CHAPTER 28: ALICE’S ABYSS IV

(A/N Big thanks to

Talvin_Shiji

DaoistwjFTTy

For the power stones, they mean a lot. As usual, please don’t hesitate to comment or drop a review. ENJOY)

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’Fuck’ He thought.

Orion had no idea where he was or how he got here; the terrain itself didn’t make matters better. Dry patched ground with no signs of life and a sun that practically drained life.

’I knew something was wrong, fuck, I should have left immediately I sensed the disturbance,’ He thought with a frown.

’That was definitely a trap; someone went against the Ivory family. And now I’m left as collateral damage. I know that father of mine definitely has something to do with this.’

’For now, I should probably focus on surviving. It’d be sad to die in the middle of nowhere’

He tried to sense anything or anybody that could serve as a beacon in this god-forsaken environment.

’Nothing.’ He thought, his situation looking bleak.

’It should be past noon by now,’ He thought, looking at the sun.

’Let’s hope the sun rises and sets from the east to west in Velastra,’ He thought with a sigh.

He picked a direction and started walking.

’No food, no water. I wonder how long I’d last under this sun, and I’d rather not drain too much energy by running.’

’System, got any advice?’ Orion asked.

NONE

’Seriously.’ He thought

"---"

’Right’

He willed his mana and activated ’The Seer’, his eyes glowing golden, trying to cross the distance.

For now, he could only use the skill to view the present within a limited distance; the further he tries, the more mana is consumed.

"Great, still nothing," He said, deactivating the skill.

"Walking it is".

{A few miles away}

"Alice, Alice, Alice!!" Michael shouted, trying to wake Alice.

"Hmmmm.. Michael?" Alice said, groaning. Her mind was disoriented.

"Where are we?" She asked while looking around.

"I don’t know, we were in the wedding, and all of a sudden everything went blank. When I woke up, I found myself with you beside me." He explained with a confused expression.

Alice tried to process what he was saying, her mind still foggy. All of a sudden, her eyes widened as all the memories came washing back: Orion’s question, the vows, and the scene of the priest being bisected.

"Huurgh.."

She hurled and vomited the contents of her stomach, disgusted and disturbed by the scene that came to her mind.

"Alice!! Are you okay?" Michael asked, concerned.

"I’m fine," She replied, still taking in the situation.

She looked around them, the same patched ground with nothing in sight. The urge to cry bubbled up in her, but she held it in; she couldn’t cry in front of Michael. She was better than that.

"What do we do?" Michael asked, his expression tight.

She stayed silent, thinking of what was best to do.

’Stay calm, Alice, father and brother will take care of everything, I’m sure they’re already looking for me, all I have to do is stay calm and find a way to tell them where I am, wherever this is.’ She thought, trying to stay positive.

’I’ve read many stories with protagonists in my situation,’ She thought, looking up.

’The sun is quite hot, we have no food or water, and I don’t see any trees. This is bad,’ She thought with a frown.

"Do you need water? I have some in my storage ring," Michael asked, concerned.

"You have water?" Alice asked, her eyes widening.

"Yes, Mom always makes me carry a storage ring with essentials. I also have some food," He said with a sheepish smile while showing her his silver ring.

"Perfect, your mom is a lifesaver, Michael. I don’t need water now, we’ll save it and try to manage it, we have no idea how long we’ll remain here," She said. Her countenance brightened slightly.

"How much do you have?" She asked.

"It’s a lot, she said It was enough to last me five months if I managed it well; considering it’s both of us, it should last at least two months," Michael replied.

"Two months, that’s reassuring. I hope we really don’t spend that long out here," She said, while frowning. Her father had told her how dangerous the outside world was.

"So, what do we do now?" Micheal asked

"We walk, Michael, we walk. There might be civilization nearby," She replied, getting up.

"Civilization? You sound like we aren’t even in the human domain anymore." Michael said, confused.

"And how exactly are you sure we are, Michael?" She replied, looking at the sun while trying to determine what direction to travel.

Michael’s face went pale.

"Out of the human domain, that’s..." Michael muttered, trying to come to terms with the situation.

"Of course, there’s a chance we are wrong," She said, already walking.

"How are you so calm about this? We are literally defenseless. If we are truly no longer in the human domain, we are dead!" Michael said, horror written all over his face while following her.

"Well, we’re all meant to die someday," She replied, trying to cover her face from the harsh sun.

"Huh! What kind of reply is that? You are really prepared to die," Michael asked, exasperated.

"I guess," She replied, getting irritated.

"You guess, you guess!!" He said.

"I don’t know, Michael, what do you want me to say. That nothing is going to go wrong, you want me to cuddle you and tell you everything is going to be fine, we have absolutely no idea where we are, or where we are going, and I’m doing my best to stay calm. Do you want me to start panicking? Is that what you want!!" She snapped.

Michael’s eyes went wide before tears started forming; he tried his best to hold them, but to no avail.

"I’m sorry," He said quietly, tears dripping down his face.

Alice saw this, and the emotions she’d been bottling up finally erupted, and she also started crying.

"I’m sorry too, I shouldn’t have said that," She said in between sobs.

The two sat down under the sun and cried their hearts out, trying to console each other.

Ten minutes later, they were finished, their eyes still red from crying.

"You are right, we can’t give up or panic. Let’s keep going," Michael said, standing up.

"Yeah," Alice also stood up.

"What direction are we headed?" He asked, looking at her.

"I’m not completely sure, it’s either North or south," Alice replied.

"Well, let’s go," He said, walking ahead while opening the buttons of his tunic slightly.

Alice followed after him, keeping up.

"You’re lucky," She said, turning towards him while still walking.

"How so?" He asked.

She pointed at his open tunic.

"You are also feeling hot?" He asked.

"Kinda," She replied.

"I think I have a spare set of clothes, I’m not sure they’d fit you though," He said, checking his ring.

"Are you calling me fat?" She asked with a frown.

"No, not at all." He replied, waving his hands.

He brought out a small white T-shirt and black shorts with a sandal.

"This should be okay," He said, giving it to her.

"Thank you," She said, collecting it.

Michael turned around, waiting for her to change out of the gown.

A few minutes later. She was done.

He turned around and looked at her.

"What? Do I look weird?" She asked, checking the outfit.

"No, it’s just different seeing you in something like this." He replied with a sheepish smile.

"Well, let’s keep going. Fortunately, we ate before the wedding, so it’d be a while before we get hungry again." She said.

"Yeah".

They walked and walked for hours, taking small breaks before continuing.

Alice looked at the setting sun in awe, the absence of any obstruction allowing them to view the disappearance over the horizon. Minutes later, night had finally arrived with the moon showing itself.

"We’ve been walking for hours and still nothing. I think we should rest here for tonight. The temperature has dropped; we should be able to relax." Michael said with a sigh while lying down.

"You are right, it’s probably going to drop even more. Got blankets in that ring of yours?" She asked. Sitting beside him.

"Yeah," He replied.

"Wow, can your mom see the future?" She asked with a chuckle.

"Honestly, if she ever told me that, I probably won’t doubt it," He replied with a sad smile.

"Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll still get to meet them again." She told him, sensing his thoughts.

"Of course," He replied with a resolute expression.

Brrrrhh

Alice’s stomach rumbled. Her face took on a blush.

"I think it’s time we had dinner," He said while chuckling.

He injected a bit of his man into the ring, drawing two packs of preserved food.

The two quickly dug into the food, although it was not up to their usual standards, it was very much palatable.

{Meanwhile, a few miles away}

"System, I think this counts as an emergency situation," Orion asked while lying down on the ground and looking at the moon.

"----"

"Come on, I’ve been walking for hours, and I’ve come across nothing but dry ground. I think we can both agree that if things continue like this, I’m probably going to die of hunger," Orion said in a bland tone.

"----"

"Are you seriously okay with me dying?" He asked.

"----"

"Come on, I’m sure you can issue a quest and reward that can make me immune to hunger," Orion said with a bored look.

-DETECTED HOST’S RESOLVE

-QUEST GENERATED