Abyssal Awakening

Furrowing his brows, Sigurd contemplated the possibility of another contract. He had to admit that these flames were extremely enticing for him.

He had already traded a small fraction of his soul for these flames so what else could she want?

"Don't worry, I'm not asking for the rest of your soul. One fragment is more than enough for me." Alice winked with a smile.

With the previous contract established, she was able to get access to all of Sigurd's Sigils.

As for how they work, she was unsure. But it wasn't something that she should waste this opportunity to find out.

Instead, she had a different reward in mind.

"How do you feel about making equipment whenever I ask? I have a few friends that need equipment. And as you know, good stuff is hard to find especially if you're powerful. Outside of Personal Artifacts, most of the equipment breaks after a few uses." Alice offered but Sigurd immediately shook his head.

"Do you have any idea how expensive it is to make a weapon? I still have to supply weapons for our Warriors. If I go around at your every command then that'll disrupt the flow of production."

"I'm only asking you to make a few when I need it. It's not like I have hundreds of friends either, just a few." Alice raised an eyebrow.

"Limit it to one per person and not more than 5. And as for the funds, either you give me rare materials to work with or cough up the money needed." Sigurd suggested the terms.

The fact that he had given Selen a numbered equipment for free was already insane considering how expensive these things are.

Crossing her arms, Alice furrowed her brows. If it's five, then that's Ria, Luke, Allura, Kaden and Gin.

Acceptable but then comes the issue of material costs.

"By rare materials, I don't suppose it's things that can be easily obtained. Even if I kill strong beasts." Alice asked as Sigurd nodded.

"Do you want to know how long it took to find the materials for your friend's ring? Three years. It took three years to chase for that specific type of metal and store it in my vault. I only grabbed it out because her skills were interesting enough and resonated with it." Sigurd complained as Alice's eyes sparkled for a moment. Read new adventures on m-vl-em|p-yr

"So what you're saying is, you already have the materials?"

"What kind of blacksmith do you think I am? Of course I've stocked up on… materials." Sigurd frowned, feeling Alice's gaze lock onto her.

"Then how about this? Rather than procuring materials for you, why don't we go down the money route? But since I saved your life, Frida's, and the lives of everyone in the capital that was infected, we get a 'little' discount." Alice smiled happily as Sigurd scratched his chin.

"What kind of discount are we talking about?"

If it was just 10% off or 20% off then it was acceptable. These were materials that he spent blood sweat and tears to get after all.

With his curse, it's been harder to get them since he can't leave his forge for long.

"80% off."

"F*CK YOUR MOTHER! 80% OFF? ARE YOU HIGH YOU DAFT GIRL?!?!" Sigurd screamed as he didn't think Alice would be ballsy enough to ask for a whole 80% off!

If he gave her this kind of discount then it might as well be free!

"Is saving lives worth so little? Aiya I'm sure the civilians will be hurt hearing that their precious Lord thinks their life isn't work a measly 80% off." Alice lamented as Sigurd wanted to smack the brat in front of him immediately.

"This isn't a matter of what their life is worth nor is it 'measly'. Why don't you just go and lose 80% of your body and see if it's still measly!"

"Is that a bet?" Alice narrowed her eyes and licked her lips.

For an 80% off on numbered equipment, she'll gladly blow up 80% of her body. After all, she can regenerate it all anyways.

Remembering her regeneration when he was forging, Sigurd shivered and quickly scratched the idea.

"Bottom line is I'm not doing 80% off!"

"70%" Alice changed her offer.

"20%"

"65%"

"20%" Sigurd refused to budge.

"90%"

"Why did you go higher???"

"Thought you might say yes." Alice shrugged.

"The f*ck I am. Girl are you trying to bankrupt me?"

"If I was trying to bankrupt you I would've let you die. Then I could've just wandered in here and got the stuff I want." Alice chuckled.

She had his forging method in her mind. With part of his soul also at her disposal now, all it'll take is a bit of experimentation and some trial and error before she can start forging equipment as well.

Gritting his teeth, Sigurd was frustrated. The key issue he couldn't ignore was the fact that he did indeed owe his life to her.

If it wasn't for her, Frida would've lost her avatar, he would've probably been killed and the civilians dead.

"30%. I can't go any high-"

"60%"

*PUCHI!!!

A vein bulged on Sigurd's temple as his smile twitched furiously.

"Girl, how are you even sure this 'fuel' of yours is worth this discount to begin with? Let's set aside the matter of what lives cost and what I owe. This contract is for me to get the fuel after all."

Crossing her legs, Alice thought about it for a moment.

If they do go ahead with this contract, she'll need to be careful with how she phrases it and how he obtains this power.

With the Zenias now hot on her trail, if they find out he can get her blood through the contract, it'll be pretty bad and it's likely he'll be dragged away by them.

Meaning, she has to limit the blood to be immediately detonated into the flames.

But as for whether or not this fuel is worth the discount…

"Obviously it's worth the discount. You saw how the flames negated Abyss abilities right? Even for the followers of the three Gods, they use Sigils. Just having my flames gives you an edge over them. Heck, if you experiment a bit, who knows what you can potentially forge with these. Maybe a weapon that can cut through Abyss abilities." Alice shrugged.

While she wasn't sure if Nyer has succeeded in making more beings with the same flame as her, she understands that it was entirely unique as of this moment.

The closest thing she's seen has been the hybrids but even then, they had their draw backs.

"35%. This is seriously the highest I can go." Sigurd sighed and gave his final offer.

At 35% discount, he barely breaking even.

"40%"

". . ."

###

Leaving the forge with a skip in her step, Alice had a grin on his face while ignoring the string of curses behind her.

With the contract now established, she'll get a 40% discount when asking him to forge equipment. The limit was five and in exchange, he was able to use the flames at a higher efficiency.

With the way she worded the contract and how the blood is given to him, there was no risk of people being able to extract the blood from him.

However, whether or not he could actually use these flames to forge was another question in itself.

But that wasn't her problem to figure out, it was Sigurd's.

'The gloves still need a day or so before they're ready. I guess I should do some clothes shopping but…' Looking into her wallet, Alice shed a silent tear.

She was broke.

At this rate, she might have to cut back on the mead she has to buy.

Pausing mid step, Alice shook her head.

How could she even have such a heinous thought! It's not an issue with mead but rather she's been doing favours without being paid most of the time. She's been hoping that she'll get paid for her achievements.

Folding her arms, Alice contemplated on ways she could earn more money.

'How did Kaden and Allura not run out of money?'

[Kaden robbed people. Allura also kind of robbed people.] Cayla shrugged.

While Kaden was more of a physical robbery, breaking into their vaults and so on, Allura basically got everything for free since people owed her a lot.

Not to mention her helping out with the establishment of many organisations such as the Underground, making them owe her big time.

'So what you're saying is that I should rob people?' Alice.

[. . .Forget I said anything.]

Joking around with Cayla, Alice eventually decided to see if she could find any jobs that'll pay her. It takes a lot of money to travel after all not to mention the need to buy rations and so on.

###

Sitting in his chair, Luthor Zenia had a open letter on his table.

A report regarding a failed operation in the North.

Yet despite this failure, they managed to uncover potential hints to Alice's whereabouts.

But that was it, simply a hint.

No sightings, no confirmation, no nothing. Just a hint and a mention of her name after seeing the clone.

'After all this time, you still live.' Luthor thought to himself, caressing a pocket watch with the picture of his wife inside.

Even though they were losing resources and running out of her blood, he didn't care. If all traces of her disappears from this world then so be it.

But she lives.

"Get Albert to visit the north. Tell the doctor to be patient. If A-… if that monster has lived this long, she won't die easily. Don't expose us more than they already have. A trump card loses its value once the enemy knows what it is."

Glancing up at the sky, he let out a fatigued sigh.