Neutral Powers.

"Hey! It's them!"

"Shira and Spear are in Sanctuary?"

"This might be my chance to be mentored by a high ranker!"

"Dream on, dumbass! Even Intermediate-rankers would beg to be taught by an Advanced-ranker of Spear's level, let alone a Founder-ranker like Shira."

"I've decided...I'm gonna ask Miss Shira out."

"Hahaha! Shoot your shot, brother!"

Many people chatted as they saw Phina and Pida walk into the Hunting Guild of Sanctuary. The two's fame spread like wildfire, especially Phina's. After all, they think that Phina is a Founder-ranker who would usually qualify to rule cities. Since Pida was travelling with her, both were already known across the entire Killers' Arena along with how they looked.

"Excuse me, we'd like to find this person." Pida said as he walked to the front desk. He handed the crystal which included the jade cup's receiver's face.

"I see. Please, excuse me while I go check if we have a Hunter with this face." the young man said as he went into the back to check.

While the man went back, everyone in the building was eyeing Phina. Some looked with fear, some with awe and admiration, some looked with envy and some even looked on with lust. Not a single person didn't pay attention to her.

As she noticed some even trying to approach her, she started releasing a little bit of her Killing Intent. Everyone approaching immediately stopped in their tracks. It was obvious that she didn't want to be approached. Unexpectedly, someone still walked up to her.

"Excuse me, would you offer a little bit of your time?" a blonde woman that looked to be in her late thirties walked up with confidence.

Phina eyed her with a smile, she was in quite a good mood after waking up without her mask and not being nervous about Pida finding out about her. "How may I help you?"

"I'm with the True Killers!" the woman smirked with arrogance.

"..." Phina merely looked at the woman with confusion.

"..." the woman's eyebrow twitched. "I-I want to recruit you for the True Killers!"

"True Killers?!"

"They want to recruit Shira?"

"I guess it's to be expected."

"They're hitting up Founder-rankers now?"

"Unaffiliated Advanced-rankers and above are prime prey for them."

Phina heard everyone's whispers clearly. "I'm sorry, I'm unfamiliar with the name."

"Y-You what?" the woman was shocked. She then glared hatefully. "I'm part of the True Killers' upper echelon!! How dare you humiliate me?!"

"I really am unfamiliar. It has nothing to do with humiliating you or your True Killers." Phina smiled calmly. The woman in front of her was a mere Intermediate-ranker, she could easily beat her with one hit.

"I-I..." the woman stuttered nervously. She had approached a ton of Advanced-rankers in the past and every single one of them had feared her.

"Let's start over. My name is Shira. I am an unaffiliated Founder-ranker travelling with my friend looking for someone." Shira chuckled at her nervousness.

The woman cleared her throat as she embarrassedly introduced herself. "My name is Tenon. I am a close friend of one of the founding members of the True Killers organization. The True Killers are people who are trying to unite under the banner of destroying the barrier of race. We have eight Law-rankers leading us."

"I know where the guy is now, let's move out." Pida said as he walked back to Phina. He quickly eyed Tenon then smiled. "I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting."

"I'm Tenon. I'm a member of True Killers' upper echelon." Tenon smiled with pride. "We have eight Law-rankers leading our organization and have a goal of going against all rules that hold us within racial war."

"Cool." Pida chuckled then turned to Phina and gave her a look.

Phina awkwardly smiled. "I'm sorry, Tenon. We'll have to consider it and talk to you later. I bid you farewell for now. If you wish to find us, head east to Demonic Day's capital, The Cave."

They didn't wait for her as the duo left the building.

"..." Tenon bit her lip. 'Shit, did they find out...?'

--------------------------------------------------------------

"What was up with her?" Pida asked as he led the way.

"She wanted to recruit me into her organization." Phina explained with a sigh. "It's a shame, if I had those Law-rankers guide me, I might be able to reach Apex-rank faster."

"They don't have any Law-rankers by the way." Pida whispered.

"What?" Phina looked at him with surprise. "I thought you didn't know them."

"I don't. I read her thoughts. The strongest person they got is a High stage Advanced-ranker." Pida explained. He then smirked. "Speaking of High stage, I trained hard last night while you slept like a baby with your thumb in your mouth and left it in the dust! You're officially looking at a Peak stage Advanced-ranker!"

"Congratulations!" Phina smiled. She then got hit with a realization. "Wait...you were watching me sleep?"

"W-Who said anything about that?!" Pida asked, highly offended.

"You said...never mind." Phina blushed slightly. 'I guess I kind of...GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!'

"SHIT!" Pida clutched his head in pain. "Really?!"

"Don't read my thoughts. I don't want you reading my thoughts anymore." Phina glared at the man.

"Fine...I promise..." Pida said as he huffed.

"Come on, cheer up! You reached the Peak stage!" Phina chuckled at the pouting Pida. She then looked down dejectedly with a sigh. "You should focus on building your foundations, don't rush through like me. There's no point in destroying your future."

"Don't talk like you're in your 90s, we're both still young!" Pida laughed. "On the bright side, if we reach grandpa and he helps you reach the Apex-rank, you can go back and do the stages you missed after buying the Killers' Arena."

"Speaking of your grandpa, where are we going?" Phina asked as she followed Pida into an alleyway.

"You won't believe this." Pida said as he smirked. He took a few turns in the alleys and then stopped walking. He knocked on the ground. "Kalini adkhur."

WHOOSH!!!

The ground quickly opened up and devoured both Phina and Pida. Phina immediately reached for her dagger to enter her Ender State, yet Pida quickly held her hand and smiled at her as they fell into the darkness below them.

"W-What's going on?!" Phina yelled in shock.

"Give it a moment." Pida chuckled as they fell into the abyss.

Their descent started to slow down exponentially. They gently touched the ground.

"We're looking for someone." Pida said into the void.

Click.

A door of light suddenly appeared in front of them.

"This is the Crossers' base, don't cause trouble, even Founder-rankers will regret it deeply." a man said as he opened the door of light. "Have fun."

"What the hell?" Phina whispered as she entered. It was a city!! An entire city underground!!

"Welcome to Crossers!" a man laughed as he approached the duo. "You're Spear and Shira I take it?"

"That's us." Pida said as he offered a handshake.

The tall beefy man smiled. His long brown hair shook as he grabbed Pida's arm and pulled him in.

BOOM!!

Pida immediately smashed the man that was twice his size into the ground, then he proceeded to sit on him. "You know, I didn't think you'd immediately go for a test."

"Hahahaha!!" the man laughed as he struggled to get up. "You pack quite a punch for someone your size!"

"The bigger they are, the harder they fall." Pida chuckled as he reoffered his hand for a handshake.

The man firmly shook his hand and smirked. "My name's Nevin, one of the Captains of the Crossers."

"Pleasure to meet you." Nevin smiled at Pida, then turned to Phina. "I've heard of the illustrious Shira's Founder-rank, but I'd advise you to not try anything. Our boss is a Founder-ranker too."

"I'll keep that in mind." Phina sighed. She was just an Expert-ranker, give or take a few high ranking Skills.

"I'd like to take you to meet our boss." Nevin smiled at her.

"Sorry, we've got someone we need to find." Pida interrupted. He didn't want to get involved with gangs. His grandfather always told him that someone crazy was behind the underworld of the Killers' Arena.

"Who?" Nevin asked. "If he's in the city, we'd be able to find him quickly. It is our city after all!"

"This guy." Pida threw the crystal to Nevin. The image of the quest issuer appeared in his mind. It was a feminine looking man. His gentle features and small face made him look like a little boy. His white shoulder length hair contrasted his blue eyes beautifully. This man looked pretty.

"HAHAHAHA!!" Nevin burst into laughter. "All the more reason to follow me!"

"You know where he is?" Phina asked.

"I'll take you to him!" Nevin said with a laugh. "Now, follow me!!"

As the trio walked into the city, Phina got to look around a little. Most of the people in the city wore masks. There were Elves, Humans, Orcs, Demons and Demibeasts. They walked around the city with comfort, some were even laughing.

"I thought Orcs and Demibeasts weren't allowed here." Pida said with wide eyes.

"If you think everyone is simply gonna follow the Monarchs blindly, then you're mistaken." Nevin smiled. "We're criminals. We live to rebel. Currently, we see a path to freedom from this racism."

"You do?" Phina asked.

"Seraphina Ender." Nevin said, his smile nowhere to be seen. "If we can use her to rally up an army while the Monarchs fight among themselves, we can overturn their rule."

"Aren't you afraid that we'll rat you out?" Phina asked.

"Hahaha! You've entered the city! You're automatically criminals now! All it takes is an info leak and the Monarchs will hunt you. They'd never leave a Founder-ranker that's against their rule." Nevin laughed.

Phina turned to Pida with a glare. Pida simply shrugged with a smile.

The trio approached a large building that had a large sign at its top saying "Crossers" with two crossing swords.

Bang!

The doors flung open as a man got thrown out. Nevin looked at the man in his arms, "Lonta? What the hell is going on?"

The man named Lonta was bleeding heavily. "S-She's here, Captain."

"Who?!" Nevin asked with a heavy mind. Only one woman could possibly cause trouble here fearlessly. If she was truly here, then not even his boss could do anything to her.

"The White Swordswoman..." Lonta lost consciousness.

Nevin's eyebrow twitched. "I see she still hasn't learned her lesson. She must want another beating."

The large man entered the building with rage, Phina and Pida close behind.

"Heuk! Who's next?!" Tala, the White Swordswoman of the Humans, slurred her words as she took a chug of alcohol.

"When will you learn?!" Nevin said as he walked forward, cracking his knuckles.

"Hold on." a gentle voice called out. A man in beast furs walked out. This man walked out from the back of the bar calmly. "Tala, what do you want?"

"Oh, it's the guy we're looking for." Phina noted.

"Axel! What the hell?!" Tala ran at the man and jumped at him.

"What an idiot..." Nevin sighed.

She grabbed Axel's leg and cried. "You said that you'd get the Sharks to join the alliance! What the hell?!"

"I really tried." Axel sighed. "You couldn't even keep a town under control, let alone a city."

"But I was at-"

"Boss." Nevin interrupted Tala as he approached Axel. "These two are Spear and Shira of the Dull Desert. They're here looking for you."