Abyssal Awakening

Riding in the carriage to Anivari, Alice couldn't help but glance back at the city of Zadash.

With their next destination in mind, they weren't going to be coming back to this place for a long time considering after the hunt, she and Ria will be making their way to the mainland.

"So what kind of place is Anivari?" Alice asked as she sat back in her seat and looked towards Allura.

"It's a pretty small place. Nothing really remarkable about it. The only reason why I know the place exists is because an old acquaintance of mine retired there. If he's still around we should be able to get a pretty good boat to use for this hunt.

If not then we'll have to figure something else out without stepping into the Slaughter Docks." Allura recalled as the acquaintance she had in mind was an old man called Nolan.

Nolan wasn't someone famous or powerful, merely a normal civilian who was good with his hands and decided to retire early to a remote city.

"You don't have to concern yourselves with the city since we won't be staying for long. With what Gin found out, we shouldn't waste too much time since there are others trying to hunt down the same beast we're going after." Allura waved her hand dismissively.

"But if we're going against others, shouldn't we hurry up then?" Ria furrowed her brows but Gin shook his head.

"I doubt they'll be able to finish the hunt quickly unless they want to fail the hunt with not enough contributions. By my estimations, it should take them 4 days to kill the beast?" Gin shrugged.

"And we're supposed to just rock up and steal the kill?" Ria raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Exactly." Allura nodded.

With a hunt like this, it was best to let the others tire themselves out first. Otherwise they would not only have to deal with the beast but also other Hunters.

"The hardest part will be how to run from the place. Even if you don't get the kill, I'm pretty sure the rich m*therf*cker trying to get the Sigil and the Harvesters won't let you two leave for free." Allura chuckled as both Alice and Ria sighed at the same time, knowing that they'll have to run for their lives after getting the kill.

"Either way, it won't be the challenge you originally anticipated but it's still good. You'll have to get used to fighting others for the reward in the future anyways." Allura shrugged.

"Would we need to kill them?" Alice asked curiously.

She wasn't against killing since it didn't bother her but she wasn't sure about the consequences of doing so. The only times she's killed so far were when she was a slave and the Cultist. Both of which basically had no consequences.

"Hmm… Honestly I would suggest you to avoid doing so if you can. Unless you want to deal with all of the witnesses."

Hearing Allura's reply, Alice nodded her head.

"You won't need to kill your way out. Just focus on running away once the Hunt is finished." Gin explained as they would step in if things got ugly. After all, if they arrive late and still earn the contributions needed then it was their fault for not being able to do enough with the time given to them.

The journey to Anivari took roughly a day with no beasts daring to approach the carriage.

With two Abyss Lord level beings guarding the carriage, even thinking about attacking meant death. Naturally, this meant the journey was smooth as they soon approached the hamlet of Anivari.

Looking towards the hamlet, Alice could see a handful of houses and some boats docked by a wooden pier. It couldn't compare to Zadash nor the Slaughter Docks and Alice wasn't sure how they were supposed to get a boat that was suitable for embarking on a hunt against the Storm Leviathan.

Giving her thanks to the driver, Allura led the group into the hamlet and they received a few confused and wary looks.

"Pardon me sir, do you happen to know Nolan Ziroy? He should be an old shipwright that lives in this hamlet." Allura asked with a smile.

Upon hearing that they were looking for Nolan, the man immediately frowned.

"No I don't. I don't know anyone who's called that." He shook his head before turning around and running away as fast as he could.

Blinking her eyes in confusion, Allura scratched her hair before looking to see if there were anyone else whom she could ask but none of the residents seemed to be willing to help now that they made their goal known.

"Well… this is unexpected." Allura crossed her arms as she thought this would be a simple task.

"Want me to look for him?" Gin offered.

Thinking about it for a moment, Allura nodded her head. They were only here for a day so it didn't matter too much on how they go about finding her acquaintance.

With Allura giving him in the green light, Gin kneeled down for a moment before placing his hand against the ground.

"Care to explain what he looks like?"

"Hmm… He should be old, grey hair, a pair of glasses and a clean face with no beard. It's been quite a few years since I last saw him so I'm not sure about what he looks like now." Allura shrugged.

"Well I have a few that matches your description. One of which isn't exactly in good condition. Might explain the sudden displeasure that man felt." Gin frowned.

Hearing this, Allura had a bad feeling in her heart and had Gin lead them to the location of the injured man.

Walking over to a remote corner of the village, they could see an old wooden house with an old woman, preparing to go fishing.

Upon seeing the group approach, she immediately ran back to the house and picked up a spear.

"W-What do you want now?!" She shouted, pointing the spear at the group.

"Woah there, we're just here to find someone called Nolan Ziroy. Do you know him? I'm an old acquaintance of his." Allura raised her hand in surrender as she slowly approached but the old woman didn't drop her guard.

"N-no I don't! Please leave!" She shouted out, not wanting Allura to get any closer.

"Look, we're not here to hurt any of you. I just want to see if the injured man in the house is the person I know. If he's not, we'll leave. If he is, we'll help him okay?" Allura sighed as she wasn't sure how she should deal with the woman in front of her.

Biting her lip, the woman looked at Allura up and down in hesitation. The man inside the house needed help but she wasn't sure if she should let the group approach.

The fact that they're respecting her space instead of just barging in was swaying her impression of them.

After a brief period of silence, she sighed and nodded her head.

"My… Huband is inside. He needs help immediately." She bit her lip and gripped the edges of her shirt. She prayed that they knew her husband so that they could give him the help he needed.

Stepping through the door, the group was immediately assaulted by a deep pungent smell that even caused Allura to take a step back.

Closing her eyes for a moment, she opened them and stepped into the main room where they could see a 'man' sitting on the sofa.

". . . Nolan." Allura muttered after a moment of silence.

Stepping behind Allura, Alice was horrified by what she saw.

Sickly green flesh and scales could be seen rupturing from large pustules while gills flapped on his neck. Sharp teeth dug through his skin and the edges of his human flesh looked as though it was rotting away.

Half of his face had been melted with some of his bones being exposed.

Large fish eyes could be seen around the infected flesh as Nolan turned his head slightly and caught sight of Allura.

"Ah… How… Many years... Has it been?" He muttered.

"Far too many old friend. I… Don't know how I can help you." Allura sighed as she kneeled down in front of him.

Even without hearing what had happened, Allura could guess as this was a sign of consuming a large amount of Abyss Blood within a short period of time. All of the side effects had fought to manifest themselves, resulting in this mass of flesh that was growing out of Nolan's body.

"I… Know my condition well. A pitiful end." Nolan sighed, mustering as much strength as he could.

"I have… Some blood that can ease the pain. But it will not change your condition." Allura hesitated since she didn't expect to see him in this state.

"Yes please… Even talking… Is difficult right now." Nolan nodded.

Reaching into her jacket, Allura rummaged around for a bit before pulling out a small vial of blue blood.

Opening the vial, she poured the liquid into his mouth.

"Fu… Thank you." Nolan smiled.

There was no discernible change in his disposition but he seemed to have regained some strength.

Sitting up slightly, he looked at Allura.

"So… I don't suppose you've come to this remote place just to say hi."

"No. I had planned to come here to ask you for a boat but… I suppose that is impossible now. Can you tell me what happened?" Allura asked with a sigh.

"Just annoying the wrong people at the wrong time. Some rogue Hunters wanted my boats and well, I was in the way so they left me in this state." Nolan smiled bitterly.

"Would you like me to hunt them down?" Allura asked. There wasn't much else she could do for him other than to ease his suffering for a bit.

"If it is no problem for you. Though they might be pretty far away now."

"Don't worry. I'll make sure they suffer worse than what they did to you." Allura promised.

"Thank you…"

Standing up, she sighed softly before leading everyone else out of the room.

"Can my husband be healed?" The old woman asked as Allura shook her head.

"I'm sorry. But if it gets too painful for him use this. It'll ease him into a deep slumber where he can pass on peacefully with no pain." Allura pulled out a small vial of blood for the woman who broke down crying.

Stepping away from the house, Allura took a deep breath.

"We're going to hunt some b*stards first before we leave."