Abyssal Awakening

After much persuasion, Alice agreed for her to try it out once. The result of which was Ria losing 25 times in a row and losing 30 gold in the process. In the end, she vowed not to play around with gambling tables. Instead, she would gamble at fighting arenas where she knows she could win instead.

Having lost 30 gold, the duo was left with 47 gold in total between them.

As for the young noble whom they ran into on the first day, he avoided them in the rare instances where they would meet. Having laid eyes on Alice, his face would lose colour and his body would tremble at the thought of what had happened before.

The sights he saw and the horrors he felt, it was far too real for just a hallucination.

They were, after all, her own experiences.

Thanks to that, they weren\'t given any trouble through the week even though she expected the crew to talk to her about the incident.

"We will be arriving in Silverwind Valley shortly. May all passengers collect all of your belongings and prepare for arrival. Please make sure you do not forget anything and should you misplace or lose your items, please talk to the supervisors at the port to inquire about missing items."

Hearing the announcement over the loudspeaker, Alice yawned as she slowly opened her eyes.

She had fallen asleep in the training room since they had gotten a little carried away last night.

Seeing the marks left behind by their training, a smile crept up on Alice\'s face.

\'It\'s a little difficult to use but not impossible. In the middle of a fight, we should be able to execute this attack with some effort and distractions.\' She mused to herself.

Stretching her body, Alice walked over to Ria who had also fallen asleep in the training room and shook her on the shoulder.

"Wakey wakey. The airship is about to arrive."

Letting out an annoyed groan, Ria swatted away Alice\'s hand as she curled up into a more comfortable position.

Seeing this, Alice sighed and allowed Ria to sleep for a little longer.

Returning to her room, Alice had a shower before looking over her wardrobe once more.

Since they were going to meet Ria\'s long-time friend, Alice didn\'t want to look sloppy. Plus, they were going to enrol at the Academy too and according to her old knowledge, first impressions are rather important.

\'Even if I\'m strong, if I don\'t look the part the staff at the Academy might hold some bias.\' Alice thought to herself as she picked out a few dresses.

\'Do I go with a smart look? Serious or cute?\'

Furrowing her brows, Alice had a hard time choosing the outfit she wanted since all of them looked good. But in the end, she settled with a rather practical attire that would help her out in combat.

The outfit consisted of a large white jacket with a hood. Oversized sleeves to hide any weapons she may be holding or attacks she might be preparing such as the blood beads.

Beneath the jacket was a large shirt hiding some padding. It wasn\'t much in terms of protection but better than nothing.

Wearing a pair of shorts and black stockings, she put on a pair of armoured boots that reached just below her knees.

During the week they were training, they weren\'t solely focused on bringing forth their ideas with the new technique.

Alice wanted to learn more hand to hand combat and who better to ask than Ria. But unlike Ria, Alice lacked the upper body strength to properly attack her opponent so they opted for a fighting style that prioritized kicking rather than punches.

With her flexibility and reactions, Alice turned out to be quite the lethal fighter with her legs.

Which is why she chose a pair of shorts rather than a skirt since she\'d rather not reveal herself in the middle of a fight.

Feeling satisfied with her choice of attire, Alice gave herself a light spin to make sure everything looked good.

Packing up her belongings, she made her way back to the training room and saw that Ria had now woken up but was still feeling groggy.

"Seems like you\'re finally awake. Airships almost reached the destination. They\'re telling passengers to get their stuff ready." Alice explained with a smile.

Hearing this, Ria paused before jumping up.

"Oh sh*t already? Why didn\'t you wake me up?!"

"I did but you slapped my hand away." Alice shrugged as Ria dashed back to her room.

Shaking her head with a smile, Alice glanced back at the training room before leaving.

The crew might have a slight headache trying to repair all of the damages but believe it or not, they actually held back a lot.

Arriving at Ria\'s room, Alice noticed Ria panicking about what she wanted to wear.

"Argh! Dammit this wouldn\'t work!" Ria cried out in annoyance as she stuffed one of her martial split dresses into her suitcase.

"Why wouldn\'t it work? I thought you liked that dress quite a bit?" Alice asked curiously as Ria folded her arms.

"I mean yeah but it\'s lacking something. I dunno… I can just feel it ya know? The moment I wear that Luke will definitely make fun of me. I wanna find something that can really knock him off his senses, make him speechless." Ria explained.

"Oh? Are you trying to impress him?" Alice paused in surprise but Ria shook her head.

"Nope just want to make him speechless that\'s all. He\'s always got so much sh*t to say to me so I want to change things. Come on, help me pick something. What do you think will make him speechless?"

"I mean if you really want to make him speechless you can just throw some rainbows and glitter on a tattered dress and vomit some colours on it. I\'m pretty sure that\'ll make anyone speechless not just your friend." Alice smirked, causing Ria to roll her eyes.

"No sh*t. I meant in a good way. Like wow! Way."

"So, to achieve this you decided to ask someone who\'s been locked away for 10 years? I mean if you trust my aesthetic sense sure, but it might be a bit outdated." Alice warned.

"It\'s fine. Now which one do you think looks better on me?" Ria asked, showing Alice a selection of five dresses.

With no other choice, Alice sat down and started to help Ria with picking out an outfit.

###

Glancing up at the time, a young man removed his glasses before massaging his eyes.

He was currently sitting by a desk with a mountain of textbooks and notes.

"I think it should be time for Ria to arrive. Her airship should be landing in 30 minutes." He muttered with fatigue.

Closing the book in front of him, he stood up and grabbed his jacket from his seat.

The jacket was black and red in colour and adorned with an intricate golden emblem and embroidery.

Swinging the jacket over his shoulders and allowing them to hang off thanks to the clips, he stepped away from his workstation and prepared to meet his old friend.

He stood at 6ft 2 and had a slender frame. He has muted long purple hair that looked as though it was losing its colour into a grey and was loosely tied into a low pony tail as strands of hair framed his face, swaying with each step that he took. Behind his glasses, a pair of turquoise eyes looked on with fatigue yet there was a sense of dormant power in his gaze.

Beneath the black and red jacket, he wore a sleeveless black vest that contrasted the long-sleeved red shirt he wore under the vest. A pair of suit pants and polished black shoes to match.

Luke Isander. An orphan thanks to the rituals of the Cult of the Eclipse. Much like Ria, he was saved by Gin during his purge of the cult and the two travelled with him for a period of time until Luke decided to branch away and enter the Academy for study.

Yawning softly, Luke didn\'t notice the small smile he had on his face as this was going to be a reunion long overdue.

Ria mentioned that she was bringing along a friend for this trip but didn\'t specify any details regarding this friend.

All he could hope was that she was less talented than Ria when it came to stirring up trouble.

For Luke, a quiet life was the best life. Having one person bring chaos with her every time she visited was enough. Two was going to be far too much of a headache.

###

"I think this should be good enough no?" Alice groaned as she felt exhausted from helping Ria pick an outfit.

Every time she made a suggestion Ria would shoot it down with a reason and this has continued until the crew has announced that there were only 10 minutes left until arrival.

"Urg… F*ck it! This should be just fine right?" Ria bit her lip as she glanced into the mirror.

"Don\'t ask me. I\'m not the one trying to make the target speechless. I don\'t know your friend so it\'s up to you if you think this is enough." Alice sighed.

However, she had to admit that with the outfit Ria had chosen, she felt like a completely different kind of person.

The usual Ria felt like a crackling bonfire. Exuding energy and a sense of eagerness no matter what she was doing.

As for the current Ria, she was more akin to the gentle moonlight. Soft, charming and elegant.

"Erm… Alright! This will do. I\'ll make sure I make him speechless today." Ria puffed out her chest as the fires of determination burned bright in her eyes.

Packing the rest of her things into the suitcase, the two arrived at the deck and watched as Silverwind Valley came into view.