The other guard froze.

His pupils trembled as he couldn’t believe what he had just seen.

Confusion, doubt.

Did the girl just kill his fellow guard in front of him? No matter how careless he had been, he would’ve been able to react to a kid jumping at him. But now...

He was gasping for air. Bubbles appeared in his throat as blood rushed to escape his body.

He looked at the dying man, then at Feris, then back at the dying man.

Regardless of what the truth may be, death had occurred. This was no longer a situation where he could be careless!

"You f*cking brat!!!" he shouted as a Sigil lit up on his neck.

Grabbing the nearest kid to him, the man twisted his body and threw him towards Feris.

Feris wanted to dodge, but her body refused to move. She clenched her teeth as her flesh felt as though it was about to be torn off.

Bracing herself, the kid slammed into her as both of them collided with the wall.

*BANG!!!

Her head hit the wall as blood started to stain her hair.

Her vision distorted as she lost the strength to move even a finger.

Feris’s eyes lingered on the guard lying on the ground.

She didn’t care about the other guard walking towards her. Right now, her focus was only on the crystal.

She wanted to hold it again.

Yet... how could she if she couldn’t even move her body?

"Crystal... Mine..." Feris mumbled. She crawled towards the man using her chin.

Glaring at the girl, the man picked up the dead guard’s sword. Just as he was about to slash at Feris, a shadow loomed over him.

His eyes widened.

"Who the hell do you think you’re trying to kill!" Noah shouted.

Twisting his body, his pickaxe hooked into the guard’s eye as he stumbled back screaming.

But he wasn’t done.

He had to make sure the man died before he could use his Sigil!

Kicking the man away, Noah turned to one of his friends.

"Shovel!" he shouted as one of them threw one over.

Catching it, Noah held his breath.

Adrenaline rushed through his body as his grip on the handle tightened.

A familiar action that they had done time and time again.

Wind back the tool, swing with all of your strength!

Noah hacked down with the shovel as it crushed the man’s throat in an instant.

In a panic, he flung the sword around as it cut Noah on the arm, but he didn’t stop.

He could only stop when this man was dead!

A second swing.

His shovel dug deeper, blood poured out as the flesh was cut.

Not enough though.

Again!

With the fourth hit, the spine was broken as Noah finally exhaled. Panting heavily, he stepped back. The guard was dead. A pickaxe stuck in his eye and his neck broken.

Even with Sigils, there was no way for this man to survive a wound like this.

Throwing the shovel back to his friend, Noah yanked the pickaxe free.

He walked over to the other guard and found Feris’s crystal.

Even now, Feris was still crawling with her chin.

He dropped the pickaxe and returned Feris her crystal.

"It’s not going anywhere. It’s yours and yours alone," he comforted as Feris finally calmed down.

With the crystal in her hands, the purple veins faded away. But as they disappeared, Noah noticed the scars on Feris’s arm.

That kind of power... he didn’t know what it was, but it wasn’t something Feris should use often.

Especially if it left her body in this kind of state.

Giving her a hug, he pulled her into a princess carry. By this point, fatigue took over Feris as her eyelids fluttered. Slowly, she fell asleep while Noah glanced around them.

Most of the kids had run without looking back.

The one whom the guard threw into Feris had fallen at a bad angle and died on the spot, his head twisted the wrong way.

As for how many of them were left...

Including him and Feris, there were three others. Two guys and one girl.

"Should we..." one of them glanced back at the fleeing silhouettes in the distance.

"Forget them. We don’t have time to waste. If they couldn’t stand and fight in a situation like this, how can we trust that they won’t abandon us in the future if things get tough?" another spoke up as Noah nodded in agreement.

Their lives would become more difficult going forward.

Free? Yes.

But that freedom came at a price.

"Let’s leave. Carry the swords. We might be able to use them or sell them. Take the pickaxes and shovels too," Noah suggested as the others quickly carried out the orders.

Glancing back at the direction of the pit, Noah creased his brows and turned around.

He was leaving that life behind.

Sitting by a window, a woman had her chin resting on her palm while she looked out at sea.

She was observing the passing clouds and let out a slight yawn. There was a slight smile on her face despite the lazy look in her eyes.

"Is there something interesting in the sky? I don’t believe there are any stars for you to see at this time of day," a man asked, sitting opposite her.

He was a muscular man. Not muscular as in large, but more so on the lean side. One that had both power and agility.

He wore a mercenary’s outfit with rags and old jackets. His sleeves were rolled up to reveal his firm forearms, one having a rather large scar.

"Nothing much. I’m just bored," the woman replied, stretching her body while playing with a small piece of crystal.

"If you’re so bored, maybe you should help out a little. The next job is a pretty big one after all," Noah smiled helplessly, looking at the woman Feris had become.

After their escape that night, Feris lost a lot of her energy, spending most of her time sleeping or staring out at the sky.

They went to doctors and other medical professionals to try and figure something out, but none of them had an answer for him. Some even concluded that she was simply lazy.

Feris stuck out her tongue.

"You’re the one who dragged me out, right? Gotta take responsibility," she grinned cheekily, causing Noah to roll his eyes.

"Yes, yes, take responsibility. How many years has it been now? I’m going to break my back covering for your workload at this point," Noah let out a slight groan.

Another thing that had changed over the years was their power.

Once they found a bit of shelter, they started to earn money using whatever way they could think of. With money, they could afford food. With food, they could work for more money.

But there were some jobs that only the strong could take.

In which case, they needed power. And power came in the form of Sigils.

By this point, Noah had become a mercenary with four Sigils and a first Resonance. The strongest of their group. The others were still on their second, and one on his third.

They kept as a tightly knit group. Three guys, two girls.

However...

Even though everyone else had received Sigils through the shamans and Hunts... the only one who didn’t get anything was Feris.

Not because she didn’t want to, but rather, the Shamans couldn’t find anything for her.

In their words, it was as if she was completely incompatible with the Abyss.

No bounty, no blessing. Nothing.

Which only confused Noah more considering what they saw in the past. Looking back, the power that Feris demonstrated that night wasn’t normal.

Her speed surpassed what should’ve been possible for them. Otherwise, how else was she able to take a guard by surprise? Then there was her ferocity and the purple veins.

It was too strange to be simply dismissed as a trick of the light.

It had something to do with the crystal in her hands. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"Don’t blame me. Blame the shamans who didn’t give me a bounty. It’s your job to protect me now, right?" Feris shrugged.

"I’m the cute mascot of the party." She struck a slight pose.

Noah chuckled and nodded.

"Alright, miss mascot, come on. We need to do a briefing on the mission details." Noah stood up, surprising Feris.

Usually, she didn’t have to join these meetings since she had no combat potential.

Yet... if she was being dragged along, then whatever was involved, she needed to hear about.

"Is it dangerous?" Feris frowned.

Noah thought about it for a moment.

"Depends. I think it’s fine though." He smiled.

Feris had a bad feeling, but with Noah saying it was fine, she could only sigh.

The crystal had been turned into a necklace of sorts as she hung it around her neck.

Then, she raised her arms.

"Pick me up." She wiggled her fingers at Noah.

"You’re a grown woman now, Feris. You can walk," he rolled his eyes.

"Don’t wanna." She grinned.

With no other choice, Noah pulled her up and onto his back.

"Yipee~ my favourite bed," Feris giggled as the two of them went downstairs.

"Ah! Feris! You’re using the boss as a bed again!" one of the men pointed out as Feris stuck out her tongue.

"Alright, let’s not shout and disturb the others. We’ve got a job to talk about," Noah smiled, placing Feris down on the chair.

"What’s so bad about this job that the boss has to get everyone? Even our mascot?" another asked as Noah rolled out a piece of parchment.

"This job is important because..." he trailed off, pointing at the centre of the map.

"It has something to do with the crystal Feris found years back."

At the mention of the crystal, Feris sat up as her heart started to pound against her chest.