After finishing her breakfast, Emily and Ryan made their way out of the dining hall as they headed downstairs towards the first floor.

As they reached the first floor they were greeted with a company-like atmosphere around the area. This was the main lobby, where citizens from the nearby districts come in and report their problems towards Zephyr.

Walking on the cold clear floors of the lobby, the two noticed that Luke was at the front desk talking towards a girl behind the counter, Alexis. A person who handles the secretarial work of Zephyr.

"These are the reports from the recent missions Zephyr has gone on, they should suffice right?" Alexis held onto a thin folder as she passed it over to Luke.

"Yeah, thanks, Alexis." Luke smiled as he took the folder.

"Hehe, no problem!"

After receiving the report from Alexis, Luke made his way towards the elevator area. As he headed there, his eyes locked towards Ryan and Emily who were standing by the elevator. Seeing that they were standing, Luke greeted them as he entered the elevator.

After greeting Luke. Ryan and Emily stepped forward, where Alexis noticed them.

"Hmm? Oh! Good morning you two!" Alexis happily bowed towards the two who were approaching the counter.

"Ah, good morning, Alexis! How's work?" Emily greeted back with a smile.

"Same old, same old. You two heading out?"

"Yeah, me and Emily are going out to buy some parts for her drones," Ryan replied.

"Oh, you're making a new drone, Emily?"

"Yep~! It's almost done." Emily nodded

"Hehe, I see!"

"Anyways, what were you two discussing earlier?" Ryan asked.

"Hm? Oh! I was just giving a few reports about the recent missions to Luke."

"Ah, I see... Recent missions huh?" Ryan said as he gave a thought, 'If that report mentions Eric's slacking, he'll be so dead...' A slight smirk appeared on Ryan's face as thought to himself.

"Hm? Is there a problem?"

"It's nothing, well we'll be on our way." Ryan hurriedly said.

"Have a safe trip!"

"Thanks, Alexis~!" Emily waved goodbye to Alexis as the two exited the headquarters.

Sector 6, Downtown Bris—11:21 A.M.

As they made their way out of the headquarters, Emily stopped at her footsteps as she thought to herself,

"Hmm... If I remember correctly and my sleep deprivation didn't affect my memory... Khur's Workshop should be just around the block."

"Alright then, lead the way, Emily." Ryan nodded his head as he gestured towards Emily to be ahead.

"Alrighty~! Let's go!"

Ryan and Emily walked along the busy streets of Bris as they saw people hurriedly rushing to their jobs, people having their morning drink with their friends by the cafe and some who just strolled through the streets.

The people in Citadel were going about their everyday lives. As any other person from other cities on the continent.

"Ack...!" A man blurted out as he accidentally bumped into a man in a white t-shirt, quickly as he looked towards him, the man's expression turned grave as he saw that his coffee spilt onto his shirt. "I-I'm sorry! P-Please don't hurt me..."

However, what lurks behind the scenes is but the effects of the hierarchy...

"Tch, look at what you did to my shirt!" The other man complained.

"...?" Ryan heard the man's loud tone as he looked over towards the direction of the voice.

"I'm sorry...! It was a mistake... Please allow me to pay for the damages-" Quickly rummaging through his pockets. Suddenly the man felt suffocation as his eyes turned to the man in a white t-shirt in front of him. The man had grabbed onto his collar.

"What? You thought you could get away by saying it was just a mistake?! Grr..." The man angrily shouted out as he kicked him towards the side of a building.

"ACK!"

"You think just because I'm in the same district as you, I'm equal as you?" The man walked towards the fallen person, "Just because of that damn thought you think you can spill your damn coffee on me?!"

In this city... These one-sided beatings are common, a simple mistake. No matter the mistake, spilling coffee onto someone, a single wrong bump on a person, or doing anything on someone who's higher than you... Will result in this.

"Oh? What's this? A fight?"

"Bah... Just some guy who's higher in the hierarchy showing that low tier their place."

"Heh, should've been more careful! Thought he could get away by just saying it was a mistake? Must've thought he was just a lowly low tier like him."

"Bastard should know his place."

Bystanders began to crowd around the scene as murmurs began spreading through the area.

"N-No... I swear... It was just a mistake..." The man hesitantly said.

"Know your place low tier!" The man in the white t-shirt continued to beat him up.

"Ugh..." Emily turned away from the sight of the one-side beating.

"Tch..." Ryan clicked his tongue, as anger washed over him.

In this city... Rankings are absolute. These rankings decide your standings in society, this is due to the hierarchy of power. Where the high tiers which are known as the predators hunt or look down on their prey, the low tiers.

The hierarchy is an absolute rule that everyone must follow. The hierarchy ranks an individual based on their power level, it doesn't matter how wealthy or famous they are, it all comes down to their 'power'.

The top hierarchy consists of 'S Tiers' or 'High Tiers'. In the middle of the hierarchy consists of the 'C Tiers' or 'Mid Tiers' and finally, the bottom... Cripples, the powerless.

"I hate the fact that no one is doing anything about this!" Emily shouted angrily.

"Tch... Even if they have a sense of justice... They can't do anything about this with the city's rule..." Ryan turned his hand into fists as he resisted the urge to step in.

The rule of Citadel, when there's a fight or beating among two parties, no one is allowed to interfere with it when it's a battle of power or a show of power. People can only interfere when either party uses their power abusively. Although there are exceptions to this for example when an authority interferes under the judgement of 'public nuisance'.

"Grr... Let's leave." Emily clicked her tongue as she turned around, leaving the scene with anger and disgust on her face.

"Right on it." Unable to do anything with his power to stop the fight, Ryan could only follow after Emily, as they headed towards Khur's Workshop.

"Tch... Why must the hierarchy exist..." As they walked, Emily couldn't help but think back on the fight from earlier, "Can't people just see others as equal?"

"..." Ryan helplessly looked at Emily as he sighed, "If only the authorities actually do something about it, but they don't... or 'can't'."

"What are they even doing anyway?! That is clearly 'public nuisance' right there!"

"Well... For the general public, they don't see it like that..."

"Ugh." Emily clicked her tongue as she walked on ahead.

...

They continued to walk as they finally reached the workshop.

"Phew, finally here," Ryan said as he looked towards Emily who was holding onto a piece paper that seemed to be a list.

"Alright, let's buy the parts and finish up my drone!" Emily said as she walked into the workshop.

Sector 6, Downtown Bris, Khur's Workshop—11:34 A.M.

The two entered the workshop, as they saw no one on the front counter.

"Hmm?" Ryan titled his head as he looked around.

"Old Man Khur? Are you there?" Emily called out for Khur's name as a reply was an immediately heard.

"Huh? There are customers? Give me a second, I'll be right there."

From the back, a man that looked to be in his 60s walked in, the owner of the shop, Khur.

"Ah, Emily, welcome." Stepping towards the back of the counter, he greeted Emily as he looked towards the person beside her, "Hmm? Ryan's here too?"

"Heya! I'm here for some parts!" Emily greeted back as she placed the piece of paper she was holding on the counter.

"Good morning, Mister Khur. Good to see you're doing well." Ryan greeted.

"It's been a while huh? How's your old man doing?" Khur said as he scrutinized the piece of paper given by Emily.

"He's doing great."

"Aha, that's nice to hear. Why don't you ask him to come by for a drink when he's free?" Khur said as he walked over towards shelves which contained many robotic parts.

"Sure thing, I'll ask him when he's free," Ryan nodded his head.

"Are there any interesting materials in stock today?" Emily asked.

"Hmm... Not today I'm afraid." Khur shook his head, as he grabbed the parts on the list, quickly he placed the parts on the counter.

"Aw..." Emily took out the sufficient amount of Fiol for the parts as she placed them on the counter, "Alright this should be enough, thanks Khur~!" Emily said as she waved goodbye to him.

As the two left the workshop, they heard a sudden noise coming from the nearby alleyway.

"P-Please...! Don't hurt us..."

"D-Dad said to give him a few more days..."

"Huh...?" Suddenly hearing two shaky voices, Emily turned towards the direction of it.

"Shut up, you brats!" Another voice was heard from the alleyway, this time it was a deep male's voice, "It's due time he pays up! Tch, if he isn't here then I'll..."

...

Within the alleyway, was two kids and a man.

"Ack!" The boy cried out as he was pushed out of the way by the man.

"Ah! B-Brother...!" Seeing that her brother was shoved away, she quickly turned towards him. Just as she was about to walk up to him, she felt a sudden strong grip on her arm.

"I'll take your sister away to serve as punishment for delaying this!" The man angrily said as he grabbed onto the boy's sister, Lisbeth as he began to forcibly drag her away.

"Kyaa...! H-Help!" Lisbeth screamed as she resisted the strong grip.

"H-Hey! Leave my sister alone...! Take me instead...!" The boy hurriedly got up as he quickly rushed towards Lisbeth.

"Tch, who are you to order me around?" The man shoved the boy to the ground, "Leave and tell your father to pay up if he wants to see her again."

"N-No...! Brother...!" Lisbeth cried out as she was continued to be dragged away.

Just as the man took another step forward, a sudden voice rang through the alleyway, "Hey! What do you think you're doing?!"

"What?" The man abruptly stopped as he turned around.