"Alright, let's get down to business."

After a nice meal and a hot shower, we are all aware that the nightmare of captivity and torture is over. Our new mission is to piece together every bit of information we have to save our friend.

After my initial statement breaking our food coma, all eyes are on me.

I look around the room a few times, then activate my newest skill.

"Hush"

A near-invisible grey orb of energy expands from my index finger and surrounds the entire room. All sounds of the outside world completely vanish, and we're isolated by an impenetrable sound barrier.

It doesn't hold any physical mass and can be walked through without any external sensation. Unless you're of an Elite level mana control status, it would not be possible to detect.

My teammate's eyes begin to wander, so I explain.

"It's a sound barrier. A new ability I picked up recently."

Arie, Abby, and Maria are used to my random odd new abilities, but Fisher and the Old man look amazed.

Still, they let me continue in the silence.

"Let's recount the last few days. Mention any slip of the tongue from the guards, or even a painting on the wall that you noticed off. Anything and everything helps. All extra information is good information. Our first priority is finding our teammate, but there's something much bigger at play here too."

With a round of attentive nods in my direction I begin to recall the events of the last few days.

I start with the pins that act as shielding, then the name of their organization, and finally the ranking system they seem to follow.

Placing the silver "002" badge on a small coffee table I look over to Chester.

"What do you think? I've never seen a shielding artifact like this before. It's easily on par with ranked-up bosses."

He examines the pin as I continue on about the short-haired blond's torture techniques and how she mentioned Brutus giving up information on all of us.

Abby gets red-faced at this point and interjects through gritted teeth.

"So they were involved. That's the final straw... Ever since I joined the Association they've only treated me like a well-paid slave. All of this information being held from us while we risk our lives only to be sold out to the highest bidder. I don't know about you guys, but I'm not going back."

I nod with a grin.

"Agreed. Brutus deserves a taste of his own medicine. I'm in the same boat, but for now this isn't our top priority."

Next, I carefully explain why they were interrogating me for so long, and the reason for their questioning Lydia. While leaving out the part where I myself have the power to wield Demonic Energy, I explain how they wanted information on the final boss room as well as details on items Lydia was farming on the floor below.

Maria and Fisher are angered by this point.

The blue-haired mage is the first to speak.

"So that's what they meant."

I raise an eyebrow as he continues.

"While I was being questioned, the guard wouldn't stop asking me about black stones. He wanted to know if I was hiding any. Over... and over."

He looks back down at his lap.

"We're known to party together, so maybe they had some past intel and wanted to be thorough."

He mutters to himself and and blue light flickers in his eyes.

"I'll make their leader pay. They have no idea who they're messing with."

My gaze turns to my right as Maria begins to speak, adding to his frustration.

"I just want to get Lydia back and make whoever took her away suffer."

A cool sensation fills the room as her ambient ice magic drops the temperature by a few degrees.

Arie doesn't seem too concerned with the current matter at hand, he speaks up piecing together a separate matter.

"The Abyss. What do you know about the Abyss?"

I sigh, turning to Chester.

"Not much at all actually. I was hoping our researcher here could fill us in on the details. Their number 2 in charge said they would be a meeting at sunrise in 3 days at the observatory near the Abyss."

With enough All-Seeing Eye and enemy detection scans of the city with days to do so, I'm sure I could find this place on my own. However, Information from this source may give some extra insight.

He chuckles.

"I'm just an old curious Merchant, researching the old artifacts I've collected over the years is more of a hobby than an official title. But, I'll gladly take the role."

He smiles and holds the silver pin up in the air.

"First things first. This is a fascinating piece. It's made by a craftsman on a level I've never witnessed before. There are no items like this available on the open market, and it's manmade without a doubt."

He sighs.

"With that being said, the organization we've made an enemy of is one that has been running the underworld of this city for quite a while. Their leader is slick and elusive, while the underlings are killed, captured, and swapped out often. There have been a few occasions in which average Solaran hunters turned in the Inner Circle's thugs."

We all stare at him wide-eyed, keen to hear what he has to say next.

"It's known that a near impenetrable base was operating in the black market, but not even the Solaran government cared to step in. Sometimes when they have a task too heavy to handle, they'll ask the Inner Circle to get it done."

Silence fills the room again.

I speak up with a suspicious tone.

"So these guys are well known? So much for a secret organization..."

Chester laughs.

"No, no. You've got a point. They're only well known in the higher circles. I would never know much about them if their underlings hadn't come to my old pawn shop for rare items every once and a while over the years. I'm retired now, but I've watched this city grow along with the people in it. I'd be blind to not know how things work around here."

There's a long pause, then he stares me in the eyes.

"I know you're strong. Stronger than any hunter I've ever met in fact. Just know, If you make an enemy of the Inner Circle, you'll either die or be forced to see how deep the rabbit hole really goes."

Another long pause follows as I ponder the old man's words.

Then, I respond.

"I understand. I'd like to know everything."

A thin smile curls onto the corner of Chester's lips, then he gets up from his seat and starts to head upstairs.

"One moment, I have exactly what you're looking for."

Less than 30 seconds pass, but the building tension in the room grows making it seem like an hour passes before he finally comes walking down the creaking wooden steps holding a stack of papers.

"Here. Everything I know from researching the anomaly known as the Abyss."

Chester places the papers on a center coffee table and we all lean in to take a look. There are illegible scribbles and drawings of the city within the desert with red Xs around its borders labeled with dates.

"I'll start from the beginning. The more context you have, the more this will make sense to you younger ones."

He explains.

"Out in the Dark Continent, each sector has a major city capital with a Labyrinth attached. This is Sector 4, technically the weakest region of them all."

We all nod, not wanting to miss a word.

"Just like major countries outside the walls, the more magic energy enters the Labyrinth, the bigger it becomes."

He swallows.

"If you don't mind me asking, how many floors did this one have?"

I reply.

"26."

Chester thinks for a moment.

"Interesting. Considering that The Vice Region Capital you all came from has well over 10 times as many inhabitants and divers that we have here, it's safe to assume it has 50 or more floors."

Fisher interjects.

"So what? The floor number doubles for the increased population of a region for every power of 10. This isn't secret information. What's that have to do with any of this?"

The old man chuckles.

"It has much more to do with it than you may think. The 8 major powers partnered with the Association rule the world in modern times. The Vice Region may have one of the largest economies and highest populations today, but many forget about the capital city that stood here in the 9th region before the War."

The old man takes a long breath to cool his nerves.

"Deep within the Abyss, you will find the greatest forgotten Labyrinth of them all."