Kapitel 5: Abyss Hound
As the event began, Alice could no longer keep her attention on Lars. Her own survival was now at stake. But in the short moment she observed him, she gained information about things previously unknown to her.
'So, sigils are powers that appear on a person's body?' She wasn't sure. She hadn't seen anything like it.
'It seems like the more sigils you have the more powerful you are and the more favourably you are looked upon. Unlike the powers of the Abyss Blood, it seems like sigils don't affect your physical traits permanently, either.' She mused to herself. In a way, it was functionally similar to how her mutation worked.
'How nice… If only I had something like that.' She glanced at Lars fighting the Grave Robber in wonder.
Feeling a set of eyes lock onto her, Alice turned away from the fight between monsters. One of the Abyss Hounds, which Alice deemed appropriate to name, crouched above a set of wooden walls next to her, its body low and ready to pounce at a moment's notice.
Alice could feel her hands shaking in fear. Her body felt sluggish and her vision seemed to focus in on the Hound's jaws and claws.
Did she fear the pain she could feel? No, she didn't. Did she fear death? She didn't either. She will not let such a beast take her chance at vengeance away from her!
There were several weapons stabbed into the ground surrounding the arena. Most of them were too large or heavy for Alice to use. However, there was a shortsword near where she was. The blade looked red and broken, but she wasn't sure.
As the two stared down at each other, Alice could hear the sound of battles erupting around her. The sudden movements of the Hounds, the clashing of bone against steel, the screams of the dying.
Ignoring everything, her attention was solely focused on the beast in front of her. She didn't know why but her eyesight seemed to have improved dramatically. She could see the faint contractions of its muscle fibres, the small flicker of its eyes as it scanned her up and down.
Unable to hold herself back anymore, she rushed forward in impatience, lunging to grab the sword. But she was too slow. While Alice wasn't drained of energy, she wasn't exactly overflowing with vigour either.
The Abyss Hound could smell something strange from the girl. It made the Beast hesitate to strike. However, with Alice making the first move, it gave in to baser instincts and bared its fangs.
*BANG!
Launching itself off the wooden walls, the Hound leaped at Alice, the sheer force of its jump shattering the planks behind it.
Widening her eyes in shock, Alice's brows furrowed before she stretched her hand forward and barely grasped the sword. Desperately pulling and swinging it from an awkward angle, she tried to protect herself.
Feeling a stinging pain on her shoulder, Alice crashed to the side and rolled across the floor. Blood oozed from the girl's shoulder as the Hound's claw cleaved her flesh. He barely missed her neck.
The Beast turned and began to circle around her once more, relentlessly looking for another chance to kill its prey.
'How the hell does anyone fight beasts like this?!' She screamed in her mind. Although Alice knew the bedtime stories she heard of heroes fighting Abyss Beasts with ease were fake, nothing could prepare her for the sheer hopelessness of her current situation.
The stories of Abyssal Hunters sung of calm and fearless warriors, heroes who, no matter what tried to kill them, would stare down death without flinching. They wouldn't miss a single moment of weakness and strike the beasts, ending them in one blow.
But she wasn't like that. She could feel her knees buckling from the weight of the beast's attack, her mind muddied with confusion as to what the beast would do next. She could feel her heart pounding against her ears as the world seemed to darken around the Hound.
Sensing her confusion and fear, the Hound curled its bestial maws into a haunting smile that sent shivers down Alice's spine. Sadistic pleasure radiated from its eyes. It launched towards Alice once more. This time, its body exploded with even greater speed, causing dust to scatter behind it.
Alice froze in fear. The smile was familiar to her. It was something she had seen often before, plastered across the face of her tormenters. As the face of her tormentors and the Beast overlapped, she could feel a wave of anger rising from her heart.
Her instinct of survival merged with rage and desperation as Alice rolled off to the side and grabbed the corner of a wooden barricade scattered across the arena as part of an obstacle. Using it to throw herself away from danger, she watched as the Hound slammed against several barrels, breaking them apart as though they were made from paper.
'The pain from my shoulder isn't something I can't handle. But I can't use my left arm well.' Alice gritted her teeth.
She could only dread what kind of damage the Beast's lunge would have done to her body this time.
Scanning her eyes around, Alice found no additional weapons for her to easily use. To her left were several wooden walls, one of which she used to pull herself from danger. To her right, a set of barrels the Hound crashed through. There was another beast and slave locked in combat not far from her position. The path behind it would lead her closer to the centre of the arena, where the main attraction fought.
'What can I do? I can't fight the Hound at all. Fighting it head-on is suicide… The only weapon I have is this stupid sword I can barely swing. If I run towards the middle, I'm asking to get killed by the big thing fighting Lars. I doubt he'll care about my issues considering he's got a fight of his own.'
Without realising, Alice had started to scratch her neck out of stress, a habit she slowly developed over time. It helped her focus.
She was trying her best to rationalise all possible options. Panicking would only increase her chances of death. She couldn't deny the fact that she was anxious. She didn't want her life to end here. But, Alice's body didn't move the way she wanted it to. She just wasn't fit enough to perform acts of strength like taking down this Hound in a head-on fight.
'Then stop thinking that way!' She smacked her neck in frustration. 'I have to fight this Beast! I have to kill it no matter what. If I don't, I'll die and everything will be for naught. I didn't hold out for 10 years to get ended by some stupid mutt.'
Taking a deep breath, Alice got back onto her feet. She could feel a throbbing pain in her shoulder. It didn't bother her, though; a mere shoulder injury was nothing compared to seeing your own ribs being pulled apart.
She could hear the sound of wooden planks being pushed aside as the hound recovered and began to search for her once more.
'I can probably use the wooden walls to my advantage. If I make it crash into a bunch of them, it should give me a chance to attack him.'
Grabbing the sword by the handle with her mouth, she reached up with her good arm and hauled herself up on the wall. Stabilising herself momentarily, she glared at the hound and waited patiently. She wanted it to throw itself against the wall in an attempt to knock her off and take that chance to stab it from above.
While Alice couldn't help but admit that it was a little above her skill level right now, she had to start somewhere.
Seeing her provocative stance, the Hound bared its fangs once more and let out an intimidating howl. Alice remained unfazed, glaring with determination at the Beast. Circling around the wall for a short moment, the Hound dashed toward her.
Contrary to her expectations, the Hound didn't ram against the wall as she hoped but leaped up and aimed for her jugular.
Taking a deep breath, she quickly jumped back so that she was out of harm's way and landed roughly against the ground. With the target now missing, the Hound overshot its jump on the wall and collided with a stack of planks.
'A chance!'
Charging at what she perceived as a golden opportunity, Alice ran with a fool's courage in an all-or-nothing effort with her blade in hand. With the Hound still recovering from its jump, she dashed behind him and plunged the blade down.
Unfortunately for Alice, her technique was lacking. The blade tip collided harshly against a protruding bone and veered off to the side.
'You've got to be shitting me!' She cursed out in her mind. She had finally worked up the courage, but her attack just missed!
The Hound moved its head towards her with fury. The cowardly prey quivering in fear actually tried to kill it?! Lashing out in blind rage, the Hound sunk its teeth into Alice's forearm.
Gritting her teeth, Alice tried to throw both of them against the wooden walls in hopes of trying to get it to let go of her arm. But its bite was firm. It refused to let go no matter what, wanting to take a chunk out of her flesh.
At this rate, she would lose her arm to this Hound. Until she gets her hands on some Abyss Blood, any and every wound was dangerous.
Her vision started to turn red as there was only a single thought in her mind.
Kill!
She had to kill or be killed! No matter the method, she had to kill this beast in front of her to live another day!
Opening her mouth, she sunk her teeth into the Hound's neck.
AUTORENGEDANKEN 
Reili
Reili Edited by: Tales Bringer
5 Chapters in and Alice's first fight is against a Hound! Ever seen smiling dogs? They are creepy as heck! Personally, I'm not a dog person but more a cat person. Their laziness suits me X) Thank you for taking the time to read this chap!
Kapitel 6: Beast Vs Beast
While not many were looking at Alice due to the main attraction being the battle between Lars and the Grave Robber, those who did glance upon her couldn't help but exclaim in shock!
"What the hell is that girl doing?!" A woman called out in shock.
Slowly, the attention of some people in the crowd turned to Alice.
She was currently biting the Hound by the neck while it tried to tear her arm apart. It was a battle between beasts.
Having tossed aside her sword, Alice's body was the only weapon left to fight the Hound. She mustered all the strength in her body and sunk her teeth further.
Grabbing the Hound in a chokehold while making sure her arm wasn't in danger of being completely torn off yet, Alice used the chains on her arms to her advantage, wrapping them around the beast's neck. Ignoring the pain of its sharp bones piercing into her body with each moment, she climbed onto the monster's back in order to keep a full grapple against it.
Writhing in pain of having its own neck bitten by Alice, the Abyss Hound refused to let go of her arm, trying to shake its prey off. But Alice's grip was like iron. She didn't let go.
No matter what the beast did, whether that be slamming the girl against the wall or rolling across the ground, Alice didn't let go. The Abyss Hound's bones punctured into her flesh, but she held on. Blood stained her white dress, but it only made Alice more vicious.
More and more eyes turned towards her as the crowd could barely tell who was the Abyss Beast in that situation!
Clenching her jaw, Alice could feel the taste of iron invading her mouth; the feeling of hot blood pouring down her throat, into the pits of her stomach. Within the depths, the grasp of the abyss clawed against her body once more as dark powers pulsed through her body.
She could feel a flow of energy pumping into her muscles as the tips of her fingers started to turn the same shade of colour as the muscles on the Hound's body. Her canines sharpened and her body threatened to transform to match the source of the blood.
'I can't drink anymore, or else the effects will become too obvious! I can still bluff my way through with just minor changes.' Alice warred against her instincts to stop herself from drinking more blood.
With an intoxicating surge of power now reinforcing her body, she tightened her grip on the Hound's neck, forcing it to let go of her arm.
Unfortunately for her, the Hound didn't have any regenerative properties so her wounds didn't get healed.
Blood dripped from the corners of Alice's mouth as the injured beast looked at her with wariness. What the Abyss Hound perceived as easy prey now fought back much harder than it deemed worth. If it could choose, the beast would rather run away and find new prey than continue fighting. But, it knew that wasn't going to happen. Alice was dead set on killing it one way or another.
Narrowing her eyes, Alice crouched down slightly. There was an… alluring aroma now drifting through the air. A sweet smell that caused her vision to become hazy. She didn't know why, but there was a faint trail of crimson light flowing like water through her vision, slithering through the air till it reached the hound's wound.
There was now an unquenchable thirst in her throat screaming for her to drink blood.
Realising her strange reaction, Alice tried to calm herself down. But it was already too late. She could feel herself succumbing to the thirst for blood. Releasing the energy stored in her legs, she shot forward with speed comparable to the Hound and managed to surprise him. Grabbing the sword with her working hand, she closed the gap within mere moments, taking the Hound by surprise. Opening its jaw, the Hound immediately tried to bite Alice.
It didn't know that was exactly what she wanted.
'Its weapons are those claws and mouth. But since it needs the claws to stabilise its footing, the only option would be his mouth!'
Jabbing forward with her sword, she stabbed the blade into the Hound's tongue and pushed her weight down towards the ground. The trajectory of the sword swerved down and pierced through the underside of its jaw.
Whimpers escaped the Hound but Alice didn't stop. With the Hound now pinned against the ground with a blade through its mouth, she raised her foot and slammed it against the beast's shoulder, pushing it back and causing the blade to cut through parts of its jaw.
'It's not enough!'
Gritting her teeth, Alice tried to kick it again but the Hound clawed against her thighs, digging its claws deep. It caused her to pause and take a sharp breath from the stinging sensation. Pulling her leg back out of pure instinct, she cried out in pain as the claws dug out some of her flesh, leaving them hanging by loose threads of muscle and sinew.
A wave of dizziness washed over Alice's mind but she quickly shook it off. She can rest when the Hound in front of her was dead!
Ignoring the pain, Alice gathered as much strength as she could and kicked the Hound in the head, causing a small crack to resound near the connection point between the jaw and the skull. Realising that this was her chance, Alice positioned herself beside the Hound, grabbing its jaw with both her hands while using the blade as an anchor.
"ARGGGGG!!!!!"
Letting out a cry to squeeze as much strength as she could from her body, Alice tried to dislocate the Hound's jaw so that it would lose one of its main weapons. As she pushed her strength to its limit, the Hound resisted with everything it had. Just as the tension reached its peak, a pop echoed in the surroundings.
Stumbling back, Alice watched on as the beast cried in pain from the blade shredding its muscles. His jaw now hung loosely with the blade still piercing through its flesh, blood dripping down the rusted surface.
Seeing its bloodshot eyes, Alice could tell that the beast and her were the same; neither would stop until the other died. Both no longer cared about their own survival and only sought to kill the one in front of them.
###
In the spectator stands, there was a black haired woman who looked to be in her late 20's. She had a pair of pure white eyes with a set of earrings on her right ear. She wore a black coat with a sleeveless turtleneck shirt and a pair of tight leather pants. While smoking a cigarette, she narrowed her gaze at Alice.
"That eye, not to mention the white in her hair..." she muttered.
Furrowing her brows, she spat out the cigarette on the ground and stomped it in annoyance.
"What the hell… Did Kaden really just give that girl the Eye of all things? What the hell is he thinking?" She scratched her hair in annoyance.
'Is he trying to run away? Or does he really think that this girl has what it takes?' She thought to herself while sitting down.
Contemplating for a moment, she wondered if she should just purchase the girl outright or keep watching for a few more days.
"I suppose Kaden wants me to appraise this girl myself and see if she's fit for the job." She grumbled.
Taking out another cigarette, she flicked her index finger and a flame danced on its tip, lighting up the cigarette.
Taking a deep breath, she puffed out a cloud of smoke before pulling out a note from her pocket and writing something down.
A small part of her shadow flickered for a moment before a bird appeared from it.
"Take this letter back to that bastard master of yours. Tsk, annoying me even after we went our separate ways." She sighed while massaging her head.
'It seems like she's caught the eye of a VIP. They don't seem to be purchasing her outright, though. They probably put a sponsor for her, so that she continues to fight within this arena until their mind is made up…'
Shrugging, the woman decided to keep observing for now.
###
Despite the condition Alice was in, she felt strangely calm.
The deafening cheers of the crowd, the screams of the other slaves, the roar of the Grave Robber — she could no longer hear anything. Her attention was focused solely on the Hound before her.
In her current state, it was as though the only thing that existed in this world was the Hound. Every movement, every breath, was captured in slow motion by Alice.
'Ah… did I go crazy?' She wondered to herself. Perhaps she was seeing her death play out in her final moments. Alice felt like she could see everything in the world. Even the smallest movement couldn't escape her sight.
As the Hound crouched down and dashed toward her with fury burning in its eyes, Alice stood still.
Even her own movements felt slow. Without any thought, she moved.
Her rational mind told her to dodge, but her instincts screamed otherwise.
'I can see it… I can see how I should kill this beast.' She thought as adrenaline pumped through her body.
She had a chance to kill the Hound. It wasn't a false opportunity like earlier.
Something felt different to her.
AUTORENGEDANKEN
Reili
Reili
Edited by: Tales Bringer
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