'Kill monsters, eat meat' 'I mean, Kill monsters, save lives. Got it.' 'Tut, I could've sworn that the first one sounded better.' She wasn't a girl looking for freedom or self-righteous liberation by a hero, or whatever shit a girl who suffered for almost all her life would crave. -the shit of a life she was living was horrible, but it was bearable, and so she got used to it. Rather, instead of freedom, what this little missy wanted was money. Lots and lots of them so she never has to worry about the next day. Money - bountiful enough that when she has to spend, she doesn't need to look back or calculate her assets to see how much she has left. Money - bountiful enough to get all the fried chicken she could ever dream of. Yeah, you heard it, fried chicken. For those who did not have money to spare leisurely, getting fried chicken was like a pipe dream to them and she had been one of those unfortunate souls. A comfortable roof above her head and no worries as to when she would get ordered around to steal. No worries about when she would get her next meal-- That was her liberation. And she got it. Just that, she got it most absurdly. Awakened! Those were the people ruling the world, alongside beastly and deadly monsters who threatened the safety of average human beings. And those awakened call the shots. Alice never dreamed she would one day be awakened, and compared to others with their game-like system displaying their attributes and strength; she had a full-grown man whom only she could hear, watching her back at every turn and telling her what to do. He was kinda a pain in the ass but she couldn't complain. It was this gift he had bestowed on her that made her the most powerful Awakened there was with stats that even S-class awakeneds couldn't compare to. She was the boss, now. Mwa-hahahahaha. But life didn't go as easy and leisurely as she planned. With great power comes great responsibility, right? Well, in her case with great power comes great hunger. She couldn't go a moment without getting hungry and her stomach had become a bottomless pit. And to get food, she needed money, and to get money, she had to hunt monsters. The monsters plagued humanity, causing catastrophes and taking lives mercilessly. Those monsters, as scary as they may be, were her target and she had to face them head-on. The bigger the monsters the more money she would gain. Yeah, that was the plan, but... This guy acting as her system seemed to have other plans, putting her at the forefront of 'justice' and having her clean the mess he somewhat created. 'Ugh, I can already sense a shadow of foreboding. Someone, please tell me I'm not acting the main character role. I just want to eat, okay?'
"Where do you think you're going?" Mark asked and Alice looked back at him.
"Boss, remember, you're a soldier at this point. So, you should be able to keep your emotions out of your eyes." She said. "I can tell you're worried but you honestly don't need to. I got a score to settle with that annoying voice in my head so I'll head into the dungeon and clean up a bit first."
That actually sounded a lot less dangerous in her head.
She massaged her shoulder.
"It's gonna take a while and I might get a scar or two. I might even die but if I don't, make sure to treat me to a great meal, just like you promised." She said with a carefree and bright smile.
"No, you're insane. You can't go in there alone. I'll organize a team right away. They'll raid the dungeon with you." He said but Alice shook her head.
"No, they'll just get in my way." She said. "I'd rather follow the voice in my head and do this alone."
Mark furrowed his eyebrows, worried and scared for her. What would happen if she died?
"You... You saw the kind of monsters that came out of that place. Who knows how many more of them are in there?" He said.
"Well, someone's gotta take care of them." She said, and took her hand out of his hold. "Besides, if we don't do anything and wait, they're going to come out and kill us all."
"I know you said dying is the worst thing that could happen but don't you want to eat?" He asked and her eyebrows furrowed.
She couldn't deny that she wasn't hungry and that she didn't just want to sit back and stuff her belly but that was enough reason for her to get this over with quickly. The earlier she was done, the earlier she would get to eat.
"Then, I better get to it, right, Boss."
"You..."
Just then, an eclipse dragon flew out of the gate, half of its body white and the other half black.
It was a dragon with a rock-like body. A terrifying creature, just like the hydra with a body length of over 15 meters and a width of 7 meters.
It also had power over light and darkness, being able to take life away from any living being with its blast of darkness, and anything that came in contact with its light blast faded like dust.
In other words, it was deadly. Got it.
It let out a loud cry, sending shockwaves that blew people away as it flew in the air and flapped its rocky wings like they were as light as paper.
But luckily, like every other monster, it has a weak point. And its weak point was located in its chest.
It would probably go down once with a hit to its heart.
This big fella didn't want to land on the ground and soared like it owned the sky, bellowing loudly in sharp shrieks and sending fear into the hearts of man.
"You see what I'm talking about?" Alice said, over the loud cries of the dragon. "Here, give me a boost, and let me deal with this." She stretched her hand towards him.
Mark stared at her. She was reckless and didn't care for anything other than her stomach, so why was she taking all these risks?
"How are you so confident?" He asked, and she tilted her head.
"I don't know. The voice in my head is pretty loud that it's clouding my own thinking. It tells me what to do and I just do it. Whether I'll die or not, I don't know but if I don't do what it wants, if I don't make the sacrifice, how in the world am I going to eat in peace?"
Mark heard this and laughed.
How could... How could she still think about food in such a situation? Where did such a girl come from?
"Haha, it's still about the food." He said and took her hand. "Alright, but try not to die. I'll... Believe in you, Miss Alice."
"You got it, Boss." He started swinging her round and then mustered enough strength to throw her up into the sky.
"One-way ticket to food town, coming up." She yelled, setting her hammer. Then, a surge of blue lightning swallowed one part of the hammer's head, and it transformed into an axe.
She mustered up a lot of strength, if not all of it, transferring it all to the blade of her axe and hoping to make a clean break like she did before.
Before the dragon knew what was coming, Alice slashed her axe through its thick skin, into its body. Her blade managed to get to the dragon's heart and ended up cutting it into two.
The dragon's body split in two and fell to the ground, causing large rumbles and dust to sweep the entire floor.
That giant monster fell down with a single strike.
It was unbelievable. It was... Amazing.
In the sky, Alice swung her hammer-axe, getting rid of the mucky black blood on it, and then stared at the shining blade that perfectly showed her reflection.
She was surprised how one part of the hammerhead transformed into an axe when she didn't even do anything to it. Such weapons were considered legendary.
"Awesome. I didn't know it could do that." She said in excitement. "It's a treasure."
*It's a weapon capable of transformation.*
"Uh-huh, and you knew about it all along?" She asked with lazy eyes. "Where did you get this anyway?" She asked but once again, he went silent, unwilling to give her an answer.
Then, she pursed her lips and said in a silent voice, "Hey, if I die, I just want to let you know that..."
*Are you going to be emotional right now?*
"Emotional? Ew, no!" She made a disgusted face. "I want you to know that you're a fucking asshole. The end."
With that, she charged for the gate and it closed up.
Mark watched her. It was just like the video. The video that got them all convinced that she was an S-class awakened from the start.
It showed Alice charging into the red gate and after about thirty minutes, a small red wolf escaped the gate. Alice came out unharmed from the dungeon, just as she walked in.
But a few minutes later, she was no longer acting like her confident and fearless self before entering the gate and looked rather timid.
She struggled with a red wolf that could not even compare to the troubles she faced in the dungeon.
Whatever happened, they wanted to hear it all from her but she had been denying it all along.
Now, she was exhibiting a power that no one could comprehend.
And at that moment, a few S-class Awakened arrived.
They looked at the slaughtered dragon, the bashed-in crimson griffin, and the crumbled Hydra.
"What in the world happened here?"
Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!