There were occasionally beasts that would lunge out of the depths but the Ferryman dealt with them swiftly without Alice needing to raise a finger. She was the passenger and he was responsible for her safety. But the most shocking thing was that he wasn’t even using his full strength. Not a single Sigil ability was used. Just pure brute strength. With a swing of his spear, beasts would be cut in half. With a simple thrust, a cavity would appear. It was as if there’s nothing in this world that could block his weapon’s strike. ’Do you think it’s an artifact?’ Alice wondered, eyeing the lantern hanging off the end of his spear. The light wasn’t bright, no. It was dim at best, barely illuminating their surroundings in this mist. Yet he was able to navigate with ease, even humming a tune while travelling. [Maybe. But I don’t sense the kind of power from his staff like I do with your sword. It’s probably sturdy if nothing else. He needs a weapon that can handle his physical strength after all.] Cayla shrugged. "Lil’ girl, your thoughts are practically written all over your face. Does my spear look that interesting to you?" The Ferryman let out a small chuckle, glancing back at Alice who blinked her eyes. "I swear... Everyone I talk to say that my thoughts are written all over my face. Is that really the case? I thought I was pretty subtle when it comes to expressing things." Alice frowned, making a blood mirror and looking at her reflection. She pinched her own cheeks, raised her brows but it was hard to figure out what’s going on in her mind. "It’s not like that all the time. When you space out, your desires are rather clear." The Ferryman laughed. "But this spear is nothing special. Simply a durable stick. Would you like to hold it?" He offered. "Sure." Alice nodded. She saw no reason to reject. Pulling his spear out of the Abyss Waters, he tossed it over to Alice. The moment Alice caught the spear, she was about to say something when it slammed against the boat. "Eh?" Blinking her eyes, Alice realised the spear refused to budge. Her smile twitched as she pumped energy through her body. While her physical strength was lacking, by reinforcing her body with energy, she was comparable to those who fully focused on physical strength. Her veins bulged and the spear began to tremble. She was able to lift it, barely and only a few inches off the boat. Forget combat, she wouldn’t even be able to use this to navigate the boat! "What kind of spear even is this?" Alice asked with a twitched smile. Even after going all out with reinforcement, she couldn’t use this spear at all! In the end, she simply gave up and tried to push the spear back to the Ferryman only to fail. "It’s an artifact I excavated from the depths. Originally, based on what the legends told and the carvings on the walls, this spear can’t be used by the unworthy. In anyone else’s hand, it becomes ridiculously heavy." The Ferryman laughed, picking up the spear with ease and twirled it around his body. "An Artifact? It doesn’t feel like one." Alice raised an eyebrow. "Of course it doesn’t. Since it hasn’t be activated yet." He let out a hearty laugh, placing the spear back into the waters to navigate his boat. Hearing this, Alice was about to question what he meant when she realised what he was implying. "I pulled this spear out with brute force since I like it. Even if I can’t use its abilities, it’s still a ridiculously sturdy weapon." He answered before she could even ask. Alice’s smile twitched. Indeed there were all kinds of people across the world. People like the man in front of her, who, despite not being the ’chosen one’, still pulled the spear out through pure brute force. "What about you lil’ miss? That bracelet on your arm doesn’t feel like a normal artifact either. I doubt it’s something you can find easily." The Ferryman asked without turning around. Lifting her arm slightly, Alice glanced at the bracelet and smiled. "I was gifted this by someone. I suppose... You could say he’s similar to a father figure." Alice realised that Kaden was the one who left this weapon to her when she was first thrown into the Abyss. With his habits of robbing places... Thinking up to this point, Alice blinked her eyes. ’Say... How many artifacts or relics do you think he’s stolen from the churches now?’ Alice asked curiously. [Probably enough to fill a vault.] Cayla shrugged. ’Do you think... We’ll be able to give some to our friends when we see Kaden again?’ If he had a vault of treasures... Surely he wouldn’t mind sharing a few with her right? It’s not like he’s going to use them all. "Why did you stop?" Nalem asked curiously seeing Kaden stop in the middle of the road. "It’s nothing." Kaden sighed. For a split second, he felt like he was about to get robbed but there was no one around them. [Maybe. Though I doubt he kept a lot of the relics. While they’re annoying to destroy, it’s not impossible. And as someone with the Grimoire of Original Sin, making use of curses to slowly corrode and destroy artifacts is within his realm of power.] ’Ah what a shame. It’ll be pretty funny to kill the Zenia family with the power of wealth. Not the material kind like money but the real kind of wealth ya know?’ Alice laughed inwardly. But while she was joking with Cayla, she couldn’t help but notice that Alyss was getting more and more quiet with each passing day, only speaking a few lines here and there. Taking this time, Alice sat down next to Alyss. ’Hm? Is something up?’ Alyss glanced over curiously. ’A little. Just a bit worried about you.’ Alice nodded without hiding anything. She wanted Alyss to know that there are people worried about her wellbeing. ’Ah, sorry. I just got a lot of thoughts running through my mind.’ Alyss chuckled, patting Alice’s head. Which was rather strange since they pretty much look the same except their demeanour. ’Is it because we’re approaching the Zenia family?’ Alice asked as Alyss nodded her head. ’Partially. I guess I’m just thinking about... where we go afterwards. And by we, I mean my current state.’ Alyss smiled, raising her arm. Little by little, the golden chain manifested. ’We know that I’m partially tied to the Eldritch power inside your body hence why Velouria sealed me when we found her in the Inverted World. I’m just thinking... No, never mind.’ Alyss shook her head. Just as she was about to stand up, Alice grabbed her arm. ’I know I’m not reliable but... If you don’t tell me what’s going on, how can I help?’ The fact that Alyss was the original had always weighed heavily on Alice’s heart. Not only did she usurp Alyss’s body and her name, she even kept her prisoner inside her own body. She had been trying to figure out a way to give Alyss a body but it was proving to be far more difficult than expected. Especially since their souls were connected. Just like the aftereffects of Kazira abandoning her body, separating them could cause problems they didn’t foresee. Still, Alice wanted to do as much as she could for the one whom she called a twin. ’Right...’ Alyss glanced down. In the end, she relented. ’Alice... Have you ever thought about what might happen if you were to lose the Eldritch energy inside of you? If your vessel breaks and parts of our power disappear. With me being so ingrained with Eldritch energy... I can’t help but wonder if I’ll disappear.’ Alyss smiled bitterly. The closer they get to the end of their journey, their goal, the more she realises that time was running out. Eldritch Energy couldn’t be allowed to fester in their realm. The most update n0vels are published on noveⅼfire.net So with that in mind, once everything was done, they would need to deal with this foreign source of power. And by extension, face the possibility of her disappearance. She never really thought about it. Trapped in that prison of the Zenia family, she didn’t think twice about chasing after death. But now that they’ve tasted freedom, there were so many things that Alyss wanted to try out. So many places she wanted to visit. Adventures she wanted to go on, clothes she wanted to try. Food that she wanted to eat. With all these desires running rampant in her mind, she became fearful of death again. Alice glanced down at the ground. ’No matter what, I won’t let you disappear. We lost so much of our life being stuck in the prison. I won’t be satisfied until we get that time back.’ Alice clenched her fist. ’I promise you.’ Alice looked up at Alyss. It wasn’t exactly a plan. There was no guarantee. Just pure hopeful optimism and desire. Yet despite that, Alyss found herself smiling. ’Then you have to also promise me that no matter the method, it mustn’t come at a detriment to yourself okay?’ Alyss crouched down. Sealing their promise with their pinkies, Alyss helped Alice stand up. Fearing death was one thing. But she shouldn’t let it dominate her mind until she can’t move. No matter what, she would keep taking steps forward towards the unknown future. Gin stared at Allura who was resting on the bed. In his hands was a towel soaked with her blood. Her condition was getting worse and staying in the Abyss was no longer an option. At this stage, even if Allura wanted to protest, she couldn’t do anything about it. That was how bad her condition had become. "We’ll make our way out of the Abyss tomorrow." Gin declared, turning around. Allura wanted to say something but Gin wasn’t hearing any of it. Whether she liked it or not, they were leaving the Abyss.