Abyssal Awakening

"Say, I got a little idea. A way to drag a lot of customers to this place if you want." Alice grinned.

"Oh?" Tristan raised his eyebrow.

It felt a little suspicious with how she was saying it but he couldn't see any malicious motivations behind her eyes.

Additionally, he was thinking of doing some advertisements since the outer shell of the Inn was old. Arwen had bought this place with the money she had saved up during their travels as well as the money that he sent back to her.

But his original plan was to advertise it once he finished redecorating everything.

"What do you have in mind?" Tristan asked curiously.

"So you know how the arena doesn't allow for gambling anymore right? It means that the fights are more authentic wouldn't you say? More people will go right?" Alice began to lay out the scene.

"I'm thinking of joining the Arena and doing a little post fight advertisement. Of course, most of the people watching the Arena are wealthy enough to afford the inns closer to the centre. However, what if we were to suddenly add another event? A competition that's being held here?"

Listening to her suggestion, Tristan folded his arms and contemplated the idea.

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"You'll have to run that by the Arena staff first. I doubt they'll like it if you were to suddenly do an advertisement. If anything, it might get you banned and make a lot of enemies for this Inn." He shook his head.

"I'm not afraid of them harming Arwen because of the things I put into place but it's likely that they'll play dirty and hinder things in other ways. If they can't arm Arwen then they'll turn their attention on anyone who decides to rent a room and so on."

Originally, Tristan was only planning on marketing this inn to travellers who were only staying here as a temporary stop. Common people who are travelling from one city to another and would rather not pay the exorbitant pricing of the other Inns.

If they were to advertise in the middle of the arena then that'll turn too much attention to them. In fact, the other Inns might even think they're stealing their customers.

"Then why don't we advertise this as a high quality bar rather than an Inn? I'd say your drinks are far better than a majority of the bars I've been to. Does Arwen know how to make them?" Alice asked curiously.

"She struggles a little with it. So I don't think she'll be able to serve customers with the difficult drinks while I'm away." Tristan shook his head.

"What a shame…" Alice tapped her finger on the table.

She wanted to help him out to repay him but she failed to take into consideration the consequences once she leaves this place.

If Arwen attracts too much attention, it would indeed be bad for the overall situation. She knew full well how petty people can be and if these Inns feel threatened, things will get ugly fast.

"Thank you for the suggestion though. Just the thought of wanting to help is appreciated." Tristan comforted.

Shrugging her shoulders, Alice spun around on her chair for a bit before standing up.

Bidding farewell to Tristan for now, she decided to make her way to the arena.

She wanted to check things out to begin with. And while it's unfortunate that she couldn't earn any money from it, she still wanted to see the various fighting styles from the East.

###

"Can you repeat that please?" Alice's smile twitched.

"If you wish to compete in the arena, you need to first pay the sign up fee and see if you're eligible. Once they determine whether or not they can allow you to fight, you'll get a small cut of the tickets if you win. If not, your cut is deducted." The staff replied as Alice was simply one of many who also wanted to fight in the arena.

"Not that part. I meant the part after." She shook her head.

"The fee is 1 Platina, non refundable."

Hearing this, Alice felt like a spear had just pierced her heart.

She was too broke for this place!

"So in the event that I'm not chosen, I don't get my money back?" Alice asked as the staff was beginning to get annoyed.

"Yes, the arena isn't a place that anyone can come and go as they like. How many requests do you think we get in a day? If you want to fight without paying this fee then go through the proper channels. A sponsorship that'll allow you to compete as a proper fighter. Now is there anything else?"

Opening her mouth, Alice wanted to say something but let out a sigh and shook her head.

Stepping aside, she glanced at the long queue of fighters and understood just how much the arena was earning in terms of revenue. It's no wonder they don't care about gambling when ticket prices, participation fees, snack fees and so on earned them so much.

The starting price was high but if you can win often, you'll earn a profit after a while due to ticket sales.

'So what's the plan now then twinnie? We're broke and we can't join the arena at all to earn money. Guess we'll have to do odd jobs for a bit.' Alyss asked as Alice sighed.

'Seems like it. What can we even do to get some money quickly? I can't pick a fight with someone random on the street as public safety will arrest me pretty quickly. The Hunter's Guild is practically barren and the same with trying to get a bodyguard job.'

[The lad at the Inn did mention some dubious folk running the gambling place. Maybe if you were to disguise yourself, you could fish for a bit of money there.] Cayla suggested as Alyss almost fell over.

The Voice of Reason has just suggested that they rob the underworld of this city.

'Oh hou~ I like what you're thinking Cayla. Alright, let's take a look at this gambling place shall we?' Alice licked her lips with a wide grin as she made her way down the alleyway and switched out her first Sigil.

She wanted to hide her skill set so that no one could link it back to her. With that in mind, there were three Sigils that she could work around.

Naturally, they all belonged to Abyss Lords!

The first and main Sigil she wanted to use was the Sigil of Duality.

The second that'll act as support was going to be the Sigil of Corrosion! The Sigil that belonged to Asur, the Lord of Corrosion that she made a contract with inside the Inverted World.

Lastly, the final Sigil that she wanted to make use of was the Sigil of Apocalypse, which belonged to Tiamat.

With these three, even if she's against people with six Sigils, winning will be a cakewalk.

She didn't want to switch out her second Sigil since it was the foundation of her flames. If things do go wrong, she still wanted a backup plan. Therefore, she was switching out her First, Third, Fourth and Fifth Sigils for this lineup.

First – Sigil of the Mirror Jester.

Second – Sigil of the Maiden of the Blood Moon.

Third – Sigil of Duality.

Fourth – Sigil of Corrosion.

Fifth – Sigil of Apocalypse.

Her body began to shimmer as she changed her outfit and disguise. As long as she doesn't take a hit outside of her expectations, this disguise will hold.

She now had light pink hair with hues of rose gold, a pair of sky blue eyes and a set of sharp teeth. There was a hint of insanity in her gaze as her outfit consisted of bandages peaking through the gaps of the tattered Doll dress and large sleeves. It was decorated with white frills and a headpiece.

A pair of striped stockings and black boots.

Her fighting plan was simple. She'll focus on using Duality to disrupt her opponents while Corrosion will burn away their abilities and their defences. Tiamat's Sigil will act as a trump card if needed.

As for her resonance, now that she understood properly how they work thanks to her artificial resonance, she had no doubt that she could make something work between the three Lord Level Sigils.

A resonance of the highest quality.

And since she's walking into the underworld of this city, it was a perfect chance to test if out as well if things go wrong.

###

The 'Underworld' of Port Caethis existed between the 'layers' of the main port and Pirate Bay. It was a second of the city that was off limits to most people not because of any laws but rather the lack thereof.

A lawless zone that migrated a few times throughout the city, appearing in different spots. The current spot was near a set of caves leading underground with a few passageways being created leading between the layers.

In the Underworld, one could find gambling, whore houses and even the black market that sold items that should be prohibited yet smuggled over from the port.

The main attraction of this location was no doubt the black market.

Recently, there's been a surge of unpurified Abyss Blood. While the side effects were violent, the effects were far more potent than the average vial. A perfect item for slaves to use if the owners felt threatened by any signs of danger or wanted to push them past their limits.

Yet these slaves that drank the blood were now sitting in a pile of corpses in the centre of the Underworld.

"How unrefined. Don't you think it's a little rude to send these brutes after a cute lady? No matter how much you find me attractive, at least take me out to dinner first." 'Calista' grinned as she made her debut.