Abyssal Awakening

On the way back to the outpost, the fatigue of pushing her body finally caught up to Alice as she wasn't even able lift a single finger.

Her wounds continuously split apart and bled with Selen constantly dressing her wounds to the point she got sick of it.

However, if she doesn't take care of Alice's wounds, she'll probably die. Even more so now that her regeneration had ceased due to her pushing herself.

"I can eat by my self…" Alice muttered, feeling countless eyes on her as she blushed in embarrassment.

"If you could, you wouldn't be in this situation would you?" Selen asked, grabbing a spoon and feeding Alice.

Right now, she was hung up on a tree with her entire body encased in bandages and clothing to prevent any more damage to her body.

Selen got sick of Alice reopening her wounds whenever there was a slight shake on the carriage so her compromise was to treat her like an expensive vase.

"Yeah but… does it have to be on a tree??" Alice' smile twitched while looking at her situation.

Those who see her might even mistake her for a stack of clothes randomly thrown onto a clothes hanger.

"Stop complaining. If you're that against it, next time don't get injured like this again. I'm not even a physician." Selen rolled her eyes, shoving the spoon in Alice's mouth before she could retort.

As Alice was being fed while hanging on the tree, the captains had another meeting.

"Can we even survive the journey back?" Vandil asked. Even though he's the shield captain, he's lost his trusted shield. He could make do with spare weapons but his effectiveness has decreased significantly.

"The old man's right. What if the beasts decide to ambush again? This time we don't have the others to help." Hilde followed. She is the support captain that got knocked out and all of her skills are focused on enhancing others. She had no healing skills that could help them if they get injured.

"Even if it seems impossible, we have to try. The port is off limits even if the Grandmaster is dead. The only way to get out of this alive is to make it back to the outpost. How are our supplies?" Bo shook his head before turning to Vandil.

"It's not gonna last. We'll have to starve for the last day of the journey." He shook his head.

Furrowing his brows, Bo sighed as this was to be expected. They barely had enough for a round trip to begin with. But after the ambush, their supplies had dwindled to the point where even after rationing things out, it'll be difficult to sustain for the rest of the trip.

"Can we reduce the rations more so we can cover the journey?" Bo asked but Vandil rejected the suggestion.

"We're already barely eating anything as it is. If we reduce it even more, we might as well not be eating anything."

Usually, one day wouldn't mean much. It's just one day after all.

But right now, everyone was starving, injured and stressed. They can't perform how they usually would and now, even a normal beast would pose a danger to them.

Bo might've recovered from his injuries to some extent but he can't cover for all of them.

What's worse is that the path back was prone to being attacked by five star beasts.

Selen and Egil were both exhausted as well so the help they can provide was limited.

Bo initially wanted to ask Alice for help but he recalled the injuries on her body. He found it weird how she needed him to represent her during the duel but now it made sense.

He wasn't sure of her circumstances but there's no doubt that such a tyrannical power as the one she showed enacted a high toll on the user's body.

Thinking to this point, he couldn't help but glance over at Alice who was shedding a tear of embarrassment while being hung on the tree. She looked like a harmless cat who's been strung up rather than a powerful Hunter who managed to kill a Grandmaster.

But that last moment when an unfathomable aura appeared…

'Forget it, no use in thinking about it. Curiosity killed the cat.' Bo shook his head.

Regardless of Alice's circumstances, why she was hiding her powers and what that was at the end, it wasn't his business. All he has to care about was the fact that she saved him and the other two captains. This was a debt he had to repay no matter what.

"We'll try and speed up the travel to make up for the lack of supplies. I'll use my pouch for the supplies. Load the injured onto the carts, we'll leave immediately." Bo ordered as both Vandil and Hilde nodded their heads.

###

The path back was arduous compared to the journey towards the port. Tension was at an all time high with everyone being on guard against ambushes by stray beasts. What would've been taken care of easily became a threat that could easily wipe them out.

The main attack force scrapped together was Egil being the frontline with Vandil who acted as his support, Selen and Bo acting as the main damage dealers and Hilde being support for them all.

But without any healer to heal their injuries sustained through the battles, their medical supplies began to dwindle. A few of the injured warriors only got a few drops of healing blood to help tide them over this period while they're being transported.

Naturally, this meant that they were in constant agony but they couldn't do anything about it.

However, the one who was most fatigued was Selen.

No only did she have to attend to Alice's wounds but also fight while protecting everyone. Constantly using her time slow barrier while keeping beasts away.

In order to not add to her burdens, Alice didn't say anything and followed her instructions.

As the time passed, people stopped talking and even food was eaten in silence. Everyone was reaching their limit but the end was soon.

Just a few more hours and they'll reach the outpost.

###

"What… What the hell happened here…" Bo muttered with a trembling voice. He could see the scars of battle scattered across the gates and craters within the outpost.

The walls that were forcefully broken down and hastily repaired. The corpses of beasts that have yet to be dealt with while their blood seeped into the ground around them.

Countless warriors could be seen wounded while broken weapons were stabbed into the ground.

With such a sight, none of the Warriors could rest easy as everyone rushed towards the outpost.

However, there was one thing that Alice had noticed.

The presence of the Abyss. The familiar strands of energy that invaded this land like the tendrils of a monster. Clawing its way out from the ground and dying the realm in its colour.

Furrowing her brows, Alice forced herself to stand up while Selen stopped her.

"I should be relatively fine now. Just go back to our quarters and rest up. I'm going to get some information." Alice reassured with a smile.

Letting out an annoyed sigh, Selen nodded her head since she was in no state to keep looking after Alice.

She was absolutely exhausted and hungry.

Grabbing a fruit to eat while she made her way to the old man's house, Alice furrowed her brows seeing the state of the outpost.

The concerned looks of the families, those who were heartbroken and those filled with despair.

A sight that will become more familiar as they get closer to the frontlines.

Making her way through the outpost, Alice soon arrived at the hill.

Out of everyone that she's met in this outpost, the old man was the strangest. She couldn't tell what level he was nor could she sense him most of the time. He just appears then disappears.

He was most likely stronger than Torgeir and possibility on the level or above that of the principal.

However, the main thing was still the fruit that he gave her. A fruit that had incomparable sweetness and sped up her natural regeneration. It didn't work that well when she was extremely injured but now that some time had passed, its effectiveness returned.

"I thought I told you to savour the fruit rather than use the beast blood?" Ragnar sighed while leaning on his chair, causing Alice to jump as she didn't notice him on the way up.

"It was kind of unavoidable. If I didn't drink it I would've died in an explosion." Alice scratched her hair.

Shaking his head, Ragnar gestured for her to sit down on the chair next to him and brought out some more fruit for her.

"Even so, I don't believe the Ravager's blood would've done this much to your body. It's an absolute mess, even more so than before. You were recovering just fine as well. What a shame." Ragnar lamented.

"True. But I also found out why that's the case. I'm not strong enough to host my power yet. After one or two more Sigils, I should recover from something like this." Alice shrugged, licking her lips while grabbing another fruit.

Seeing Alice's nonchalant attitude to her body, Ragnar was in disbelief but didn't let it show on his face.

"So what happened here?" Alice asked curiously.

"Why are you asking me? I'm just an old man spending his time on a hill with bitter fruits." Ragnar raised an eyebrow while stroking his beard.

"It's even weirder if you didn't know. Civilians aren't composed like you are when they get attacked like this." Alice laughed causing Ragnar to chuckle.

"An Abyss Break. Do you know of it?"