Waking up in the morning with a long stretch, Alice felt strangely refreshed after obtaining a Sigil.
Her body felt stronger and each of her movements was filled with energy. She wanted to jump, run and enjoy her body to its fullest but with her being restrained in the cage, she had to restrain herself.
Looking to the side, she noticed that Lilia had woke up but looked devoid of energy compared to how she felt.
"Are you okay?" Alice asked curiously as Lilia glanced over and forced a smile.
"Yea I am. Just a little out of it after the fight yesterday."
". . ." Nodding her head, Alice sat down.
She looked at the cold bowl of sludge placed in her cage as breakfast while two words ran clear in her mind.
She's lying.
Alice has seen that smile plenty of times before. A smile that attempted to hide something deep within. The guilt in her eyes that ate away at her mind.
Something happened in the time she was unconscious. Alice didn't know what had changed but she knew Lilia was feeling great about it.
"So how are you feeling? Are you feeling any side effects from the fumes of the blood?" Lilia asked with genuine concern as Alice picked up on this.
'Maybe it's just something that happened to her. If its private, it makes sense she doesn't want to share it.'
"I'm feeling… energetic? Not tired. Maybe because spider died, fumes didn't affect me too much. It's also different from normal Twilight Hunter so maybe different effect." Alice bluffed. She knew that the fumes had indeed taken effect on her and wore off in the same she was sleeping, same with the effect she gained from drinking Dusk Hunter blood.
Both of these side effects couldn't be detected too easily which makes it easier to draw less suspicion upon herself.
The only issue now is how she drew attention to herself with the act of killing that spider. Alice didn't know what came over her, but it was not normal.
'Now that they saw how I killed the spider, there will be more pressure with how strong the enemies are. I'm not sure if they saw the Sigil on my arm either.' Alice sighed to herself.
"Hmm that's a little strange. I thought you would be feeling sore with how much you were moving yesterday." Lilia scratched her hair in confusion while Alice shook her head.
"No sores. Anyway, do you know where we… going next? Underground again or somewhere else?" Alice asked curiously. She wanted to know what kind of fight they were going to have next so she could do some tests with her Sigil.
"I don't know how many days it'll be, but I do know what the event is." Lilia replied slowly as she looked down and bit her lip. Taking a deep breath, she looked back at Alice.
"It'll be an underground fight. The two of us will be pitted against a few others for all to see. It'll be hosted in the same arena as always, but standard bidders won't be allowed to watch. I'm not sure how many obstacles there will be but expect a head on fight most of the time. Thankfully, we're against humans so smaller weapons that we can use easily are pretty handy this time." Lilia explained as Alice nodded her head.
"I guess… we make traps? If there are obstacles."
"Exactly. We need to take advantage of sneak attacks since we don't have their power or durability. Which role do you want? The one that kills or baits them out? You have to remember that being the bait is the more dangerous and harder task." Lilia asked seriously.
'I can use my first Sigil as a hidden trump card if things go south… Even with my increased physical powers… I don't know how that compares to the others so it'll be best if I don't force things. Lilia is used to Assassination while my eye lets me see things in slow motion.' Alice analysed as she opened her mouth.
"Bait. I'll be bait. It's better if you go for kill."
Hearing this, Lilia furrowed her brows.
"You've been the bait for the last fight as well. I know you can dodge well but are you sure? Our attacking power is roughly the same so if you want to be the one who lands the final hit that's fine too." Lilia asked as she wanted Alice to change her mind. Being the bait was going to put her life in more danger.
"It's fine. Safer if me being bait. Less chance of death." Alice reassured as Lilia scratched her hair and nodded her head.
"Alright. But once we get our first kill, we'll see what happens. If the others become wary, I'll take over as bait and you kill okay?"
Coming to a compromise, the two discussed some plans while Lilia showed Alice certain weak points that can be exploited.
"Listen to me Alice, since neither of us are head on fighters, ignoring what you did yesterday, we need to fight dirty. Sand in the eyes, tripping people over and so on, nothing is off limits. That means underhanded methods like poking eyes, hitting crotch if they're male, stabbing the chest if they're female or even going for the butt, all of that is extra good for fighters like us." Lilia explained while pointing at parts of her own body to demonstrate.
"Don't get go of your weapon if you can help it, don't jump into their reach unless you're absolutely sure you can go for the kill. Sometimes people will fake weaknesses and then hit you with a large counter. If your attack doesn't kill, they won't care."
Hearing all of this, Alice nodded her head earnestly while trying to make a mental note on all the points that Lilia raised.
"Okay so… if I can poke eye, why not just stab mouth? Big hole, I stab." Alice asked curiously.
"I mean, I never said you can't. Just they don't usually open their mouth unless they talk."
"Then let them talk. Or ask question middle of fight. Or just stab anyways. Stabbing teeth hurts." Alice said while pointing at her own teeth.
"Pft, ahahaha, that's true. Stabbing teeth does hurt. But either way, as long as you can disable them momentarily it'll help you set up the next attack." Lilia laughed with a small smile on her face seeing Alice's earnest eyes while talking about how to best kill a man.
It was a strange sight to be sure but for Lilia, seeing Alice happy like this wasn't a bad sight.
Perhaps she would've seen more of this happiness on her sister's face if she had helped her instead of actually happened in reality.
But there was nothing she could do now. Her sister was dead, her brother was dead and now she was in this hellhole.
The only thing she can do is to keep moving forward and atone for her mistakes.
"Something wrong?" Alice asked seeing Lilia stare at her face without saying anything.
"Nothing. Just focus up for tomorrow and we'll get through it easily." Lilia shook her head as Alice nodded.
###
The next morning, both Alice and Lilia was taken out of their cages before they could have breakfast. Neither of them were dragged by their necks and the cuffs around their wrists were undone.
Bringing them to the weapon room, the Hunter waited for them to pick a weapon.
Nodding at one another, they followed their previously discussed plan and chose daggers.
"Follow me. You'll both be on the same platform." The Hunter said coldly as he led them to the platform.
Closing the gates, he left them to themselves as Alice took a few breaths to calm her nerves.
Fighting monsters was one thing, since they could be predictable. But fighting humans was another matter. Just like how she could use underhanded tactics to fight, they can do the same.
"Nervous?" Lilia asked with a chuckle.
"A little. Human different to beasts like the spider." Alice sighed.
"Mnm, though if we're lucky, it'll be easier since humans are more likely to drop their guard. Give them a false destination and they'll drop their guard right after achieving it and that's your time to strike. Remember that."
Hearing this, Alice took the advice to heart as it would be the perfect time to use her Sigil if the situation ever arises. A moment when they think they've won. It was the same way the Assassin died to the spider. He thought he won only for the spider to use the blood against him.
If she wanted to use her Sigil well, she had to do the same. She had to adopt the mindset of a hunter, laying down traps for her prey. In this situation, the prey was the other slaves they had to kill.
Thinking about what she must do, Alice thought back to what Lilia asked. If she has ever killed a person or if she was willing to.
If it meant her freedom? Yes, the lives of these slaves are of no importance to her. She'll kill them all if she has to. She knew that this is a brutal world. One where the weak were abused and tossed aside.
'I'll do it. I'll use every method available to me in order to survive.'