Abyssal Awakening - Chapter 920

Capítulo 920: Aldric

Panting heavily, Alice watched as the branch mimic faded to ash. What’s left behind was the real branch along with a single twig that was flickering with energy.

Picking up the item, she was hesitant with resonating with the branch. She was careful to make sure it wasn’t another mimic before finally sitting down.

She didn’t think a mimic could copy the only safe spot in this Nightmare.

Shaking her head in annoyance over her third death, Alice glanced at the twig that was dropped.

Holding it up against the sky, she couldn’t help but wonder what kind of item it was.

Was it similar to the items she bought from Rolo? Ones that regenerate her health, mana or stamina.

Either way, her priority right now was the boss hidden within this arena.

Her items were restocked. She had plenty of healing pots and mana pots.

There were still a few more kills she can do in order to raise her stats further. There was still room for growth. Unfortunately, her death set it back a little but she managed to recover it using the Embryos she had spare.

The only annoying thing was how little monsters there were in the snowfields.

Trying to accumulate Embryos to upgrade stats weren’t easy.

In the end, she decided to take a few laps around the place. Only when her stats reach the highest they can be would she be satisfied with challenging the boss.

But~ it doesn’t harm anyone to take a quick peak.

Making sure there weren’t any lurkers waiting to push her in, Alice stood by the edge of the arena.

In the middle, there was a single… woman? No, it was simply a beautiful looking man. Long red hair that clashed against this winter wonderland, golden armour that covered most of his body and a white cape that blended with the snow.

Around him, frozen blood almost formed a cage of sorts, surrounding him in this crimson prison.

He had placed his helmet before a grave…

“That’s a sword.” Alice mumbled.

The giant slab in front of the knight wasn’t a grave, rather, it was a giant sword with a single sharp edge stabbed into the ground.

Even from outside the arena, Alice felt as though her skin was already being cut by razors. This man was akin to an unsheathed blade, ready to cut down anything and everything.

Against this kind of opponent, she couldn’t half ass it.

Thus, she descended the mountain, killing as many monsters as she could to increase her stats.

Strangely, the refugees she saw earlier have all disappeared. Including the girl she saw before.

There were no traces of them left behind at the camp. All the traces were old, it’s as though they simply disappeared.

Were they removed? The way their traces were erased couldn’t be natural.

Monika?

Alice doubted it. She seemed just as confused as she was so it must’ve been an anomaly.

Regardless, she focused herself on the task at hand.

###

When I was a little girl, we were forced to leave our village.

We would die if we stayed.

No food, no warmth.

What few remained gathered together and left.

The hunters saw traces of another village during their hunt.

A gamble, but one that might give us a better chance at surviving.

At least it was better than staying here.

They saw what my parents did. What they sacrificed and I was brought along. I carried what little I could.

Food.

We moved slowly through the snow. Made sure no one was too cold.

Slowly, as a huddle, we pushed forth. Carts creaked behind them and the kids were told to sit in the back since we couldn’t keep up.

But… With how cold it got, some of us froze and never woke up again.

After the first, we started to participate in the walks.

To make sure we endured for as long as possible.

I walked at the back.

These people were my neighbours but…

I didn’t know them very well. Not personally.

My parents might’ve.

But I didn’t.

We continued like this for a while.

Whenever an adult died, we continued. They were ‘buried’ just out of sight.

But it was familiar.

The taste.

Just like my mom.

However… Whenever a kid died, the parents would give up.

At that point, I knew the truth.

The price of survival.

The meat we had to eat if we wanted to endure.

Is it strange that it didn’t sicken me?

I suppose… It was romantic in a sense.

When I was a little girl, this act wasn’t a gruesome one. It was a necessity.

Just like waking up, just like walking.

Eating was simply…

Needed.

I could still remember their looks of horror when I spoke for the first time to them on the journey.

The other kids didn’t know.

The adults did.

And so did I.

So I spoke.

“Can we make soup?”

To them, I must’ve seemed like the devil.

A kid who was unfazed by death. Who spoke about eating a mother’s child right in front of her.

They were horrified, but they also understood.

They grieved but a part of them wondered.

How long do they have to wait here for the mother to calm down?

How long till they have more rations?

They couldn’t waste more energy here.

As a little girl, I saw the darkness in desperate times.

Perhaps that twisted a part of me. We are products of our surroundings after all.

If our surroundings are that of evil, it’s only natural to see that a part of the mind would become warped.

I simply made sure I was never the one being sacrificed.

But the one doing the sacrificing.

I rationed my food carefully, preserved it in ice. Spoke only when I needed to.

I used everything my mother taught me, the way she carefully chose pieces of herself so that she could last the longest.

I couldn’t let the adults give up.

If they did, I would die too.

So whenever a kid looked weak…

I’ll huddle myself near the parent.

I’ll slowly give them information. Information on how my mother carefully used parts of herself.

The method to stall as long as possible without dying.

To make sure the kid endures.

It was simply efficiency.

If the kid dies, the mother dies with him.

Sure we’ll have more rations, but that was more weight for them to carry and one less pair of hands to help carry them.

We have more food but also more burdens.

I couldn’t let that happen.

Everything for the sake of survival.

Of course, I knew that I was the one at the biggest risk.

I was surviving simply due to good will. Whatever good karma my mother and father accumulated in their life, whatever favour they did for the neighbours, that was what kept me alive.

What made them give me my portion of food.

So I worked, made sure I wasn’t a burden.

I helped push what I could. Scouted ahead if needed.

The other kids didn’t get that. A few did, but most didn’t.

When the parent stalled as long as possible but still died, they lost their path.

The kids didn’t know what else to do. They sat in the back, expecting things to be done to help them.

They were just useless mouths to feed at this point.

What use is there to keep them alive?

At that point… better to have some food.

Hypocritical, considering I was one of them.

But I wanted to live.

I had concocted a plan. To help gather rations while people are sleeping.

Dying from the cold in your sleep is normal after all.

But I had to be careful.

If I gather too many rations, they’ll get suspicious.

It had to look ‘natural’.

I’ll carry my plan out tomorrow. The first victim.

I knew what to do, all that’s left was to carry it out.

That morning, we came across a strange knight.

He was walking through the snow wearing his armour. Red hair that I couldn’t forget.

A hunter, one with Sigils.

He saw us and instantly ran over to help.

A kind natured person.

But I don’t know why… a part of me felt sickened.

Sickened by the fact that he existed. Sickened by the fact that he was helping. Sickened by the fact that I couldn’t carry out my plan.

Not when he was making sure a warm fire was provided along with food.

Since he had power, he could hunt whatever he wanted whenever they appeared.

He could easily get food.

Because he existed, all my calculations and acts were now ‘evil’.

I could feel the shift in their looks towards me.

I started to sleep less.

What if they try to get rid of me in my own sleep?

The guilty walk with shadows chasing after them.

But that never happened.

For the knight sat next to me when I slept. He protected me.

And one night, he spoke.

“Good job. For hanging on till now.”

I was confused.

Was he simply being kind? That wasn’t the case. I could tell by the pity in his eyes.

He knew what I had done yet still remained by my side.

He didn’t say anything else, he simply sat by my side and allowed me to sleep peacefully.

When I was a little girl…

I didn’t know I would become a queen.

I didn’t know that in the endless snow, I had found my first knight.

One that allowed me to become who I am today.

One that passed on his hope, his dreams.

A knight who hoped a child of the north didn’t have to starve ever again.

That a child of the north didn’t have to make the choices I made.

He was Aldric, the first knight of Verona.

Forgot this yesturday. 10fp!

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