"Are they loan sharks?" Lucas sprung the question out of nowhere. From his tonality, I could tell it wasn't just a joke. He was being deadly serious.

As soon as he heard that, Logan, who was a bit further ahead, chuckled as he uttered: "Loan sharks? I wish. Can you imagine how much money I'd make if I were to do something like that? Unfortunately, due to an extremely private reason (Ava), I'll never be able to rob people of their money."

The beast tamer looked as at me, probably wondering just how the hell did Logan hear him from so far away. The barbarian's instincts weren't to be ruffled with. It wasn't as though he was particularly clever, but the leaps in logic this man could make to achieve a conclusion were rather frightening sometimes. I suppose he's what they refer to as 'street smart.'

"That's his thing," Mara grumbled, putting her license through the gap in the window at the entrance and pushing it toward the guard. "It's kinda creepy if you asked me, but it comes in handy from time to time. It often gets us into trouble."

"It's my superpower," he muttered, ignoring her remark entirely.

"Are you perhaps a hunter, Mr. Logan?"

"Mister my ass! I'm not that old!" shouted Logan, twitching his head toward us with a pissed look on his already intimidating face, which wasn't helping his case. Not in the slightest. "It's just Logan. Gosh, Ava would've burst into a fit of laughter if she heard you address me that way."

My lips crept upward. It was quite ironic how he gave the same response as Ava in similar circumstances. I guess those two were meant for each other, despite the antagonistic difference in their stature. Opposites attract, after all.

"Sure. Logan it is, then. But who is—"

That's when Mara began to chuckle rather loudly as she retrieved her license once the guard was done checking it.

"Whatcha laughing at?" growled Logan, sensing something was wrong.

"Isn't that the way Gray referred to you when you two first met at the store?"

"Uh, no he didn't—" he paused for a second, rucking his brain for that specific memory. "Oh, but he did! Don't do that again, brat. It's creepy."

"Aye, sir."

"You son of a—"

His curse was interrupted by the monotonous guard's voice as he said: "Your license, please."

"S-sure thing," the barbarian replied, embarrassed he forgot for a moment where we actually were. Searching into his pockets, I swear I could see panic washing over the giant as he fidgeted around, but couldn't find his own license. If he didn't have it, then all of us would be forced to return.

"Sir?"

"Wait, I know I have," he grumbled, then pulled it out of his wallet. That's where Ava put it so he wouldn't forget about it, I assumed. "Here! Ava and her nasty cleaning habits..."

"Isn't that a contradiction?" I couldn't help but notice the fault in his reasoning. After all, how could cleaning be a bad habit?

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"It's nasty when you're affected by it in a negative way."

"But you probably would've forgotten it in some other place if she didn't do that for you."

"Whatever," he grumbled as he withdrew his license.

Not it was Lucas's turn. I offered him a silent prayer and return my gaze to the last member of our party, Edward.

"Is there something wrong?" I asked as I watched him, apparently out of it.

"No," he offered that brief reply.

"Are you worried about Lucas?"

"Yeah..." His eyes widened slightly as I questioned that. "What if he gets us into trouble?"

Thinking back about the way the beast tamer apologized to all the other customers after I knocked that midget out, I could say with confidence: "Don't worry. He won't screw things up or anything like that. You can trust him to follow Logan's orders, or yours for that matter, Edward."

That only made him let out a bitter smile and fidget with the quiver's strap as he passed by. "Thanks for the reassurance, Gray."

It was my pleasure. We were about to on a difficult journey. Putting our minds at ease was part of my job as a porter. Well, I tended to overcompensate things, but I could argue that's what makes me special. Doing whatever I could to be as useful as possible was a habit I've mastered throughout the many jobs that I've had in the past. Now I could proudly say it came to me as naturally as breathing.

Not long after the guard was done verifying Edward's license, it was my turn to step to the counter. The clash of metal rang out as I quite literally slammed the backpack on the counter.

"You're their porter?"

I nodded, which didn't seem to be enough judging by the suspicious expression he wore on his face. He then turned his head toward the official leader of our party, Logan. "Is he your porter?"

People have tried to get into the 4th District on various occasions in the past in order to see what was within, as most information about that place was limited.

"Of course he is! Haven't you seen him chat with us all this time?"

He shrugged his shoulders as he typed something onto the computer. "I just wanted to have the Hawkes' leader's verbal testament. That's all."

"Fuck," the barbarian grumbled a curse, only to be offered a few pitying taps on his boulder-like shoulders by Mara. From the looks of it, he fell for the guard's trap. Of course, me being Logan's responsibility went on without saying. It was just that, he was probably pissed about the fact this guard managed to get the advantage of him.

"Way too many clothes. A medicine kit from the looks of it. Rations of canned food," the guard went on as he looked through the first compartment. My mouth was so dry I felt as though I walked through the desert, my eyes still locked on his fingers the entire time he searched through the bag.

"There's a knife in the middle compartment," I confessed, unable to bear it anymore. "If that's what you're looking for, sir."

"You know a porter shouldn't be carrying around this?" He rose a brow as he analyzed it.

"It's just like any knife you would use in a kitchen. Nothing outstanding. And I don't intend to use it," I reassured him as I leaned my elbows on the counter, knowing fully well that everything I said was just a load of nonsense meant to distract him from the artifact. "But with all those monsters out there—" I gulped, looking at nothing in particular. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound apologetical or anything..."

"It's alright, just take it. I assumed you had a dagger in there, but it's actually just a knife." The guard only sighed as he closed the backpack. "Make sure not to die out there."

Oh, I have more than just a dagger. In truth, it's a gleaming artifact.

"Thank you," I told him, satisfied by the negotiating abilities I honed in my short period within the Underworld. Besides the anguish that I experienced, the benefits I received came in more ways than just physical.

"Have fun—" slipped from the guard's lips as the tremor around us muffled his voice.

The massive, iron gate that blocked our view shook as it lifted higher and higher, allowing us to enter the district. A ray of the setting's sun pierced through the gap, illuminating the shadow cast before us by the enormous structure. I raised my palm in front of me, squinting and trying not to close my eyes. Nature sprang through the damaged pavement, its vines reaching all the way to the tops of some buildings. Only the rugged exteriors of some disassembled cars filled the otherwise vacant streets.

For a moment, we held our breaths. All we could do was stare at what was exposed behind the walls, at the rubble that remained after the monsters ravaged the district. The simulation I previously saw was certainly impressive, yet it could not even compete with the actual thing. That was just how distinctive everything was. All of this made a harsh breath escape my lungs.

It was an absolutely horrifying sight.