Abyssal Awakening

The small caravan consisted of two merchant parties and one main group that oversaw the safety of the caravan. The rest of the guards were either lone Hunters or mercenaries who were going the same way. Unlike the main group, these lone Hunters and mercenaries didn't get paid.

They were simply allowed to travel with the group for safety, and everything else was up to them to find. Of course, they could pay the merchants for food if they couldn't find any dinner for the night.

With Ria asking permission to travel with them, Alice walked around and familiarized herself with some of the faces, especially the main group of Hunters who were responsible for their safety.

'The Hunters and mercenaries that are just tagging along seem pretty weak. Most of them only have 2 Sigils at best,' Alice thought with a slight frown.

She didn't think that getting Sigils was that difficult as she could get a third Sigil right now by killing a weak beast.

For people who didn't want to risk their lives so much, getting Sigils through weak beasts was usually what they aimed to do.

'Or maybe me and Ria are the abnormal ones?' She mused. Considering the fact that neither of them was scared of fighting nor were they against the idea of risking one's life for the hunt, it was to be expected that what they thought as difficult was different from the common folk.

"Oh, shit… Is this how Allura feels?" Alice muttered as the realization settled in.

Crossing her arms for a moment, Alice sighed as she felt like she was becoming more like Allura with each passing day.

"Yuck… I hope I don't start smoking like she does." She groaned, sticking her tongue out in disgust as she remembered the smell of the smoke vividly. A smell she could not get used to at all.

Setting aside her realization, Alice glanced toward the group of five Hunters huddled around the main carriage while talking to one another with a smile.

They called themselves the Raven's Watch.

'The leader seems to have four Sigils while the others have three. I assume they all have resonances unless they're like Ria.'

Noticing her gaze, the leader of the Hunting group gave Alice a small wave as a sign of courtesy while Alice did the same.

Giving them one last glance, she noticed the weapons they were carrying. The leader wielded a crossbow with a frame made from what seemed to be ice. Countless small contraptions could be seen around the top as it acted as a loading mechanism of sorts but strangely enough, he didn't have any bolts on him.

''Crossbow, greatsword, rapier, weird circle blades, and a longbow. I guess his role is to oversee the battlefield when a fight breaks out.'

With her observations now done, Alice made her way back to Ria while taking a sip out of her flask.

With a slow sip, she enjoyed the sweetness of the mead unfolding before a gentle warmth spread through her body. Shivering from the sensation, Alice let out a satisfied sigh as her gaze blurred, fully immersed in enjoying the taste.

"What the f*ck?"

Ria's voice snapped her out of it as she put the lid back on her flask.

"How did it go?" Alice smiled.

"It went well. The guy organizing all of this said that the trip should take roughly a week or so since there is a lot of distance to cover. We'll be responsible for our own food, but they can give us some bedrolls to sleep in when we're out camping. If we cannot get any food, it'll be 30 silver per meal. A tad expensive but better than starving." Ria shrugged.

Should the two of them fail to get any food, 60 silver per night was still within their budget.

"Eug… 30 silver?" Alice's smile froze as she heard the price.

She stopped herself from saying the second half of her sentence as she knew that Ria would definitely scold her. After all, 30 silver could buy her a decent bottle of mead.

"Yep. But it's merchants so what can you do about it? At least they're giving us some camping supplies so we don't sleep out in the wild like we did when we were lost."

"True… When do we set off?" Alice asked as quite a lot of people were now gathering around the caravan.

"We're waiting on a few extras then we'll be ready. Cedric said that it'll be one hour at most. After that, we're leaving regardless of who is left behind unless they pay a hefty fee for delaying everyone."

With an hour to spare, Alice took this time to check out their route of travel as the path to Eldoria does not lead them to Isilvaria. Once they arrive at Eldoria, they'll need to take another caravan southeast to reach their destination.

'We'll be camping out in the wilds for the majority of the trip but there are some towns and villages we pass by on the way to Eldoria.' Alice thought to herself while checking the map.

She assumed that they would be taking a few stops. However, as she continued to study the map, tracing her finger across the route, Alice couldn't help but notice a slight peculiarity.

'This path… They're purposefully going into the forest where there are beasts roaming around?'

As she was pondering to herself, Ria glanced over Alice's shoulders and looked down at the map.

"Is there an issue with the route?" Ria asked curiously. She noticed after her many interactions with Alice that she was extremely intuitive to the small details.

"We seem to be taking the more dangerous route. Wouldn't it be faster and safer to avoid some of these stops?" Alice asked, pointing at the path where it enters the forest. If this was merely delivering goods and selling wares to different parts of the Abyss, there would be no need for such a detour.

"Hmm… Now that you mention it, it does seem a bit strange. However, it's not like we're being hired to fight. In fact, we're the ones tagging along to the next city." Ria shrugged.

"Mnm, maybe I'm being too paranoid after everything that's happened." Alice sighed but decided to remain on the side of caution.

###

The hour passed quickly, and soon the caravan was ready to set off. With this being Alice and Ria's first proper caravan trip without the protection of Allura and Gin, there was an air of excitement buzzing around them as Alice's eyes wandered across the groups.

The different travellers, merchants and Hunters gathered their belongings and gear while the organizer, Cedric, sat in the main carriage, ready to lead the way.

As they left Blackrock City, they were greeted once more by the familiar sights of the forest. Alice and Ria, without a carriage of their own, sat with a diverse group of merchants, each looking as though they were from a different part of the Abyss yet gathered under the banner of being a merchant.

Their carriage was one of the more common-looking carriages, lacking the fancy accessories and foam padding the others had. But it was enough for the time being.

To avoid talking to the others inside the carriage, as she just wanted to enjoy the journey for now while keeping an eye out for any dangers, Alice took the initiative to sit on the back of the carriage where some of the luggage was placed.

Meanwhile, the Raven's Watch took their positions around the caravan, protecting it from all angles and kept their weapons beside them, ready to be drawn at a moment's notice.

Thankfully, the journey was rather uneventful as they were still within the vicinity of the city. Most of the dangerous beasts have learned not to approach the radius lest they want to get hunted down for their blood and flesh.

Time passed, and Alice would occasionally take naps on the back of the carriage. But the discomfort from sitting down for long hours on the unpadded carriage eventually took its toll, and Alice decided to walk for a while in order to relieve the pain in her behind.

She noticed that most of the merchants were now sleeping in the carriages while drivers continued to steer. The leader of the caravan, Cedric, was wide awake and making sure nothing went wrong.

"Hey~ Are you not tired? I'm surprised you're taking a walk while everyone is sleeping?" A calm but cheerful voice called out as Alice glanced back and saw a Hunter belonging to the Raven's Watch.

"Butt hurts from sitting down too long. Figured a walk would help me out." Alice shrugged and admitted honestly.

"Ahhh, I get that. It was the same for me when I was first starting out, could never get used to the crappy seats they gave us. I noticed that you were looking at our group earlier when we were back in the city; are you curious about how Hunter groups work?"

"You could say that. I only ever travelled with my friend who's sleeping right now." Alice nodded as she couldn't deny that she was interested. She wanted to know how normal people acted and responded to being a Hunter.

"Well, for us, we decided to group up once we realized we fought well with one another. It's always safer to travel as a group, you know? I've been Hunting with these guys for about 3 years now." She grinned while walking with her hands behind her back.

"What was the three years like? Was it hard?"

"Hmm… naturally. We started as freelancers, fighting for jobs in the Hunter's Guild. Odd jobs, stray beasts that are getting too violent, and so on. It was only in our second year did we finally get a bit of recognition and now we're escorting caravans for some coin. We decided on the name Raven's Watch so that it's easier for merchants to hire us and recognize us.

Makes it sound more serious, you know?" She chuckled.

"By the way, my name is Ellie. Ellie Wildheart, and I'm the archer of the group." Ellie introduced herself as Alice seemed nice to talk to.

As their journey was going to be quite long, it was good to familiarize herself with some of the passengers.

"Alice, Alice Agnelia."