Abyssal Awakening

After finishing breakfast, the two made their way to the Guild and managed to find a Hunt that was posted up as pest extermination.

A two star hunt quest focused on killing beasts called Bladed Harvesters. They were small rodent-like creatures that moved in large packs.

If one sees a lone Harvester, they should know that its pack would be nearby. The Harvesters possess a rat-like body with two large legs, no arms and bone-like plating running from their skull down to their tail. Instead of a standard rat tail, they had an appendage that could harden at any moment to become a blade.

Every single Harvester in the pack moved in sync, as though they were part of a hive mind.

The quest was simple; the Harvesters had occupied one of the farmlands near the city, taking it hostage with the aim to consume everything. They were killing everything that approached the area. The mission required those with abilities that could take out numerous beasts at once.

Meaning, a fighter like Ria was perfect for the job with her lightning abilities.

However, it was not Ria who chose that job. In fact, Alice was the one who suggested accepting it so that she could both test her skill with her new weapons as well as the potency of her blood.

Before they could leave the city, Alice bought a new blood extraction kit and prepared two vials of blood for herself.

The farm was roughly 30 minutes out from the city with a carriage. The price of the carriage was rather cheap, too. Unlike their initial trip to the Inferno Tower Ruins, there was no ban on going to the farmlands.

As the two stood in front of the farmlands, they felt speechless at the sight in front of them.

"Erm… Are you sure this is the farmlands? I'm not familiar with how the farms look down in the Abyss." Alice raised an eyebrow.

Cracked ground with moisture stolen from the soil, broken houses with holes and slashes across the walls, withered trees and dark mist flowing through the lands; it did not match the description of the farmlands they had expected.

Checking the mission sheet once more, Ria had to blink twice to make sure what she was reading was correct, as it had only been 3 days since the Bladed Harvesters invaded the land.

"It's been… three days. Alright, let's get this over with today so that it doesn't get any worse. We might even get a tip if we finish early." Ria sighed, putting the mission sheet back into her sash.

"I'll flush them out and you can deal with them, okay? Or do you need my help later?"

"I should be fine. Interfere when you feel the need to." Alice shook her head.

Transforming her bracelet into a dagger, Alicr extended the wires before giving the blade a few swings. Practicing with increasing her range and pulling the blade back, she looked towards Ria and nodded.

Taking out a vial, she coated the obsidian metal with her blood. A crimson hue appeared on the edges. Meanwhile, Ria massaged her shoulder as her Sigils lit up with a neon blue glow.

During the fight with the Cultists, she got some inspiration regarding how they utilized their powers. She was now going to apply them to her own style.

Kneeling, Ria closed her eyes and took a deep breath while pressing her palms against the ground. Lightning flickered from her body and started to expand around her in a net, sparks jumping across the cracks in the ground.

'If I keep pumping lightning through the ground like this, I can get a general idea of where the Harvesters are. Once I do, I can remotely detonate some of the lightning and force them out.' Ria thought to herself while Alice watched on in silence.

Above Ria's head, her second Sigil lit up. Alice understood that she could see when Sigils were being activated. Even if people tried to hide it, as long as she focused, she would be able to understand what they were trying to accomplish.

All that remained now was to learn what every Sigil looked like; a nigh impossible task, but if she was able to complete it, then Alice would be able to understand almost everything about her opponents with a single glance.

Ria called out to Alice, cutting off her daydreaming.

"Get ready, I've found the horde. There are about 30, maybe 40, of these Harvesters lurking around. Let me know when you want me to flush them out."

"I'm ready now." Alice closed her eyes.

She remembered the feeling when fighting the Cultist. That bloodlust, the insanity, the flow of battle and the moment she felt as though her mind was opened up. The smile on her face, the taste of the blood.

That, was a Hunt.

She was unable to bring out that side of her normally. She simply didn't know how. How should she talk to people with a smile? But in battle, the rush of adrenaline allowed her to free her mind.

'This is a one against many situation. It's a Hunt where I need to take as many of their lives as I can. No need to hold myself back, no need to be scared. Enjoy the Hunt, and live in the moment.' Alice ordered herself as her aura seemed to change.

Ria felt as though a blade had just been unsheathed behind her. A beast was out of its cage, hungry for blood.

Understanding that that was Alice's way of preparing, Ria activated her third Sigil and all of the lightning she charged up exploded.

*BANG!!!!*

Several strikes of lightning struck down around the farmland, ripping open the ground to reveal underground tunnels where the beasts had been scuttling around.

Rushing out all at once, their eyes glowed red with frenzy. A hunger for flesh dominated their minds.

Before she could say anything, Ria felt the wind rush beside her as Alice charged forth with a grin on her face.

Her Sigil roaring with power as strength flowed through her body, Alice twisted and swung the strung dagger around her, knocking up a wave of mud and attracting all the Bladed Harvesters' attention to her. Meanwhile, Ria jumped back and allowed Alice to do her thing.

Seeing the first beast that lunged towards her, Alice snapped her head towards its direction and launched her dagger at its head, piercing it in one swift motion. In the same instance, she flicked her wrist and the gloves started to reel the dagger back with the corpse of the Harvester still attached to the tip.

Feeling two approach from behind, she crouched down and twisted, using the inertia to fling the body of the first Harvester into the two while lunging forward with the obsidian dagger in hand.

*KRRRR!!!*

Watching as her blade sliced bones in two, a frenzied satisfaction rushed through Alice's mind as she allowed the feeling to take over. Hot blood splashed against her face.

That was the feeling.

The feeling of the Hunt.

"Hahahaha! Come on!" Alice roared as she let go of the blade and swung it around her, shredding any Harvester unfortunate enough to approach at that moment.

The battlefield became a blender of blood and flesh with Alice dancing in the vile remains of her enemies with a maniacal grin on her face, intoxicated by the rush of slaughter.

Her instincts were tuned to the max as she navigated the stringed dagger with ease. Despite being only one dagger, the speed at which she swung it around made it seem as though she was surrounded by a wheel of blades that followed her wherever she walked.

With a pool of blood and guts around her, Alice narrowed her eyes and retrieved the dagger before stabbing it into the ground.

Lighting up with a crimson glow, the obsidian core started to drink up the blood around them as she slowly pulled the handle up, turning the dagger into a greatsword.

Blocking several strikes of their bladed tail using the face of the sword, Alice kicked the blade as hard as she could, flinging the beasts back while the greatsword swung above her. Using a downward motion, she twisted her body and threw the sword, cutting the Harvesters in half.

Tugging her wires, she commanded it to abandon most of the blood and return as a longsword with more reach than a dagger.

Watching in the distance, Ria was silent.

While Alice's techniques with the sword and greatsword were rudimentary and clunky, her adaptiveness and instinct for the fight cancelled out her inexperience with the weapons. She was a ball of talent that Ria couldn't even begin to fathom, a diamond in the rough.

At the moment, Alice was a straight up killing machine that sent chills down her spine the moment she saw the crazed glint in her eyes.

Forcing a brave smile on her face, Ria felt excited by what Alice could do in the future, while feeling pity for her opponents.

Unfortunately for Alice, she was hindered by her own physical body and stamina. While she could get some stamina back by drinking the Harvesters' blood, there was still a limit to how much she could push herself.

"You can take a break now! I'll handle the rest." Ria called out as Alice was panting heavily despite the grin on her face.

The Harvesters were sending out ranged attacks using debris and the corpses of their fallen allies to tire Alice out.

However, Alice didn't seem to hear her. Ria shrugged and jumped into the fray.

"Don't stop a girl while she's having a good time, I suppose. I'll keep you covered, just keep enjoying yourself." Ria chuckled.

Giving her a nod, Alice transformed her longsword back into a dagger and rushed at the remaining beasts.