Abyssal Awakening

Standing against the railings of the ship, Alice tilted her hat up and looked at the sky with a grin.

Before meeting up with Lorien for the second day, Alice used some of her money to buy a pirate attire.

Your adventure continues at empire

After all, it would be quite a waste if she didn't take advantage of this chance.

Her newly bought pirate outfit consisted of a black tricorn hat embellished with gold on the edges along with a white feather tucked into the folds.

A loose white blouse with rolled up sleeves, a silver necklace, red belts and sashes to contrast the white and black that reached down to her calves. A pair of rugged trousers and leather boots.

She even had Lorien give her a flintlock even though they weren't very practical unless you had a Sigil that could synergize with it.

Alice wanted it to get into the feeling of being a pirate. Plus, she was a little curious at how these things worked considering Minerva was able to take her by surprise using one.

When it came to sensing danger, Alice relied on two methods.

First, was sensing the killing intent emanated by her opponents. Whenever her opponents release killing intent, it was akin to black paint on a white canvas. Their malice was clear as day to her and she instinctively turns to comprehend this intent. To see what they wanted to do to her.

The second method was 'self preservation'. Whenever something dangerous is approaching her body, especially something with a lot of energy and speed, there would be a tingle on her skin. A prickle, warning her of the incoming danger.

In other words, a small compressed 'zone' that was permanently around her body. A layer that passively outputs a small flow of energy that when colliding with an incoming object, bounces back to the body and warns Alice of the danger.

There were… drawbacks to both methods which is why Alice relied on both of them to keep herself safe.

When Minerva shot her bullet, Alice had sensed the killing intent but wasn't sure where it would land on her body. The distance made it hard for her to pinpoint the exact location accurately.

By the time she noticed the bullet, it was already breaching her zone and she had to dodge by sacrificing her shoulder.

Objects don't emit killing intent.

So the bullet, even if it's created by energy, could only be sensed by the second method of protection that Alice had in place.

Therefore, she wanted to give it a try herself.

She wanted to see if she could integrate it into her fighting style. If she could, she might even find a way to fire a Void Flux at someone using the same method.

Narrowing her gaze, Alice could sense the bead of blood she left behind approaching them from the distance.

And soon, the ships came into view.

'Seems like they're using the same ship as last time. Makes sense considering they didn't take any damage.' Alice thought to herself before stepping away from the railings.

Making her way to the back of the ship, Alice patted Lorien on the shoulder.

"I'm dealing with the Phantom Fleet right?" Alice asked as he nodded his head.

"Yes, nothing has changed. You'll deal with the Phantom Fleet once it appears." Lorien nodded.

Hearing this, Alice grinned and pulled out a cutlass that she had borrowed.

"Then don't forget the shipments are your responsibility now. My only goal is to ward off the Phantom Fleet." Standing on the railings, Alice brought her cutlass behind her before revealing a grin.

*KRK!!!!

Energy crackled from the blade as she activated Tiamat's Sigil.

Colour drained from the world before gathering at the blade and she released a swing.

*BANG!!!!

The instant she released a wave of energy, a cannon shot came into view as it was cut in half immediately, narrowly missing the ship.

Lorien widened his eyes in shock as he didn't expect Minerva to attack so soon. He thought she would've at least waited till they were loading the shipment.

"Hi~ Did you miss me that much? Bit of an early shot don't you think?" Alice shouted out with a grin as the camouflage dispelled, revealing the fleet of ships that Minerva brought with her.

Several ships detached from the fleet as they slowly circled around Lorien's ships while one remained in place. Around the main ship, the Phantom Fleet manifested and all of them aimed cannons towards Alice.

*Sigh…

"If you wanted to welcome me to your ship, you don't need to have such an extravagant welcoming party." Alice shrugged her shoulders.

"Remember now, the shipment is your responsibility. Not mine. If you dare deduct my pay because of mistakes from the crew I'll be disappointed, okay?" Alice gave Lorien a silent warning before launching herself through the air.

Phantom Fleet followed her movements but made no signs of attacking.

Once Alice landed on the deck of Minerva's ship, she rested her cutlass on her shoulder and raised an eyebrow.

She could see Minerva standing with her arms crossed with the cutlass and flintlock clearly on her waist.

"What's the hold up? That ass beatin' you got yesterday got you quaking in yer boots?" Alice grinned.

Her taunting clearly worked as she could see Minerva's eye twitch in annoyance.

"Are you sure you should be leaving them be like this? Thought you had to protect the ships." Minerva gestured to the ships with her chin.

However, Alice didn't turn around and simply shrugged.

"My only job is to keep your phantom fleet occupied. What happens outside of that is not covered by my contract."

Hearing this, Minerva narrowed her eyes.

"So you're a merc."

"Well if you put it like that, it makes me sound cheap." Alice leaned against the railings of the quarter deck.

Since Minerva was using this time to talk rather than fight, it seemed like it was going to be pretty easy for Alice to deal with. Especially since the Phantom Fleet wasn't going anywhere.

"What were you offered, I can match his price." Minerva offered, causing Alice to laugh.

"You know, sometimes money isn't the answer to everything."

"So you won't move for money?" Minerva frowned.

"The f*ck I ain't. If you'd let me finish, I was going to say sometimes money isn't the answer to everything, but it sure as hell a universal answer to most things." Alice interrupted before continuing.

"He's paying me two platina per ship full of cargo. In total, there are another three ships today and four ships tomorrow. If I help him with all of them, he'll give me an extra five platina on top of everything. Think you can match his offer?"

Hearing the exorbitant price that he was paying to hire this woman, Minerva furrowed her brows.

Even if they were smuggling, this kind of contract for a fighter was much higher than what would be considered standard.

Of course, the receiver of this contract is someone far from ordinary.

'Lorien is taking quite a loss with this kind of price. But he still went for it… Seems like whatever he's smuggling over is just that important.'

"Is there anything that's stopping you from breaking your contract?" Minerva asked.

The fact that Alice had questioned whether or not she could match Lorien's offer told her everything she needed to know.

"Now you're talking my language. The only that's stopping me is getting paid. Plus, this is pretty simple so far considering the fact that he's tasking me to keep you busy instead." Alice shrugged.

She'll let Minerva think up a price that's worth her services.

After a moment of silence, Minerva opened her mouth.

"If you help me, I'll raise it by 1 platina per shipment. And double the completion price."

"Hou? I didn't think you'd have such deep pockets." Alice scratched her chin while grinning.

Truly, life should be about earning money so they don't need to worry about financial issues. If she had money, she wouldn't need to worry about whether or not she had enough to pay for the Inn or stop herself from clothes shopping.

"Alright, I can work with something like this. Three platina per shipment right?" Alice asked as Minerva nodded.

"Let's see if Lorien can come up with a better counteroffer then. How much do you think he'll offer knowing that you want to buy me to your side?" Alice asked as a vein bulged on Minerva's forehead.

"How much do you want then?" Minerva asked with gritted teeth.

"Aiya~ You make me sound like a bad person if you say like that. I'm not extorting you here, simply talking business and making a profit." Alice waved her hand with a laugh.

Taking deep breaths to calm her mind, Minerva bit her lip and opened her mouth once more.

She hesitated back and forth before relenting.

"Four platina per shipment. 15 platina on completion."

"Ohya? So generous. 28 platina for today and tomorrow then another 15 on top? Jeez if you wanted to win my heart you should've just said so." Alice pretended to blush and act bashful.

"Who the hell wants to win your heart?!?!?" Minerva lost her temper, causing Alice to laugh.

"Alright alright, let's sign this contract now shall we?" Alice grinned.

Once the contract was signed, Alice gave her body a stretch before making her way to the railings.

"Where are you going?" Minerva frowned.

"Back to my old employer of course. I kept you busy for long enough haven't I?" Alice smiled.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"I thought you signed a contract with me."

"I have and I aim to complete it to perfection. However, I never said I would break my old one now did I? Once he smuggled everything to the port, I'll give you a hand as promised. I've already marked everything. For now, just keep up the act alright? I'll see you later dear captain~" Alice laughed before running away.

Stunned by her response, Minerva realized that Alice was never intending on fully siding with Lorien in the first place. She was just trying to get money!

"M*THERF*CKER!!!!"