Abyssal Awakening-Chapter 938: First Time

Alice held the mug in front of her.

Rather, held was a crude word. It was more so ’cradling’ the mug as though it was something fragile and could break at any moment.

Her fingers traced the handle, then the lip of the mug. She studied it deeply for it is the chalice that holds her drink.

She didn’t indulge herself in the drink. It is not yet time.

She simply observed.

The mead itself was of a deep amber gold in colour. Reflections of the mid day sun from the tavern window flickered off its waves, scattering the light against the edge of the mug and into Alice’s eyes.

She tilted the mug a few times, watching as the mead swirled, rising against the wall of the mug before sliding back down.

Alice narrowed her eyes with a smile on her face.

She brought the mug up to her nose.

The scent of the mead rose steadily.

Sweet.

But it wasn’t a simple sweetness no. There were layers to this scent. First it was the scent of honey that then blended into something floral, soft.

Then, beneath that floral scent came the faint sharpness of alcohol paired with an earthy scent. The scent of aged wood.

Alice inhaled again.

And again.

Again.

Across the table, Suyin stared at Alice with a pair of dead fish eyes. Yes she’s seen this once before but seeing it again...

She couldn’t get used to it.

Cayla didn’t care.

She’s seen Alice act weirder about Mead than this so she wasn’t even remotely fazed while Elias was in shock.

"Are you going to drink it or are you going to act like a pervert towards it." Suyin asked, resting her chin on her palm while her comment almost made Elias spit out his own drink.

"You have to be gentle with mead every time you try it. The ’first time’ can’t be forgotten after all. It’s a precious memory that’ll stick with me if the mead is good. Only after the first can you start ravaging the mead and get lost in its intoxication." Alice blushed with a smile on her face.

Suyin’s smile twitched.

"Don’t worry, she’s describing mead and not something else. As if she’ll have that kind of experience when she didn’t even know what the aphrodisiac was." Cayla yawned while tapping her finger against the table.

She was currently spreading her senses and linking herself with the Abyss energy to get a feel for the land.

Elias coughed awkwardly.

"Erm... Alice, it’s just alcohol is it not?" Elias scratched his cheek.

Alice set her mug down gently and looked at Elias with seriousness.

"I’m aware. It’s why I’m taking this seriously. I can’t squander the opportunity to fully immerse myself and enjoy my first time with this mead. I must savour it and burn it into my memory, for this first time won’t come ever again."

"Right..."

Picking up her mug once more, Alice brought it up to her nose one last time as she prepared to take her first sip.

The first taste of heaven.

Just as the mead touched her tongue however...

The first note of an alarm came like a blade.

Piercing, loud, disruptive.

In her peaceful state, in her moment of focus, the alarm stabbed her in the back, bringing her out of her moment.

The jolt of her body, the sudden exhale caused the mead to splash back at her face as she sat in silence.

The alarm continued, a wail that resonated through the tavern and across the city.

Every patron in the tavern turned pale for they knew what this alarm meant and they began to make their way out of the tavern in an orderly fashion.

Meanwhile, Alice sat at the table without moving. Veins bulged on the back of her hand as she tried her best not to crush the mug in her grasp.

She tried to take another sip but with the footsteps around her, the mead bounced back and forth, disrupting her first taste.

’She’s pissed.’

All of them thought upon seeing Alice in silence.

She was just talking about how her first time wouldn’t be forgotten and yet the alarm had disrupted just that.

Now, whenever she thinks back to this mead, it’ll be followed up by the piercing wail.

A ruined experience.

Placing her cup down with a silent, seething rage, Alice stood up.

"I’m guessing you want to take revenge on the thing that ruined your first time?" Suyin smirked while Alice took a deep breath.

"Of course I do. Do they even know how precious a first time is??? Sh*t!" Alice cursed while Cayla shook her head and shrugged her shoulders.

Snapping her fingers, she entered Alice’s mental scape once more.

"The alarm that interrupted you is this city’s red alert. There are shelters created underground in the event of a large scale invasion or attack. Shelters designed to keep the people safe while the military turns this place into a fortress to ward off the attackers." Suyin explained as she stood up, preparing to follow Alice when they noticed a person walking towards them.

He was dressed in the same uniform as the guards from earlier.

"Miss Bai, I apologise for disrupting your time of rest. However, we may need your assistance earlier than expected." The guard gave Suyin a salute, causing her to raise her eyebrow.

She glanced up at Alice who managed to calm down her rage.

"Probably the attack they mentioned before right. It’ll be good for us to get some information." Alice scratched her hair.

If they’re going as far as to ask Suyin for help not even a day into their stay here... then the situation must be dire.

Miki might not like it but Alice understood that she’ll probably have to make a move.

She doesn’t want this city to indulge in heroes or gods but as long as they don’t see her, it’ll be fine right?

"Let’s have a listen then, shall we? I’m not sure how much time we have but even for me, the help I can give will be limited." Suyin made herself comfortable on Elias’s shoulder.

After all, with her size right now, it’ll be annoying for her to keep looking up at people and for them to look down on her.

They stepped outside with the guard while he briefed them on the current situation.

While listening to the briefing, Alice observed the world around them.

The tavern was emptied out quickly as people filtered out into the streets. Buildings abandoned.

They all left their belongings behind except for precious items. Clearly focusing on safety rather than wealth.

It was efficient and trained. All of these people were used to the drill. There was worry on their faces but they didn’t panic.

Trust in the guards, trust in their city.

Alice closed her eyes and expanded her senses.

The entire city was moving to safety while the guards stationed themselves upon the walls.

The entire city was moving as one. Each person a cog in the machine known as Grand Cathia.

This was what Miki was pursuing. Power that comes from believing in what you can accomplish rather than giving up control of your fate to someone else.

She had to admit, it was quit the sight to behold.

But even then, there will be times when this isn’t enough. Alice could accept Miki’s ideals. It’s not as if their beliefs couldn’t co exist but rather there is a time and place for everything.

Sometimes heroes and gods are needed, sometimes they’re not. It all depends on the dangers.

"You’ve got to be kidding me. Even with half a day’s of notice, blacksmiths and materials at my beck and call, you can’t expect me to reinforce everything in that time." Suyin complained while the guard could only apologise.

There wasn’t much he could say when this was Miki’s command.

"What part are you struggling with?" Alice asked curiously.

"Everything. Reinforcing the walls are fine and all, same with making weapons if needed. But the issue is transporting it as well as forging the required components. Some of the parts are annoying to make and even with a bunch of blacksmiths, I doubt they have the power to make something complex like that.

"I’ll need a bunch of my machinery." Suyin scratched her hair.

It’s not like she didn’t want to help but doing everything within half a day’s time was going to be annoying.

"Did you forget who’s here?" Alice pointed at herself.

Suyin blinked her eyes.

Snapping her finger, Alice created a second portal.

Since they were already linked to the machine that keeps their memories intact, the coordinates that she needed was already there.

Making a second portal was easy.

Suyin froze. Not the puppet but the real Suyin.

Sat in her chair with her legs crossed in a crude manner, she looked to her left and saw a Alice and co staring at her.

"Care to give me a warning before you open a door next to me?" Suyin’s smile twitched.

"My bad. But if you want, I can open a few of these for you to transport your machinery here. As for the forging... I can handle some of it as well if you want. I still remember the techniques used by the Lord of the Forge. Anything complicated that requires a lot of power outside of machinery, I’ll sort out." Alice offered.

"The f*ck. Since when can you forge as well???"

"Since my time in the north." Alice shrugged.

"What can’t you do?"

"A lot. But what do you think, would it be possible if I helped out?" Alice asked while Suyin folded her arms.

"Hmm... the work time is a little tight but if we got a cheat code like you, I think it’ll be manageable." Suyin grinned.

With portals at their disposal, transport wasn’t an issue. The question now was if they had enough material...