Abyssal Awakening

"Who the hell do you think you are? You\'re just a standalone Hunter. Can you even pay for the damages caused to my wares?" One of them retorted. Just as he finished his sentence, a blade of blood appeared next to his head.

"I\'m the person trying to save your lives. If you treasure your wares more than your f*cking life then keep packing! Everyone else who wants to live stop packing and prepare to leave! The swarm is right behind us, if we don\'t leave now we won\'t be able to leave at all!" Alice shouted.

"She\'s right. The swarm behind us is not something we can handle no matter how many Hunters we have." Griffin squeezed out as he forced himself to stand.

While they had plenty of Hunters at the camp, they weren\'t used to fighting as a group. The swarm would easily tear through them.

Cedric was hesitant before nodding his head.

He was already leaning towards the opinions of those from the Raven\'s Watch but it was hard to convince the others.

"Anyone who wants to leave come with me! We\'re packing up now! Drop everything you don\'t need!" Cedric shouted out as the Hunters under his employment started to follow his orders.

"Dammit Cedric! Do you know how much everything is worth here you bumbling moron!"

"It doesn\'t matter if we\'re all dead! You can stay behind and take my wares for yourself if you want." Cedric scoffed while having his Hunters carry Griffin and Kaida onto the carriages.

"Where\'s your friend?" Isabella asked as she rushed over to Alice\'s side.

"She\'s holding off a beast right now. It\'s not something we can handle with our power. Once we start leaving, I\'ll send her a signal so that she can catch up to us." Alice replied while sheathing her sword.

Just as she was about to make her way to Cedric\'s carriage, her path was blocked by two Hunters under the employment of the merchant she had just threatened.

She could clearly sense the hostility in their eyes as she took a deep breath and sighed out.

"If you want to die just say so."

Hearing her threat, their eyes twitched for a moment before one of the Hunters rushed forward with his blade to his side.

Taking a step back, Alice dodged his swing before twisting her body and kicking up with her leg, knocking him on the wrist and forcing him to drop his sword.

In one swift motion, she unsheathed her blade as black and red flames coated the edge. Slashing in a downwards arc, the blade tore through his arm with ease before cleaving through his torso.

She had coated her blade with a thin layer of her own blood so that the moment her blade caught aflame, it would produce the fumes to stop his Sigils from working.

It allowed her to kill him before he could fight back while the other Hutner stared in bewilderment.

Pointing her blade tip at his face, Alice glared in silent warning.

Raising his hands in surrender, the Hunter took a few steps back, no longer wanting to give her any trouble.

"Let\'s go. How many carriages are wanting to leave immediately?" Alice asked as some of the merchants were still ignoring her warnings.

"Four." Isabella replied. She wanted to thank Alice for saving them but this was not the time. They weren\'t in the clear yet.

"Alright."

Jumping onto the fourth carriage, Alice glanced back into the forest while Cedric ordered their retreat. They needed to leave this region and pray the beasts won\'t continue to chase after them.

With everything prepared, Alice took a deep breath and aimed her finger at the sky. Activating her second Sigil, violet flames started to swirl around her as it converged into an orb.

*BANG!!!

Firing the orb into the sky, Alice waited for it to reach the necessary height before detonating into a ball of violet energy.

"Was something about to attack?!" Isabella asked in a small panic but Alice shook her head.

"No, just sending a signal to my friend."

Clenching her fist, Alice waited while glancing towards the direction of the forest. Her heart wouldn\'t rest easy until Ria was back safe and sound.

*BOOM!!!

Hearing the distant thunder, Alice sighed out in relief as a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky. From within the light, Ria appeared, battered and wounded with blood dripping through the gaps of her armour.

Spotting the carriage, she threw another bolt of lightning before teleporting down and crashing against the carriages.

The sound of wood planks breaking startled the driver but Alice didn\'t care. She rushed next to Ria and rummaged through her pouch for any Healing Blood she had left.

Ria, once full of energy and life now lay bloodied and wounded in the amidst the broken planks. Cuts marred her skin, her clothing was torn and stained deep with her own blood. Her hair, now dishevelled and soaked with sweat, clung to her forehead.

Her gaze was blurred with fatigue and relief seeing that they were now leaving this forest.

Thankfully, there was one vial left and Alice quickly poured the contents into Ria\'s mouth.

"Took you a while… To send the signal." Ria chuckled weakly as she regained some of her vitality but she was unable to move freely. Despite the healing blood, she could feel pain from across her entire body.

"Sorry. Dipsh*ts cared more about their wares than their life. I can assume they should be coming face to face with the beast right about now." Alice scoffed while glancing back before focusing her attention back on Ria.

"We need to get you to a healer. There\'s only so much this vial of Healing Blood can do for you." Alice sighed.

"Erm… I have some healing blood if you don\'t mind…" A small voice called out as Alice glanced up, noticing it was Ellie.

Her eyes were dulled by the weight of guilt and sorrow. The sadness in her expression was clear to all as her shoulders sagged under the burden of her actions having caused a death in their party. The death of Finn.

Her hands trembled as she tried her best to hold the vial of blood steady for Alice as she understood that without Alice, Griffin and Kaida would also be dead.

Even now, the final stand continuously replayed in her mind, her mistakes and her lack of action.

Seeing this, Alice was silent.

\'If I didn\'t touch the relic… Would the beasts have gone out of control?\' Alice asked herself. Had she not followed the mark, perhaps they wouldn\'t be in this situation.

But what is done is done. All she could do was to apologise.

"Thank you. And sorry…" Alice sighed as she accepted the vial of blood.

Forcing a smile, Ellie walked away and sat down in her own carriage while the injured Kaida and Griffin were laying down on the seats.

Kaida cannot continue his life as a Hunter anymore. The healing blood needed to repair his injury was far above their pay and even if they sold everything, they wouldn\'t even be able to match a fraction of the price.

"I\'m sorry…" Ellie sobbed as she clenched her fist. The tears rolling down her face as she wished everything was a bad dream.

###

Leaning against the outside of the carriage, Isabella was silent. Their party was now over, Finn is dead, Kaida is maimed and Ellie\'s mental is broken from her mistakes and her fear of death.

Looking down at the vial in her hands, Isabella sighed. She could no longer bring herself to keep researching as it was done for her party in the first place. She wanted the knowledge so that she could keep them safe and prepared but there was no longer any point to it.

Making her way back to Alice, she noticed that Ria had fallen asleep while Alice sat next to her, guarding her safety.

"Is something wrong?" Alice called out, noticing Isabella by the door.

"Ah no. I just wanted to give you my research results. I won\'t be needing them anymore." Isabella smiled bitterly as she pulled out a stack of parchment with her handwriting and diagrams scribbled across the surface.

"I have some theories that I\'ve written about on the sheet but most of it is in my mind since this is just notes.

"But basically, the compressed orbs seems to have reduced effectiveness when ingested. Naturally, that accounts for the side effects too. However, if merged with some other blood with higher purity, it seems to be able to bring out the latent potential of the blood.

Boosting the effects while keeping the side effects low." Isabella explained while showing Alice an experimental vial of blood that she had created.

"I\'m not sure if this is applicable for healing blood but that\'s my main theory on what you can do with these orbs. This vial of blood right here is made using the orb you gave me. Its effects are giving you heightened reaction and sensitivity while also boosting your physical power. Side effects have been reduced to the point where just drinking one vial won\'t do anything to you."

"Is that so… Thank you, I\'ll keep these research notes in mind." Alice smiled as she accepted the vial of blood as well as the parchment sheets.

Opening her mouth, Isabella wanted to say something but in the end chose to stay silent and leave the carriage.

It was something she also discovered in her experiments but didn\'t make any notes as it was unconfirmed.

There were traces of what could only be described as… \'life\' in the blood orb. As though it was trying to reform itself. It seems to resonant with the realm and gain power from it. Yet something was limiting the power it could gain and eventually, it \'died\'.

Isabella had too many theories but no evidence. She could only keep the thoughts to herself.

Looking up at the moon, she sighed and wondered what kind of life she should live now.

"Maybe I should be a baker." Isabella muttered, retreating to her own carriage and resting her mind while the howls of Abyss Beasts echoed out in the distance.