Chapter 86: Ch84. Pain as a teacher (8) - Deeper underground
Miles walked cautiously as he tried to not bump into any passersby, the stale underground air wrapping around him like a second skin.
The descent into the Black Market had been brief but unsettling; as soon as they stepped past the doorway, it felt as though they had crossed into another world entirely.
Flickering neon lights lined the stone passageways, casting eerie shadows across the walls. The soft hum of whispered conversations and distant laughter blended with the occasional clang of metal or the quiet shuffling of unseen figures moving through the depths of the Market.
The deeper they went, the denser the air became, thick with the mingled scents of alchemical potions, charred metal, and something sickly sweet that Miles couldn’t quite place.
Mara walked ahead of them like she belonged there. Probably because she did.
Her every step was purposeful, her posture relaxed but aware, like a predator among its own kind. Sarissa, on the other hand, moved with silent calculation, her sharp eyes scanning every corner, every movement in the periphery of her vision. Miles simply followed, doing his best not to appear out of place while his own instincts screamed at him to stay on guard.
"This place looks bigger than I expected..." He muttered, barely above a whisper.
"That’s because you’ve only seen a fraction of it. The Black Market isn’t just a marketplace, Thorn. It’s an entire network. A city beneath the city." Mara shot him a smirk over her shoulder.
Miles did not doubt it. They passed through tight alleyways between haphazardly constructed stalls, where vendors peddled wares that were not exactly legal – or ethical, to say the least.
A cloaked figure haggled over a pair of gauntlets, their metallic surface pulsing with a faint red glow. Another merchant, seated behind a veil of thick incense smoke, traced arcane symbols into the air as he bargained with a desperate-looking player.
Everyone was a player here, certainly, but not all of them looked like they had come from the surface.