Abyssal Awakening

"What do you think he\'s gonna do to him?" Ria asked as a bad feeling surfaced in her heart.

The way Thane smiled while reassuring them sent a chill down her spine.

"Erm… Probably going to reveal a bit of his power right? Maybe a bit of coercion." Alice tilted her head as her question was answered rather quickly.

Opening the doors, Thane left the room with a satisfied smile while the branch leader looked pale in his seat. The fear in his eyes was prevalent as Thane threw a card at Alice.

"I had him update your Hunter\'s licence while I was at it. I pretty much verified your strength as a three star Hunter after all. You two can leave this city whenever you want and the reward for your commission has been handed to you. The full reward without any subtractions as the branch leader was kind enough to pay off what you owe.

Isn\'t that right?" Thane chuckled as he glanced back at the branch leader who hurriedly nodded his head.

Seeing this, Alice\'s smile twitched as he was able to resolve their issues with a simple \'talk\'.

"I guess that\'s what you can do when you\'re powerful." Alice muttered as Thane smiled.

"It can\'t resolve everything but it\'s definitely handy. Without power, no one would give a crap about what you say." He shrugged before yawning loudly.

"I\'m pretty exhausted now after babysitting the two of you these days. Don\'t cause too much trouble if you can help it, especially when you can\'t resolve it. Avoid weird cults, if anyone comes up and talks to you, be wary of their intentions.

"Don\'t take candy from a stranger, don\'t trust free hospitality and what else? Hmm… Right, train as hard as you can but remember to take breaks. Your body is important after all. Do as much research as you can in libraries. If your research is sufficient you can usually kill a beast before it uses its skills.

If they\'re fighting back then you\'re doing something wrong." Thane paused for a moment before shaking his head.

"Well I\'m sure you have it handled. Just try to stay out of trouble." He chuckled, patting both of them on the head while making his way out of the guild.

"Will we see you again in the future?" Alice called out.

Pausing in his step, Thane turned around and smiled.

Without saying anything, a swarm of shadows swirled around him as his disguise was dismissed. The shadows bowed down in reverence as he revealed his full figure.

A familiar face greeted Alice as his cold eyes stared back, this time with a trace of warmth compared to their first meeting.

His long black hair swayed behind him as a raven feathered jacket appeared around his shoulders.

"You will definitely see me again in the future. Live well kid, you\'re doing good so far." Kaden chuckled as he raised his hand and snapped his fingers. Before Alice could even call out to him, a flock of ravens appeared around them and both Alice and Ria had to shield their eyes.

By the time they were able to see again, Kaden had disappeared leaving the two behind while the staff around the Guild looked in confusion.

Biting her lip, Alice sighed before smiling.

It was Kaden all along. Which meant he heard her gratitude towards him.

"Was that…"

"It was Kaden. The one who saved me and started my journey." Alice chuckled.

Looking down at her hand, a single raven feather was left behind as she stored it inside her jacket.

Knowing that both Allura and Kaden were looking after her, protecting her, Alice felt a warmth in her heart that she hadn\'t felt in so many years.

It felt just like the warmth she received before her birthday, the warmth of family.

"That was Kaden? So he wasn\'t Thane? Or did Thane never exist?" Ria asked in confusion as she was trying to work out what exactly happened.

"Seems like it was just an alias he was using to approach us."

\'Though… that hate he showed. It was real. I wonder what happened in the past for him to hate himself so much.\' Alice thought with an inward sigh.

"He\'s kinda hot though."

"?????????" Widening her eyes, Alice snapped her head towards Ria and saw her staring at where Kaden had just been standing.

"Huh?"

"What? You have to admit that he\'s kinda hot." Ria shrugged nonchalantly while Alice couldn\'t wrap her head around it.

"Oh well. Anyways, what are we doing now? Since he\'s resolved the issues holding us in this city I\'m pretty sure we have enough travel funds now so we can leave whenever."

"You can\'t just change the subject after that?! What do you mean he\'s kinda hot???" Alice retorted in disbelief.

"Of course I can. It was just a thought anyways don\'t think too much about it ahaha. Let\'s go." Ria grinned as she made her way downstairs while Alice was left speechless.

Sighing out, she facepalmed and followed behind Ria.

Arriving downstairs, Ria made her way to the receptionist and inquired about the trip to find her friend Luke.

Keeping silent, Alice listened by the side since Ria hadn\'t mentioned the city he was in.

Silverwind Valley.

It wasn\'t a traditional city like Alice had expected but rather a city suspended in a fracture of space in the middle of the Silverwind Valley.

She wasn\'t quite sure what it entailed but from the receptionist\'s reaction, the trip was going to be a long one as they required several changes and even the addition of airships.

In the end, it seemed like they would need more than 200 gold in just travel fees alone and that wasn\'t including things like lodging or food.

Hearing the price, Ria felt like coughing up blood but since they now had the reward from their commission, they were able to afford the price.

"200 Gold for travel and we\'ll need to figure out our own lodging. *sigh...* Money comes in slowly yet leaves so fast. How do old people like Allura and Kaden even accumulate so much coin to begin with." Ria lamented as their wallet had finally gained weight only for it to disappear for travel fees.

"I mean… Kaden probably robbed it from families if I\'m being honest." Alice chuckled since she still remembered their first meeting.

He had broken into the most heavily guarded prison owned by the Zenia family out of boredom and curiosity. To him, it looked like they were guarding some precious treasure yet all he found was her.

In that aspect, he wasn\'t wrong. She was indeed the treasure of the Zenia family as she was the reason why they were able to produce so much usable Abyss Blood for public use.

Without her sacrifice, the people wouldn\'t have gotten so much.

"Well we\'re not strong enough yet to do what he does so we\'ll probably have to gamble a bit as we travel. Either that or do it the hard way and take some commissions on our way there. Which ever fits your fancy but personally, I would prefer the gambling route." Ria shrugged.

"Let\'s… Just take some commissions on the way there. On the other hand, I\'m more interested about Silverwind Valley. You said it was suspended in a fracture of space. What do you mean by that?"

"Ah that. Well… I\'m not versed in the history of that city. You can probably ask Luke when we see him. But grandfather did explain why the city is like that. Apparently, one of the Ancient Abyss Lords wouldn\'t take his punishment without fighting back and his response is to try blow himself up along with a piece of the Abyss.

"However, the Hunters at the time were able to seal the attack and now it\'s frozen in place as a fracture. The side effect is the area got distorted and those that enter could feel the influence of the Abyss directly. It\'s great for learning how to manipulate the power within your body and so they made an Academy there." Ria explained as Alice raised her eyebrow.

"Hou? So the reason why they build a city there is because they could sense the Abyss better?"

"Yep. It\'s quite a popular place you know? Just going to the city is enough to enhance your mastery over Sigils while those who study there often become famous Hunters. I never bothered with enrolling at the Academy since I was travelling around with grandfather and Allura.

"But Luke managed to enter without any Sigils at the time. It was a special case you know? First in the history of the Academy." Ria chuckled, feeling proud of her friends achievement while Alice wondered what kind of test they would have for him to be the first in history to enrol without a Sigil.

"Ah I need to send a letter to him so he knows were visiting. If we just show up without warning he might be out on a study trip." Ria remembered as she quickly jogged over to the bar and commissioned a letter delivery.

Seeing this, Alice wondered what kind of person Luke was.

From all the information she\'s obtained about him, it seemed like he was extremely knowledgeable regarding Abyss Engineering.

\'Seems like he\'s someone who values knowledge…\' Alice narrowed her eyes.

Just thinking about it was enough to cause a reaction within her as she squeezed her arm. Those that follow the pursuit of knowledge will no doubt want to find the truth behind her body. Perhaps Luke was no different.

However, there was also a chance that he was different to the others. He was someone that gave Allura and Gin a good impression.

Taking a deep breath to calm her mind, Alice wanted to see him in person before judging what he was like. All she could hope for was that he was different to the Scholars that tore her apart.