Abyssal Awakening

Looking to her side, she could see that she was currently in a horse cart. There were three others in the cart including Selen.

"Ah, you\'re finally awake. The young lady over there was trying to take you to the border. Almost got caught in an ambush by the dogs of the Extalia kingdom." A middle aged man smiled, giving her a small wave.

He had dirty blonde hair with braids on the side and a messy beard. messy beard.

"Where are we?" Alice asked curiously, glancing towards Selen who had fallen asleep.

Just as she wanted to adjust her posture, Alice flinched from the wounds across her body. One of them was even torn apart and blood seeped into her bandages.

"You don\'t know? We\'re in the Verona Queendom. How did you two even get so deep into the nation if you don\'t know where you are? All the borders should be embroiled in war right now." He asked curiously as Alice scratched her cheek.

"Not sure, I\'ve been sleeping this entire time after all." Alice pointed at her bandages.

"Makes sense. The lady said you two got into an accident when you were running away from a beast. The next thing you knew you found yourselves in the north. Right now, we\'re heading to the north and away from the borders. Kvia, that\'s where we\'re headin\'.

"A military outpost of sorts. Meant to shuffle supplies back \'n forth for the war effort. You should also be able to find a carriage to take you to a safer city towards the capital."

Hearing this, Alice furrowed her brows as she didn\'t think she\'d be sent all the way to the north. Not only that but the border was under conflict?

\'Seems like the truce was broken now that the Inverted World disappeared.\'

"What happened with the truce? I thought they weren\'t fighting for a while."

"Bah, a load a bullsh*t that\'s what it was. Sickness broken out over there and some of it was passed to the north and the east. Brokered a peace to try and resolve it. Unfortunately, their plans got ruined and no one could find a good cure. Now we\'re just biding our time for the doctors to resolve the issue but war don\'t wait for no one." The man sighed while waving his hand.

"The sickness breaking out is a load of crap. It\'s orchestrated I tell ye. They got scared that we\'re pushing em back and did this to scare us into retreat so they could regroup. We should\'ve never accepted that damn truce and kept fightin\'." Another man in the carriage piped up.

"You\'re only saying that coz you never saw it with your own eyes. I saw everything with me own eyes." The first man pointed at his eyes.

"Every man and woman going insane, blood in their veins bursting out. They stopped being human and turned beast like. Strange parts poking and prodding out their bodies, plants growin\' and their organs turning inside out. Looked f*cken painful, a fate worse than death."

"It\'s just a hallucination from chemicals in the air. Another blasted Sigil ability no doubt. Filthy sinners stoop to all kinds of levels just for power." The second spat in disgust while Alice raised an eyebrow.

"Don\'t everyone get a Sigil here and there though?" She asked as taking Sigils was a rather standard procedure for even the common folk.

"Hah! As if. Not everyone\'s eager to sell their soul to the devil for power." He laughed in contempt.

"It\'s true. It may be common for the Extalia dogs but for us? Not all of us are so eager. Those who proceed do so with the goal of protecting us. True heroes and not those devil worshippers who do it for the power." The first man nodded his head in agreement.

Smiling and nodding by the side, Alice felt a little awkward.

After all, in their words, she too was a devil worshipper who got Sigils for power. Not only that, but she\'s the successor to the \'devil\'!

Regardless, Alice was glad to see someone thinking it was premeditated rather than happening normally.

It was too coincidental for the Zenia\'s to go after the Inverted World, and then a pandemic broke out, giving them an excuse.

Thinking of this, Alice wondered what happened to the principal. Considering that three Lords were looking after the entrance, seeing it suddenly disappear will most certainly turn some eyes towards her.

\'There\'s also Ria and Luke too. I wonder how they\'re doing.\' Alice sighed inwardly as she worried about her friends.

Shaking her head, she laid out the goals for herself.

The most important task right now was to figure out where she was exactly. She knew she was in the north but where was she on the map?

Information was key and she needed a map. Soon.

Second was to heal her body. It was hanging on for now but Alice wasn\'t eager to maintain herself in a half dying state. Her wounds refused to close and her body felt sluggish.

Compared to the Abyss, she felt like she was walking through a swamp. Not only that but it was also hard to breathe.

Closing her eyes, she tried to spur her regeneration but there was no response. Only the bare minimum was being activated.

\'Is it because I\'m not in the Abyss?\' Alice wondered.

With the control of Abyssal Energy being harder than before, it was difficult to bring out the power of her Sigils.

Letting out a soft sigh, she leaned back and glanced up at the sky.

She enjoyed the feeling of soft sunlight filtering in through the clouds.

The biting cold against her skin turned the tip of her nose and ears red. Letting out a breath of cold mist, Alice let out a soft laugh.

Seeing Alice randomly laugh to herself, the two men glanced at one another before shrugging.

The journey proceeded without any issues much to the surprise of Alice.

Travelling in the Abyss was always fraught with danger. Fears of a beast jumping out from the forest or ground. Fears of a plant type Abyss beast latching onto you and draining you of your essence.

Fear that a randomly infected Hunter may suddenly turn to kill you.

But here on the surface? The biggest fear may be the stray bandit or a blocked off path.

Compared to the Abyss, it was far rarer for Beasts to be roaming the lands.

According to the two men, most of the beasts are regulated into certain zones by the warriors of Verona. If people with Sigils are called Hunters in the Abyss, the Northerners call them Warriors.

Thus, it was rare to ever get attacked.

As for Bandits, they take care to scout out their target before making a move in fear of a strong warrior being tasked as a guard.

Hearing about all of this was fascinating to Alice as the people living on the surface have far different worries compared to those who live in the Abyss.

Since most of her time on the surface was spent in a prison, she considered herself a resident of the Abyss.

Naturally, the two were confused as to why Alice was asking these questions. Instead, they chalked it up to the fact that she was from a different part of the surface. Perhaps from another area of Extalia or even the eastern nation of Sikha.

However, they took care not to mention that since she was appreciating the knowledge of northerners.

Considering the wounds on her body, the two guessed that she was either a deserter of Extalia or someone who tried to cross the border for safety. Perhaps this was the \'accident\' the other girl had spoken of.

With this in mind, they answered any questions Alice had.

"Hng…" Opening her eyes slowly, Selen saw that Alice woke up from her brief coma and was now chatting away with the northerners happily. Their conversation was a little too loud and woke her up from her nap.

Stretching her body, she let out a yawn.

"Ah you\'re up, how was your nap?" Alice asked with a laugh. In her hands, she held a flask of mead and had shared some with the other two as payment for their information.

She was confused as to why her pouch had a set of other materials such as wood and fur but she ignored it for now. She figured Selen probably took the chance to use her pouch as storage. So long as the mead wasn\'t touched, she was happy.

One of the important parts of the northern culture was their love for alcohol, a part that Alice was greatly interested in.

The exchange of alcohol was a sign of showing respect for these northerners and with Alice giving them mead, the three became close rather quickly.

Alice wanted to give the driver some mead as well but he rejected, saying he had to focus on the road but appreciated the gesture.

"Noisy. How was yours? Is your body any better and should you be drinking alcohol?" Selen furrowed her brows, overwhelmed by the smell.

"Strangely exhausting? And drinking mead is fineee~ Plus it warms my body up from the cold, isn\'t that right?!" Alice laughed, raising her flask at the other two as they did the same and let out a hearty laugh.

"Aye the lass is correct. Nothing better than a flask of mead in this kind of weather!" The first man grinned while the second man nodded.

Not wanting to end their party, Selen let out a sigh and a smile while enjoying the atmosphere.

Through the snow and wind, hearty laughs and the clinking of flasks could be heard.