Abyssal Awakening

Waking up in the morning, Alice and Ria had some breakfast while waiting for Gin to return. With their trip down to the Howling Depths now complete, Allura granted them a bit of rest until Gin came back with the equipment that Ria would need for this hunt.

After all, everything was prepared, they'll be leaving for the small fishing hamlet called Anivari and renting a boat there.

"I don't think the news regarding the Storm Leviathan is known by a lot of people so I doubt there will be competition for it but knowing the underground, a few VIP's may have gotten wind of the news already.

"When we arrive in Anivari, we'll be taking a direct route to reach the main channel near the Slaughter Docks. If you find several boats heading the same way then you'll know who your competition is. Depending on the situation, they might offer for you to join them since this is no easy hunt." Allura warned while leaning back on her chair.

"Are they going after the Sigil as well?" Ria asked curiously but Allura shrugged.

"Maybe, maybe not. A few Hunters might be there to harvest the corpse instead. It is known for Harvesters and Hunters to work together to collect as much as they can from the beast."

"Harvesters?" Alice raised her head upon hearing an unfamiliar term.

"Yep. They're Hunters who specialise in dealing with the aftermath of a hunt. You wouldn't see them in low star hunts as even the basic Hunter can harvest the corpse. But for valuable beasts, especially one such as the Storm Leviathan, there will be Harvesters that try to make an agreement with the Hunters trying to kill the beast for its Sigil.

"In lending their strength, they will be promised a sizable portion of the corpse while the Hunter will get an easy Hunt. Harvesters are usually deployed by noble families as it is not a very popular job compared to being a Hunter.

But the Hunter's Guild recognises their existence and all of the Hunters generally have high respects for powerful Harvesters since they can guarantee the success rate of a hunt with the only trade off being losing out on parts of the corpse." Allura explained as Alice made a mental note in her mind.

"I see… Then I suppose there is a Harvester's Guild as well then."

"Bingo." Allura nodded her head with a smile.

"For now, I'd suggest you two avoid dealing with Harvesters as not only are they strong, they're also rather stingy. Unless you can settle things with a Law of Agreement, verbal promises can only take you so far." Allura shook her head.

"Did you get scammed by a Harvester before?" Ria asked curiously as it sounded like Allura had some interactions with them before.

"Only once. Though they're not really a Harvester. After that, anyone who tried to scam me died by my hand if they don't heed my warning. As for the person who scammed me, not only did he sabotage my hunt, making it so that I had to find a new beast, but he also destroyed the entire beast so I couldn't get anything out of it at all." Allura rolled her eyes with a sigh.

"Who was it?" Alice asked as her interest had been piqued. Considering how Allura was, it was surprising that anyone could scam her.

"You know him pretty well. It was Kaden. When I was hunting for my fourth Sigil at the time, we met each other and he sabotaged my hunt. He compensated for it later but that was the first time I realised a hunt could be sabotaged in such a way." Allura waved her hand dismissively.

Hearing about these stories regarding Kaden, Alice really wanted to see what he was like before and compare it to the him now.

The outspoken and 'free spirited' Kaden who would break into one of the most heavily guarded places on the surface seemed rather reserved in the past.

"Anyways enough about mentioning the raven b*stard. Just thinking about him annoys me since he's not taking responsibility at all. He just runs around the surface everyday doing whatever he wants." Allura sighed.

"Huh? Who's the raven b*stard?" Ria tilted her head in confusion.

"He's the one who gave Alice the Eye and threw her into the Abyss for me to deal with. If I wasn't around at the Slaughter Docks, Alice's would've been a slave and forced into some dangerous events."

Hearing this, Ria had to do a doubletake before looking over to Alice, wondering if this was true.

Seeing Alice nod her head, Ria was speechless.

"What the crap have you been talking about now? I just came back and Ria is looking at you two like you just did something stupid." Gin's voice interrupted as he walked through the front door with a rather large sack behind him.

Placing it down on the table with an audible thud, Gin ordered some alcohol for himself while having the inn keeper refill his canteen.

"Nothing much. Just about how I met Alice in the Slaughter Docks. Seems like you got everything prepared." Allura smiled, giving the bag a quick glance.

"Somewhat. There's a few things I couldn't get my hands on in a short time since it seems like there will be some competition for this beast. A bunch of people have already bought up most of the supply available in the market. If it wasn't for the Underground helping out, I don't think I could've got my hands on these." Gin sighed as he opened the bag.

Placing all of the contents on the table, Alice was rather surprised by the tools that he had prepared.

There was a pair of silver armoured gauntlets, a pair of boots, a scarf, bow with some arrows and lastly, a strange white and purple metal shard.

"Still, you managed to get quite a lot. If they really are gathering the equipment needed for this hunt, I'm surprised you managed to get your hand on this shard since it's the most important." Allura remarked as she held up the shard and examined it closely.

"Rather high quality at that too."

"It wasn't easy but I managed to snag the last one." Gin nodded as he leaned back and relaxed.

"So… how do I use these things?" Ria asked, picking up the gauntlets and seeing if there were anything strange with them or not.

"Lightning Viper Scale gloves and boots. A pretty common equipment for fighting lightning-based beasts. It can absorb some of the lightning and use it to enhance your own abilities. It's especially handy if you are a lightning ability user like you are since it'll enhance the power of your Sigils. The boots let you run faster while the gloves let you punch harder.

Simple yet handy for you who fights in close quarters a lot." Allura smiled, pointing to the gloves and boots.

"Scarf made from Dream Wraith skin and flesh. It increases your speed and lets you evade detection easier since it hides your presence. Against the Storm Leviathan, it'll help you dodge its attacks and travel across its body with ease.

"Bow made from Nether Howler bones and tendons. Arrows made from Thunder Caller Spikes. The bow is durable enough to withstand the force needed for the Thunder Caller Spikes while the Thunder Caller Spikes will let you deal substantial damage to the beast.

It requires lightning to fire and when it hits the target, nearly lightning attacks will be redirected towards the arrow, causing it to explode and launching a lightning spear through the wound."

As she reached the final equipment, the purple and white shard, Allura looked at Alice.

"This is what'll allow you to assist Ria in this hunt. Blight Caller Shard. The Blight Caller is a 5 star beast that could be considered the enemy of the Storm Leviathan. Using this shard will allow you to manifest the powers of the Blight Caller to cancel out the abilities used by the Storm Leviathan. When Ria cannot dodge certain attacks, it'll be up to you to protect her.

Not only that, after using this shard, you will be able to weaken the Leviathan for a brief period of time.

"It's made from concentrated Blight Caller Blood so if needs be, you can snack on it and treat it as Abyss Blood but that's only as a last resort. Remember, this is Ria's hunt. Interfere too much and it'll become troublesome. With other's wanting to hunt the same beast, I'm not afraid that Ria wouldn't be able to contribute the most.

What I'm worried about is you accidently doing too much! Allura reminded as Alice nodded her head.

She could still remember how Ria had helped her during her hunt against the Blood Maiden. So long as she makes sure she didn't wound the beast too much and focused on covering for Ria, things will go smoothly.

Meanwhile, Gin had choked on his drink the moment Allura told Alice to snack on the shard if needs be.

"Allura, you're… not serious when you told Alice to use that shard as a snack right?" Gin frowned.

"Nope, I'm being deadly serious. Trust me, I'm not saying this without reason." Allura reassured.

Knowing Alice's resistance towards the Abyss, eating the shard was more beneficial than just activating it as none of the side effects would linger. If things truly go south, this was their best method to salvage the hunt so that Ria can get her Sigil.

Staring at Allura, Gin sighed and leaned back.

He had gone through this set of emotions far too many times now and was beginning to just accept the choices. It wasn't like he could affect what she decides on and if she had told Alice to use it as a backup plan then she must have her reasons.

'What a headache…' Gin thought to himself. If it wasn't for the fact that he was an Abyss Lord and had long grown accustomed to Allura's insanity and choices, he would've lost his own mind by now.

Explaining how to activate the equipment, they started to plan for the fight.

As the battle will be happening above Abyss Waters, they had to be careful with how they fight and they will begin the battle using the bow to maximise how much damage Ria could do towards the beast. This is the best way for her to rack up the contributions and once the beast becomes enraged, Ria will fight it in close quarters.

With the plan prepared, the group hired a carriage towards Anivari