Abyssal Awakening

As she stepped through the door, it felt as though she was transported to a brand new world.

The interior of the building was bustling yet much to her surprise, all she could hear was murmuring. She couldn\'t quite make out what they were saying no matter how hard she tried. A thin veil blocked her from making out what they were saying.

In the background, music played yet Alice couldn\'t find the band that was playing.

Continuing into the bar, the aroma of food, alcohol and scented candles filled the air as the lightning of the interior was rather dim. It was only illuminated by the glowing shelves displaying different bottles of alcohol along with lights above the different tables.

Standing in the middle of all of this, Alice couldn\'t help but feel as though she was out of place as she didn\'t expect something of this level. Her initial expectation was a rather standard rowdy bar.

Making her way to the bar where several seats were placed in front of it, Alice sat down and glanced over to the bartender.

Due to the light from the display behind him, his features were completely obscured and even trying to focus on his face didn\'t help.

"Judging by your body language, you must be a new traveller to this port." The bartender smiled as he walked over while cleaning an empty cup.

"Hm? Oh! Yes, I am. What\'s with this place?" Alice asked curiously, glancing over to the different tables spread through the building.

"Ah~ You must be confused by the secrecy. It\'s one of the shining features of our establishment. We are rather confident in our ability to help you keep matters confidential should you decide to hold a meeting here. As the best bar in an international port, it\'s only natural." He explained with a light laugh.

"You can think of it as a protective measure since it is applied to the staff here as well. Even now, the voice you are hearing is not my real voice and my figure, not my real figure. It gives noble families more confidence in us should they decide to visit rather than hosting private parties. Of course, this means that the meetings conducted here are usually for nefarious matters such as murder."

Hearing this, Alice couldn\'t help but raise an eyebrow as he pulled out a mirror from behind the bar.

Placing it in front of Alice, he took a step back as Alice realised that her own figure was obscured as well.

Blinking her eyes in surprise, she paused in realisation and understood it must\'ve been the blue flames by the entrance.

"Seems like you understand the allure of this place. Now how may I help you?"

"Well… I\'m here for some mead." Alice replied honestly. She just didn\'t expect the bar to be this kind of place when she was simply here to get a drink.

"Ohya? Most interesting. Can I ask what kind of mead you are… Looking for?" The bartender chuckled softly.

"I\'m thinking something spicy but sweet. Not too harsh on the body."

"I see… A gentle time. Understood. Any preference on time of service?" He nodded as Alice felt confused by his response but dismissed the feeling for now.

"As soon as possible. I still need to catch an airship so I can\'t stay for long."

"I will see what I can do. I will give you a list of our catalogue once I check the availability. In the meantime please enjoy this complimentary drink." He bowed before pouring a pink alcohol into a small glass and pushing it before Alice.

"Oh? Thank you."

She didn\'t think they would give her a free drink on top of what she wanted to order.

Bringing the glass to her nose, she gave the alcohol a smell. A soft floral scent drifted from the liquid with a tinge of sweetness.

Taking a sip, Alice could feel the alcohol going through her body as warmth spread through her body in an instant. Licking her lips, Alice couldn\'t help but sigh out in satisfaction.

Just as she finished her drink, the bartender came back with a list and pictures next to the time.

But once Alice laid her eyes on the contents, she froze up in a mixture of confusion and stock.

"Erm… I\'m pretty sure I ordered mead?" Alice forced a smile while the bartender tilted his head at her response.

"Yes?... Wait… Are you talking about the drink mead or do you mean the… service mead." The bartender asked hesitantly.

"The f*cks a service mead?"

Coughing awkwardly, the bartender hesitated before opening his mouth.

"The bedroom service kind. My apologies, since you described mead as not too harsh on the body, I had assumed you read the sign. And understood what you were asking for." He bowed with embarrassment as he pointed to the sign behind him. It was next to the display of alcohol and clearly stated the code words of this establishment.

The code words ranged from poker to different types of food and finally, mead.

[Mead = Massage, Ecstasy and Desires]

"!!!" Widening her eyes in horror, blood rushed to Alice\'s face as she was so focused on the alcohol on the shelf that she didn\'t even see the sign next to it.

Hiding her face out of shame, Alice took a deep breath and sighed.

"I… Just want to fill my flask with some me- alcoholic beverages for the journey ahead since it\'ll take a week." Alice explained, suppressing the desire to crawl into a hole and hide herself.

"Once again I\'m sorry for the mix up. It\'s just… hardly anyone comes here just for the alcohol since it\'s complimentary with the service we provide. But since this is my mistake, please let me compensate you." He apologised sincerely as he had truly never seen anyone come to this establishment just for alcohol.

\'Once you enter this place, it should feel no different to the deep layers of the Howling Depths. Does this person not feel anything? Who would believe someone like this is just here for alcohol? Or is it some other code word I haven\'t remembered?\' He thought to himself.

Those who treated this place as a normal bar would find themselves struggling to move from the malevolent aura emanating from this place. Yet she was sitting here just fine and wanting a simple refill of her flask.

Not wanting to make another mistake, he decided to ignore the abnormalities and refill her flask with the highest grade mead they had.

"Here you go, your flask has been refilled. Once again I apologize for my mistake of misunderstanding your intentions. I hope you can forgive me."

"Ah it\'s fine. It\'s my fault too for not reading the sign." Alice waved her hand as she was in the wrong. She should\'ve seen the sign and asked the moment his response felt weird.

Looking back, it truly sounded like she was asking for a bed warmer to spend some time with.

\'Urg… I\'m going to take this secret with me to my grave. If Ria found out… Yeah no she\'ll definitely laugh at me.\' She sighed inwardly. Thanking the bartender once more, Alice stood up and left the establishment.

Leaving the door, Alice could feel the concealment effect lingering on her so long as she was near the strange blue flames but once she stepped away, it disappeared.

\'What a strange thing… I wonder if I could take a sample of it. Nah, I don\'t want to test my luck.\'

Whoever had created this establishment knew what they were doing and she didn\'t want to annoy someone like that accidentally. She couldn\'t even sense the abyssal energy flowing through the establishment hence why she didn\'t realise something was off.

Shaking her head, Alice turned around and left when she noticed a group of three preparing to enter the bar.

Stepping to the side so as to not bump into them, Alice was about to walk away when she noticed a crest embroidered on their jacket.

\'Dagger in a heart… Isn\'t that the crest of the Morrigan family?\' Alice paused in surprise as the Morrigan family was one of the families responsible for Abyss Blood production before the Zenia family took over.

After the sudden rise of the Zenia\'s, they could only survive as a family that supplied the nobles with high-purity blood at their request.

\'If I remember correctly, they should be a Blood Harvesting family now…\' Alice thought to herself before walking away.

She understood that with how famous the Silverwind Academy was with it being located in the self-destruct site of an Abyss Lord, she shouldn\'t be surprised if famous noble families were to show up.

Especially if it was the Zenia family.

Placing her hand over her chest, Alice furrowed her brows as she didn\'t know how she would react.

Would she have another panic attack? Would she lash out in anger? Or could she hold back her fury and simply watch?

Allura wasn\'t here to protect her right now and she had to be responsible for her own actions.

Thinking to herself, Alice made up her mind. Depending on the rules of the Academy, and if she saw anyone she knew, she\'d work within its boundaries to achieve her goals.

\'If I want to get dispose of any Zenia\'s I come across, I\'ll need to do so quietly. How would I even hide my identity? My split hair isn\'t exactly common in the Abyss.\' Alice thought to herself.

Strolling through the port, her mind was solely focused on how she would get away with a murder should she find a member of the Zenia family.