Abyssal Awakening

"Pardon? How much did you say it was?" Alice asked again as her smile twitched furiously.

"10 Platina. You heard me clearly." The old man by the counter yawned while feeding the Void Hawk next to him some pieces of raw meat.

Furrowing her brows, Alice calculated the value of 10 Platina in her mind.

'Most families earn about 10 Gold per week. It takes about 100 Gold per Platina. To get 10 Platina I'll need to earn a thousand gold. That's 100 weeks or roughly two years or so…!!! F*ck this old b*stard wants enough gold for two years for one message???'

Holding back her anger, Alice cleared her throat.

"Ol- No no, Sir. You're asking for 10 Platina just for a single message isn't that a little expensive? It'll take 2 years of honest work and not spending anything to save up that much."

"If you had asked me to send a message within the borders of Verona it'll only cost you tens of gold at most. But you're asking me to send my precious Hawks to find this Underground then commission them to send a message to their branch in the Abyss. Not only that, but they then need to find the damn person you're trying to look for.

"That's a lot of hurdles for your 'just a single message' young lass. And you've got to take into account the dangers of sending my Hawk to places like that. What if the Hawk gets killed? How are you going to compensate me for my pal?" The old man asked, picking his nose as Alice winced in disgust.

However, she couldn't refute him.

There are two ways for him to locate the Underground. Either by sending the Hawk past the borders or trying to find an entrance into the Abyss and locating them that way.

The dangers of the Abyss didn't need to be explained as everyone knows just how dangerous it is.

As for the border, with it being embroiled in war, the Hawk would no doubt be shot down immediately once it's been spotted.

"Even so, with the dangers taken into account, shouldn't it be 5 Platina at most?" Selen narrowed her eyes.

"Look here, I don't make the rules. Capital sends orders, I follow them. You're trying to hire a Hawk that could be used for the war effort if an emergency was to appear. Naturally, you'll need to pay the price. If you can't afford it then you can wait until the war calms down. But right now?

10 Platina's the best price you're gonna get for your request." The old man sighed as he too was helpless in this case.

What was he supposed to say if his higher ups were to ask him why he gave the Hawk out for less than 10 Platina?

Scratching her hair in annoyance, Alice let out a sigh.

"What about just locating a branch of the Underground then? Or an entrance to the Abyss?"

"8 Platina."

"YOU!!!" Gritting her teeth, Alice wanted to throw a table at the old man but Selen held her back.

"What about me? Like I said, I don't make the rules. Same sh*t different story. To find the branch, I still need to send my Hawk across the border. To find an entrance to the Abyss that's not being regulated by the Royal family is gonna cost you 8 Platina. Or you can get a map and then pay the toll to enter the Abyss.

But then you need to take into account the travel fees and wartime fees." The old man rolled his eyes.

With how clueless Alice was towards the current state of the country, it was a surprise how she even got this far. The old man had his own guesses based on her scars but he wasn't certain.

In the end, Selen had to drag Alice out of the building before she committed a crime.

Huffing in anger by a tree, Alice kicked her foot into the trunk in a fit of rage.

*BANG!!!

"HNG!!!"

Dropping to her knees, she clutched her toes in pain as tears began to form in the corner of her eyes.

Seeing this, Selen couldn't help but facepalm and sign. She wondered how someone like this was able to get strong and even take out people with more Sigils than her.

After taking a moment to let the pain fade, Alice sat down on a bench and leaned back.

"Since things are too expensive here, I need to earn some money and get a map. If I can get to the Abyss then finding the Underground should be a piece of cake."

"And how will you earn money? Just to remind you, arenas are pretty rare on the surface unless you're in the big cities. You don't earn as much as you would in the Abyss either." Selen reminded as Alice froze up.

Letting out a groan from the depths of her soul, Alice understood that she had to earn money like everyone else rather than through fighting.

"How do people earn money quickly?" Alice asked, feeling drained of energy.

The only ways she knew were either taking commissions from the Guild or gambling thanks to Ria.

With gambling struck off, there was only the option of taking Commissions but there was no Hunter's Guild here.

"You could sign up as an independent mercenary. With the war at the border like this, there are groups specifically made to recruit extra help outside of the army. Or at least that's what it was like for Extalia. I'm not sure how the Northerners do it but it doesn't hurt to ask." Selen suggested before pausing.

Looking at Alice from head to toe, she furrowed her brows.

"Can you even fight in your state?" She asked.

"Hell no. Does it look like I can fight? Didn't you just see me getting defeated by a tree?" Alice raised her eyebrow while pointing at the tree.

"I can't use my Sigils and moving my body too much causes the wounds to reopen. I don't know what's stopping my regeneration too. It's like it just stops once a bit of skin is stitched together." Alice scratched her hair and sighed in frustration.

"However, that doesn't mean I don't have any options." Alice smirked.

"Hou?" Raising her eyebrow, Selen failed to see how Alice could put up a fight in that kind of body.

However, Alice was welcome to prove her wrong.

"And pray tell what kind of options would that be?"

"Naturally, that'll be this!" Alice puffed up her chest before snapping her finger.

Detaching from her hair, the Shard of Kara broke apart into several pieces and formed a shield next to Alice.

"It's a little weak since it's only using my stamina right now. But it'll suffice to block a few attacks." Alice explained, recalling the shard.

"Yes but what about offensive capabilities?" Selen tilted her head, wondering how Alice was going to make a name for herself and earn some money using just the shard.

"Who said I needed an offensive option? I can't even use my personal artifact since manifesting it requires energy and the same goes for changing the forms. However, if I use the Shard to protect people from dying, naturally I'll get some assist points, right? I'll earn money through that." Alice grinned.

Feeling some doubt, Selen wondered if Alice could even keep up with the battle. After her eye got cursed, she could no longer deploy her Zone as she did before.

"Actually now that I think about it… Didn't you say you were going to travel the world? How come you're staying here and worrying about me?" Alice asked curiously.

With how Selen hated the fact that her blood was the start of it all, Alice was surprised she could even stomach the idea of sticking around her.

"I'm just paying off the debt. You freed me from the Zenia and saved me from the collapsing realm. Even if you were the cause of it. I'm sticking around until you can use your Sigil abilities again. After that, you can fend for yourself." Selen shook her head.

"Ohya? Ohya ohya? So attentive. Honestly, maybe I should stay injured for longer so you can keep protecting me." Alice grinned.

"If it takes too long I'm going to leave. So hurry up and recover." Selen rolled her eyes and made her way towards what seemed to be the barracks so that they could register as mercenaries.

"So heartless~ Wait for me." Alice laughed, following behind.

###

"Are you sure she discovered you? It wasn't a fluke?" A man with messy short silver hair asked with a frown.

He had a scar on his cheek and across his nose bridge.

Wearing a tight black shirt and a pair of baggy pants with boots, one could see the scars of battle across his arms.

Smoking a cigarette, he extinguished it in the snow while looking at the woman who had returned from what would've been a sabotage that was turned into a scouting mission.

"I'm 100% sure. If I didn't stay still and stop everything, she would've found me." The woman replied while recalling Alice's sharp senses.

Scratching his chin, he decided to adjust the plan a little to get rid of as many unknown variables as possible.

Command didn't care how they completed this mission so long it was done.

"Grab two others with you and set up some ambushes. Make it seem like a beast did it and see how the girl reacts. You said she was injured right?" He asked, confirming the information she brought back.

"Yes, she is."

"Good. Let's see if we can force her into action. Depending on how it goes, we'll either delay the plan a little more or strike immediately. Let everyone else know." He ordered as she nodded and dashed away.

Looking at the outpost by the river, the man narrowed his eyes before stepping away.