Having left behind the city centre they headed towards one of the most outer residental districts. In this city there was one rule everyone knew - the further something was from The Tower the poorer and less secure the area was. This could give an impression that The Tower was something safe, yet contrary to this belief it was even much more dangerous than the most wild cave on this level. The Tower was said to be the spine of the entire world, world that consisted of 99 levels. Each level resembled a completely different landscape and was inhabited by countless lifeforms from blestols, living in caverns feeding on mushrooms and junk, to elementals and giants each having their own planes. The Tower was the only connection between levels and was opened only when the heroes were walking on this world. When the cycle ended and all heroes died the gates of The Tower would close and open only after they were summoned again after four years.

In the inner circles of the First City where buildings were high and mighty, built of expensive materials from higher levels such as marble lived only the creme de la creme. Leaving the show-off contest of rich families behind Arath finally sighed in relief. Going the opposite direction from where they had come he started to recognize his surroundings. He greeted few elder shopkeepers and when the neighbourhood began to look ugly and unwelcoming he felt finally at home. Contrary to most people's concepts of home he despised his. If he could he would burn it down and never again talk about it. Yet unfortunetly it was all the world gave him and he had to put up with it. Avoiding gazes of the crowd he left the main alley and entered a shady backstreet. Shady was a very understatement, blue light illuminating the main streets could barely reach this place making the place too dark to see for normal eyes. Even Arath's enhanced eyes needed few seconds to get used to it.

"Keep close to me, you don't want to get lost here."

Anga without hesitation clung to him. Clara kept her distance yet stayed close enough to not lose sight of him. She picked up a small stone she had just kicked and stayed vigilant ready to put up a fight. The amount of all kinds of rodents and homeless animals living in this backstreets was overwhelming. Wherever they looked they could spot at least few either lying on the ground dying of starvation or feeding on those that had already kicked the bucked. First rule of outer circles - kill or be killed. The rule applied to both humans and animals, no exeptions.

The group moved forward looking around for any sign of danger when suddenly they heard a scream from above. A window opened 2 storeys above them and a man fell down from it. His body hit the ground a little too hard in a very unfortunate angle so Arath and the rest could hear the sound of his bones crunching. Arath noticed that the fall wasn't the reason for the man's death, a black dagger stuck out of his back was. Being a witness of a murder was not something he wanted to be at this exact moment so after of moment of hesitation he pulled both girls into a corner where even he could not see and covered them with trash around them. The stench was terrible but it was much more to his liking then being stabbed by a mysterious assasin. He soon found that this was the right call. From the opened window jumped a short man completely covered by his black coat. A hoodie and a mask covered most of his face leaving only a set of sharp and soul piercing eyes. The man closed the distance between himself and the body, pulled out his dagger and looked around. After making sure he was alone the murderer quickly hid in the shadows and run away.

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'Oof, that was close. We have to get to my place as soon as possible or we will end up the same. The girls are way too good-looking for this place's standards - the moment someone notices them will be our last.'

With that in mind the group moved even faster than before and without any more incidents arrived at their destination. It was a 3 storeys building carved out in a giant rock surrounded by many buildings that differed only by height and amount of shit piling up behind. Arath took out his key and without wasting a second climbed the building form it's side. He opened up a window by hitting it few times in the right spot and jumped inside. The girls looked at each other and shrugged, they had seen much worse and run-down places. To them one room for 3 people was already a luxury. They followed Arath and in a few moments joined him in the room. It was about 8 square meters wide and was furnished by a single bed and a chest filled with dirty clothes.

"Welcome to my mansion, I hope it will suit your tastes."

"Thank you my lord, which way to the ballroom?" Clara answered jokingly.

"Haha. So, let's get down to business. Girls, don't leave this room. I mean seriously, stay here and don't go anywhere. Make yourself at home, I will go to the market now and buy pillows for you two."

"Ohoho, just for us? You flatter me"

"Very funny, besides the pillows I will buy supplies and everything that could come in handy in the dungeon and come back here as soon as I finish."

"Thank You, Arath. I never knew some stranger would one day try to help me instead of just using me. But I will do as I see fit. I won't survive my life by just sitting in a corner and hiding, if I want to learn how to survive here I need to experience everything first hand.

'This girl is something. I'm just not sure if something positive or negative. Can't she just sit on her ass and wait?' Arath's eye twitched.

"Ah, just don't blame me if you die out there. And don't count on anybody's decent side. They have lost it many years ago. I will probably too if I live here for few more years." He said and jumped into the darkness of the back street.