Abyssal Awakening

While watching the fights happen, Alice couldn\'t help but feel as though something was off.

To her, a four star Hunter should be more than capable of making Ria use more of her power. And yet here she was taking them out one by one with ease.

\'All of the people we fought against, even the three star\'s were better than these people. Are they really that weak or are they acting weak to boost Ria\'s confidence?\' Alice thought to herself with a frown.

Even without Cayla, the movement of the four star Hunters seemed rather… dull in comparison to the fights she\'s had.

All things considered, Alice speculated that she could probably beat them in a fight if she uses only her first Sigil and dagger. However, that was pushing it slightly since she had no way to deal with the difference in physical strength.

\'The only ranged attack option I have is my fire and the blood I collected from the Hunter last time. Though it\'s a last use resort since having the angel scream can cancel out Abyss Powers when merged with my own Sigil.\' Alice thought to herself as she glanced into her pouch.

There were only two vials of blood left that didn\'t include her own, whether it\'s in powdered form or liquid form.

Shaking her head, Alice glanced at the last fighter and wondered how she would\'ve fought him if she was in Ria\'s position.

\'His resonance was one that allowed him to manipulate this weird black energy. I guess in a way it was similar to Kaden since he was using shadows to attack. Against him… I would probably start by using my dagger then rush him to see how his reactions are.\' Alice mused to herself.

Defeating him would be annoying without her second Sigil, but if it was a fight to the death, his death was guaranteed.

"I suppose Allura mentioned that not all four stars are equal. Just like the difference between Ria and her opponents." Alice mumbled while making her way over to the bar to get something to drink.

In the end, she decided to try one of their best sellers which seemed to be a mead made from apple and honey.

Smelling the mead from the cup, Alice was surprised by how sweet the smell was as she had expected something bitter.

"Seems like you\'re not familiar with alcohol girly." The bartender chuckled as Alice shook her head.

"I don\'t really drink. It seemed like people are buying this a lot so I figured I\'ll try it." Alice replied honestly as the bartender chuckled.

"Mead\'s are usually rather sweet since they\'re made from honey. The alcohol contents are relatively low." He explained as Alice nodded her head and thanked the bartender.

Making her way back to her seat, she could see that Ria had been paired against one of their more \'powerful\' fighters. Just judging from the way he was carrying himself, Alice could tell that he was someone with experience.

It wasn\'t comparable to Allura or Gin but Alice knew that he was roughly Neal\'s level or maybe just a bit lower.

\'Seems like Ria might have to use more strength in this fight.\' Alice thought to herself as she took a sip of the mead.

"!!!" Raising her eyebrows, Alice was surprised by how the drink tasted. It felt like a warm fire flooding her body yet it didn\'t hurt at all. The sweetness that came before the warmth made her feel cozy as she took another sip.

"Holy crap… This is good…" Alice muttered as she realised what she wanted as her hobby. Or rather, something that she wanted to classify as what she enjoyed and that was tasting more alcohol like this mead.

"Urg… Ria\'s grandfather had a flask that he kept drinking from. I wonder if I can get something like that too for this drink." Alice sighed while taking another sip.

From sips to gulps, Alice finished her drink quickly and ran back to the counter to get more.

"Seems like I\'ve hooked you on this drink girly hahaha." The bartender chuckled seeing the eagerness in Alice\'s eyes as she placed the mug on the counter while asking for more. In a sense, it was almost as if a kid was asking for sweets from a stall.

"It\'s sweet then hot. Kind of spicy then cosy. Very tasty." Alice nodded her head as she wasn\'t sure how to explain how she felt from drinking the mead yet she knew she enjoyed the drink.

"Are there any others like this one? Or is this one the best one?"

"We got a few others. Though whether or not it\'s the best one depends on your tastes. Some meads are made from different kinds of honey. Some would be considered poisonous to Hunters with weak constitutions yet those with 5 or more Sigils tend to enjoy such drinks as they help them get drunk." The bartender explained with a chuckle.

Alice was like an eager student right now as she memorised everything he mentioned about the drink and bought some more to sample.

Seeing how she was gulping down the drink like the barbarians from the northern continent, the bartender was surprised to see how resilient she was towards the drinks. Even though the alcohol contents were low, considering her stature, it was a wonder how she was not even red in the face yet.

"Hmm… I think I like the mead made from Cinder Honey the most." Alice muttered after trying out all of the different meads that the bar offered. Despite not being red in the face, the alcohol was slowly taking effect as the tips of her ears were red.

"Do you have a flask that can hold a bunch of the mead in one go? Like er… that whole barrel." Alice asked, pointing at the barrel behind him.

"We don\'t since they\'re usually equipment for famous Hunters. But I can have some people deliver the mead to where you\'re staying if you wish." The bartender offered as Alice nodded her head.

"Then I\'ll take 10 bottles to g-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Ria had walked up behind Alice and chopped down on her head.

"OW! Hey! What was that for?" Alice frowned as she glanced back and saw Ria behind her.

"Oh! Ria you should try this hehe~" Alice grinned, showing Ria a mug of the Cinder Honey mead.

"You\'re drunk. And how much of our gold did you spend on alcohol? You do realise that you only have 1 gold piece left right? The rest is my gold?" Ria asked with a twitching smile.

Tilting her head for a moment, Alice placed the mug down before holding up 6 fingers.

"The girly here spent 6 gold on our finest mead and wanted 10 bottles to go which would total to roughly 5 extra gold pieces. So 11 gold in total." The bartender chuckled, causing Ria to blink her eyes in bewilderment. She was in shock at how much Alice had drank in the course of a few short matches and was now even planning on buying 10 bottles to take home with her!

Massaging her eyes, Ria glanced down at Alice and sighed.

She could see the longing in Alice\'s eyes as she laughed to herself thinking about the drinks that she\'ll have.

"I suppose you\'re a happy drunk. Though it\'s more accurate to say you\'re tipsy. However... your self control has already waned this much."

Shaking her head, Ria placed 5 gold pieces on the counter.

"Can you send the bottles to this address?"

"Of course. Here\'s one free on the house as it seems like the girly has fallen in love with the flavour." The bartender chuckled, handing a bottle to Alice who didn\'t hesitate to hug the bottle while Ria dragged her out of the establishment.

Even she knew when to quit and after winning two more matches, she took her earnings to look for Alice.

Counting the coins in her pouch, Ria sighed as burning through 11 coins just for drinks was not part of her calculations. It was likely that they\'ll have to revisit the place meaning… Alice will get more drinks.

"I\'ll be honest, out of everything, I didn\'t expect you to like drinking so much." Ria sighed while glancing back at Alice who was drinking her bottle happily while letting out strange giggles.

"You should try it Ria. It\'s tasty!" Alice offered as Ria sighed and nodded.

"50 silver per bottle better be worth it."

Taking the bottle, Ria took a sip and raised her eyebrow.

"Huh… Well I can see why you would like it I suppose. Though I wouldn\'t go out of my way to spend this much on it." Ria shrugged, giving back the bottle to Alice.

"You\'re losing out then. More for me." Alice smiled.

However, her smile soon faded as her eyebrows began to furrow.

Pausing her steps, she closed her eyes and sniffed the air.

"Alice?"

"Wait… Something smells weird." Alice frowned.

Despite being tipsy, her awareness was now sharpened as she continued to smell the air.

Following the smell, Alice arrived at the entrance towards the slums as there was a deep frown on her face.

At this point, even Ria could smell the stench as she had to cover her nose.

"What the hell is this smell?"

"Abyss Blood boiling in rotting flesh. The smell is usually very potent and if you\'re not careful can cause slight side effects just like if you were to drink impure blood." Alice warned, gesturing for Ria to take a step back.

"Though from the smell, it doesn\'t seem to be a high concentration. You\'ll definitely get sick if you smell it for too long but it can be treated."

She knew this smell well. After all, she smelled it plenty of times when her body was suffering from side effects in the Zenia prison.

However, the biggest worry was how this smell was caused.

\'Someone did this on purpose. Maybe it has something in common with the rumours I heard earlier…\' Alice contemplated for a moment before stepping away.

"Well, I\'m sure the guards will deal with it tomorrow. Not like we can do anything here anyways." Alice shrugged.

"If you say so." Ria glanced back at the slums before following Alice back to their Inn.