned to almost greyish color as if she had caught a deadly illness that was sucking out whatever life left in her. Her eyes were begging for help. For a moment, he felt pity for the poor girl, but this was the town of fraudsters, anything of any sort could happen. And in a world where everyone was out for themselves, he could not take that chance. He pulled the edge of his coat from the girl, and she let go easily, before resting her body completely on the ground, giving in to despair.

It's none of your business, you should look out for yourself, he thought to himself.

The girl faded out of his sight as another swarm of people took him along to wherever they went.

Before he knew it, he was inside yet another store. It was different from the decrepit small shop on the other side. He noticed that the clamorous fest outside wasn't able to make its way inside. The ambiance was quiet and calming. A maze of shelves presented itself before him, as he realized that he stumbled upon an abandoned library, or so he thought. It was odd for such a place to exist within a town that had books off its list of things to do.

'Can I help you?' A man was sitting on the counter to his right. It seemed that the place still had some life left in it, 'We're a library if you haven't noticed, but we stock up on other stuff too.'

Likely illegal stuff. It would be the only logical explanation for why it was here, and the only profit it would gain from this town. Otherwise, a library like this would be practically useless around here, and the fact that it was hidden in a back alley wasn't of much help.

'Uh…,' Aten took his time to think. If anyone would know the elastinum's worth, it would be someone with knowledge. But there was a high chance that the man in front of him was just an ignorant clerk. Even so, there was no harm in trying, 'You don't happen to buy stuff from customers, do you?'

'Depends,' the man pulled out a pair of glasses (much better and cleaner than the ones the other old man had), and lit a cigar, 'If what you have interests me in a way, or is worth anything at all… we might come to an agreement.'

Aten took a deep breath, before approaching the man and laying down the elastinum on the counter.

The man inspected the elastinum with extreme care. He put out his cigar when it suddenly caught his interest. It seemed this man knew what this was. He looked at it from every angle, before eying Aten the look of curiosity.

'Where did you find this?' He asked.

'Does it matter?' Aten wasn't about to mention his encounter with the dark mechcritter, 'Do you even know what this is?'

'Well, of course, I know what this is,' the man put it down, 'What piques my interest isn't the elastinum in particular, but rather, how it got itself in your hands. It's not every day that you find a scrap collector carrying a priceless material such as this, after all.'

'I found it. End of the story. If you're not gonna buy it, then I'm wasting my time here.'

The man chuckled, 'Hm… You should be careful not to treat this as any other item you once sought to sell. Because… are you really sure you want to sell this? Elastinum can benefit you in many ways other than money. You seem to lack proper gear, and I guarantee you—'

'Spare me the chit-chat. How much?'

'Oh, your arrogance is quite profound…'

'Say that again?'

'Now, if you'll excuse me for a moment,' the man left the counter and headed for a back room, all at the right time before Aten could burst into anger.

Every second alone felt like an hour. Aten felt himself drowning in hot water. If he knew anything about this town, which was a lot in the little bit of a short time he had, it was that nothing was fair and square. Earning the sum he expected was a stretch in this place, he knew that much, but he wasn't after a buyer here, he only wanted a price to hang on to. Perhaps now that the man knew of the elastinum's existence within the town, he was rounding up his buddies to steal it for his own.

But that was all just overthinking on Aten's part. For not a few seconds later, the man returned, with nothing in hand, and nobody behind him.

'I'll ask you again, are you sure—'

'I just wanna know the price, if that won't be too much,' his patience was running thin.

'Alright then…,' the man took another look at the elastinum, 'Fifty-thousand gemmira.'

There was no way that was the definite price for the elastinum. A material that would be called worthless would be more than that. It could be simple ignorance on the man's part. But Aten suspected that he knew more than he was letting on.

'Cut the bullshit! I don't want your price, I want its price!'

'You'll never find anyone with that much money to pay for it in this town, believe me,' said the man, 'Fifty-thousand is the most you'll get out of here, trust me.'

'So you do know its true worth,' Aten cocked his gun, 'Tell me.'

'Ugh… why must you all resort to violence?'

The man tried to show his defenselessness, but Aten was having none of that.

"Fine, fine, I'll tell you, but for God's sake, put down the gun, this is a library.'

'A library in a shithole, what are the odds?' He sighed, 'Want to see those precious books of yours burnt to a crisp?'

'Thirty-million! Satisfied?'

'Thi-Thirty?! Shut up…,' Aten was shocked, 'This is ridiculous. You can't be serious.'

'What? You… You want it more or less?'

'I'm not playing here!'

'It's a thirty-million. That's the truth,' the man squealed, 'Now please, put down the gun, so we can sort this out like civilized individuals.'

Aten put away his gun, took a last glance at the library, and headed for the door. But the door swung itself open before he could even touch the knob. He backed a few steps away, as three armed men marched their way in. To them, Aten was but a speck that wasn't worth bothering. Another man sprawled in with excitement, as opposed to his firm-looking subordinates.

It took Aten a few seconds to realize that the one-eyed leader was none other than the notorious Lejin, whose reputation had been reduced to dirt ever since he lost his crew because of an unnamed warrior, or so the stories that escaped Aten's ears throughout the town had told. But he wasn't going to leave himself to die in the Outlands, not after fulfilling the grudge, revenge to be more accurate, he greatly held against Aten.

As per custom, he still donned his attire from before, although it looked more torn apart than before. King of the Beggars would have been a more fitting title to his current state, which he was, in a way — the underworld is the world of beggars after all.

'My dear, Ava,' Lejin greeted the clerk, 'Been a long time…'

Lucky for Aten, the one-eyed ex-hunter wasn't able to get a good look at him. However, that luck wouldn't last long. He took his golden opportunity and grabbed the door to the exit.

'Where do you think you are going, my esteemed guest?' Lejin called out Aten, 'There's no need to hide. I already know who you are.'

That Sonvabitch! The clerk was indeed calling for his buddies back then, but who would have guessed his buddies happened to be quite familiar with Aten as well. Lejin, despite the damages suffered, was issuing out a hunt for Aten, along with a detailed description of his figure. Just like Aten's thought at the entrance, this town was a lion's den, but as it turned out, it was not just for one lion.

'Had I known that a scoundrel like you had tainted my precious Dara,' he walked towards Aten with his cane, 'I would have killed you myself there and then. But alas, I did not. If I had known that it had been just that, I would have been willing to forgive. However, you were not satisfied. You decided to cripple me and devour my entire crew — and you clearly succeeded. You? A fucking kid? Destroyed me? No, no, no. It was my ignorance, it was my fault… And people grow from their mistakes. So if you think, just for a moment, that you have devoured me as well…,' he got closer to his ears, 'I'd like to tell you… you failed. You only made the snake become the dragon.'

Lejin punched Aten in the gut. Unlike last time, however, he withstood the attack, and held tightly on to his bag — he was thinking of more important matters. For a bounty hunter, elastinum can possibly cure Lejin's revenge, but Aten wasn't going to give up on that.

'Now I'd love to hear all about your lovely time with Dara,' Lejin signaled for his men to raise their weapons, 'Unfortunately, your time here is running short…'

'Wait! S'il Vous plaît, frère,' the clerk spoke, 'Weapons are not allowed here, you know that!'

'Forgive me! I'll pay for any damages.'

Aten resorted to his last card, 'Hey! How about a deal? I may have something you don't even know you want. And he can vouch for me,' He pointed at the clerk, and he nodded.

Lejin narrowed his eyes and prompted his men to hold their fire.

'Alright, cool! Um… You ever heard of uh,' Aten reached for his bag with the utmost regret, but he needed to save his skin.

'Just hand me the bag!' Lejin shouted.

'You sure? Are you absolutely sure you want me to hand you the bag?'

'I make the rules. Not you! Hand it over!'

'Okay then, your call,' Aten threw the bag, and with that, the trap was set.

Before Lejin could even grab a hold of it, the bag blew up with smoke in the air, clouding everyone's vision. Lejin ordered everyone to fire blindly, he wasn't going to let Aten escape.

'How could this happen?' He asked.

'Cause you're a shithead in a shithole!!' Aten said, as he went out the door and escaped the smoke.

He was back to the smelly, dimly lit, and crowded alleyway. People have already noticed the ruckus within the library and were already making their way out.

Not a moment later, the ground suddenly shook and a shockwave was blasted from the library and onto the adjacent shop. The slow march from the crowd soon turned into panic, and everyone ran for themselves. Aten couldn't believe his eyes. Lejin's men were using a Shockwave Gun. A weapon like that could literally bring down this entire town in a matter of seconds. And to his expectations, after the dust was cleared, the shop on the other side was nothing but bricks and stones.

It was time to make a run for it, the chase was only starting.

Aten barely knew the town, so running through its ins and outs was complicated. Fortunately, Lejin's soldiers weren't hot on his tail yet. But this was a cave, no matter how far he would run, there was no true escape. It would only be a matter of time before the inevitable happens. He was forever trapped within this cave, Lejin's cave, his den.

Meanwhile, Eeira was so engrossed in her affairs that she only noticed the ruckus when people came running from the back alley into the marketplace. It was then that she saw another giant shockwave blasting through the town. Immediately, she figured out that those were the capo's men — Lejin went by the title of a capo in the town after all — collecting some debt or doing their usual routines. However, she started looking for Aten, having no idea that he was the one involved with them.

Making his way through the crowds, Aten constantly evaded the blasts from Lejin's henchmen. They were right behind his back. The only way to distract them was to take detours, he thought. Running in a straight line wasn't of any help, even with the crowds.

And so he did. The moment the henchmen tried blasting the shockwave again, Aten took a swift turn to an alleyway leading farther into the town's "outskirts." Being busy with the weapon, the henchmen failed to notice Aten's escape and thought that they had finally shot him.

Even though he managed to escape their grip, Aten continued with his run. Switching from alleyway to alley. Never once showing his face out in the streets.

Then there it was...

Aten stopped in his tracks when he saw it.

A deeper cave within the walls, shining brightly towards the alleyway he was in. For some reason he couldn't understand, he was stuck staring at the cave for a bit, instead of going on with his escape. It wasn't just because the idea of a cave within a cave weirded him out, but rather, it was because of the contents that lied within this deeper cave.

It was a mansion. A huge mansion. Buried deep within this place. It reeked of danger, Aten could sense it.

When he came back to his senses, Aten had already been surrounded by the henchmen on both sides. The hole leading to the deeper cave was way smaller than expected so there was no way Aten could get out of this one.

The henchmen grabbed hold of him. Before he knew it, he was back at the Marketplace. However, instead of being surrounded by everyday merchants, it was all Lejin and his henchmen. They were ready to break him, but Aten wouldn't go down without a fight no matter what.

'Hey hey! What's all this commotion?!' A town guard stepped forward, like a saving grace, along with other guards.

Without further words, they pushed the henchmen away and tied both Aten and Lejin.

It was time to meet the mayor.