Abyssal Awakening

"She only bought the rooms though. If you want some cheap food though, you can always arm wrestle me to see if you get a discount." He grinned.

"What if we lose the arm wrestle?" Ria asked, feeling a little tempted at the offer.

She had already spent a bunch of coin today just buying some Abyss Blood so she\'ll be happy to save what little coin she could. While Allura did indeed give them some funds to use, Ria wanted to save it and let Alice buy whatever she needed since she was just starting out her career as a Hunter. There will be a lot of things that she needs to buy later down the line.

"If you lose, you just have to pay for an extra portion. For your reference, meals here are 1 gold piece per meal while drinks are 100 silver per cup. Meaning you\'ll need to pay up an extra 1 gold and 100 silver if you lose."

"And if we win?" Ria asked as she recalled the gentlemen dressed in a suit monocle and top hat getting free food for the night.

"If you tie with me, foods on me for the night. If you win, breakfast is also on me." The owner laughed.

"Do you even profit with this? Wouldn\'t every Hunter just arm wrestle you for the free food." Ria asked, feeling a little confused at his business strategy.

"Oh I do, I profit from the drinks. And if they don\'t win, I even get paid an extra portion." The owner laughed while pointing at a few tables that had numerous empty tankards sitting on the table while ordering some more.

"So, do you want to try arm wrestling this old man for a discount?" The owner asked as he placed his burly arm on the counter.

"Hah??? Look at your arm. That\'s the size of my damn torso and you think it\'s a fair fight?" Ria furrowed her brows.

"I\'ll allow you to use your Sigils. I may not look like it but I\'m an old hunter myself."

Hearing this, Ria was taken aback but had a grin on her face.

"Alright, just a warning though my Sigils are lightning based." Ria grinned while warming up her arm.

Approaching the table, she placed her elbows on the surface and got ready for the arm wrestle.

"If it\'s lightning then give me a quick moment."

Leaning down, the owner pulled out a singular glove and wore it on his hand before getting into position.

"I\'ll let you start whenever you want." The owner chuckled while smoking his pipe.

"Don\'t go back on your word now!"

Activating all three of her Sigils, Ria\'s body erupted with lightning energy as the chairs around her were blown back by the surge of power.

However, the owner\'s arm did not move at all.

Widening her eyes, he was like an unstoppable mountain that refused to budge.

Gritting her teeth, veins bulged on Ria\'s forehead as she stomped down and tried to muster up as much power as she could.

*CRRRRRR!!!!

The wood beneath her started to creak yet the owner still didn\'t budge.

"I\'m not using any Sigils young lady. Not yet at least." The owner taunted with a laugh.

"ARGGG!!!" Letting out a cry, Ria stomped down, cracking the floor and managed to make the owner budge his arm just silently.

"Hou?" The owner narrowed his eyes before flexing his arm momentarily.

The sudden force caused Ria to fall backwards as she crashed against the floor.

"Not too shabby young miss. You actually moved my arm." The owner grinned while leaning over the counter.

Laying on the floor, Ria dismissed her Sigils as she laid there in silence from the shock of what just happened.

Despite using as much strength as she could, the owner barely budged without using any Sigils.

Scratching her hair, she sat up with a frown.

"Arg what the hell. How are you this damn strong???" Ria huffed in frustration while standing back up.

"I\'m just a beefy man. But you\'re not shabby yourself, made my arm budge and no one has done that in a while. At least not with three Sigils. Just for that, dinner, breakfast and drinks are on me. And don\'t worry about the damages." The owner laughed.

"Find a table and I\'ll bring over some food myself."

Nodding her head, Ria looked for an empty table to sit at with Alice.

"I swear that owner is abnormal. I guess that\'s why he\'s offering arm wrestles." Ria sighed while resting her chin on the table.

Understanding that Ria was frustrated with her loss even though they got what they wanted, Alice wasn\'t sure about how she should comfort Ria.

"Erm… Maybe he has a lot of Sigils. I\'m sure you will be stronger in future."

Hearing this and seeing the worry in Alice\'s eyes, Ria couldn\'t help but laugh.

"Ahaha don\'t worry, I know I will get stronger in future. Bah let\'s forget about what happened and just enjoy the food for now. For a meal that costs 1 gold, I\'m sure it\'s going to be something good." Ria smiled.

"In the meantime, do you want to have a look at the wire you got from Allura? For something that took this long, I\'m sure it\'s going to be something good."

Nodding her head, Alice pulled out the pouch for the wire and opened it up.

Within the pouch there were 3 items. Gloves, what seems to be small mechanical contraptions and a large coil of wire.

Within the gloves were a piece of paper that seemed to have instructions for the wires.

\'Gloves of the Arachnid…  When installed, can set up wires between two designated points by firing small anchors. Wires crafted from the silk harvested from Glacial Silkworms, high tensile strength, hard to break and can be used as weapons. Mechanical parts on the gloves can shoot the wires instead of placing traps though attack power of piercing attacks are low.\'

Reading through the note, Alice couldn\'t help but wonder how strong the wires are if it\'s quoted as hard to break.

"Is there something wrong with the instructions?" Ria asked curiously after seeing the confusion on Alice\'s face.

Without saying anything, Alice handed over the piece of paper while placing the pouch back into the bag for now.

"Hmm… What the… How did she even get her hands on this??? So quickly too!" Ria muttered in a mixture of confusion and surprise.

"I\'ll… explain once we\'re in a room. But you just need to know that she got you something… VERY expensive." Ria explained while handing back the piece of paper.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Let\'s just say… The Glacial Silkworm is a beast that despite being small, can kill veteran Hunters easily. Even though they\'re called Glacial Silkworms, they don\'t actually have ice based powers. It\'s merely due to the fact that they can survive in the harsh cold climates.

They\'ve been hunted down for their silk due to the benefits they give such as elemental resistance and makes great material to fight against fire." Looking around her, Ria gestured for Alice to lean in so that she could whisper the next parts.

"It is said that even five Sigil Hunters go nuts for their silk so that they can make cloaks with their silk. The fact that you have this much wire means they could come to try kill you for this." Ria whispered as a chill went down Alice\'s spine.

\'Allura gave me something like this?!?!? Isn\'t this just painting a target on my damn back???\' Alice shouted out in her mind as she had to be careful regarding when she reveals this.

"Avoid using the wires near Hunters, especially veterans. If news starts to travel things will get messy." Ria warned seriously as Alice nodded her head.

Before they could discuss further, the owner arrived with two trays worth of food, one tray for the each of them along with two tankards of what seems to be mead.

"If you two need any more drinks just give me a shout by the counter." The owner grinned as Ria nodded her head.

"Thank you."

The meal that the owner had prepared for them consisted of a large ham steak, roasted vegetables with sauce and some bread.

Just the smell alone caused Alice\'s mouth to water uncontrollably as she had been eating rations and whatever they could find while being on the road.

Unable to stop herself, she was about to grab the ham steak with her hands when Ria stopped her.

"I know we eat with our hands when we\'re out on the road but here you should use the knife and fork." She chuckled, pointing at the cutlery on the side.

"Ah, okay." Alice nodded.

Grabbing the fork like how she would with a knife, she stabbed it in the middle of the ham steak and started to take large bites out of it.

Ria could only describe her eating habits as \'hearty\'.

Shaking her head with a small laugh, Ria started to eat her meal while the sound of customers laughing and shouting started to mix with the music that was being played.

Once they finished the meal, they returned back to their rooms. Allura had prepared two separate rooms for them as Alice started to investigate the gloves and wires before heading to bed.

If these wires were as good as Ria said they were, she wanted to be somewhat familiar with them before using them in a hunt.