Abyssal Awakening

After finishing their food, it was time for them to prepare for departure as Allura handled the documentation.

While Alice was waiting for Allura to finish everything, she was experimenting with what she had learned about her Sigil.

If Allura was correct with her Sigil, she should be able to build up some strength by just keeping her Sigil activated. As long as she doesn't have any wounds, it'll continue to build power until her body couldn't take it.

With this new knowledge, Alice understood that she'd have to change her way of fighting. After their meal, Allura had told her a little more regarding Sigils.

The first news was that they were permanent. Unfortunately, there was no way for you to change a Sigil after acquiring one since a Sigil fundamentally changed a person's body.

For Allura, her first three Sigils were all flame based, a choice she made when she was naïve and regretted her choice but she learned to live with her decisions.

Alice wanted to ask about her other Sigils but Allura only dismissed the question saying she'll show her when the time comes.

The second piece of news that Allura gave Alice was the usage limit of a Sigil.

Each Sigil had a different usage limit with a good example being Alice's first Sigil. It could be used constantly so long as you didn't sustain a wound. But once she did, she was on a timer before she passed out from blood loss.

In Allura's words, 'There are no Sigil without an internal cool down or downtime.' It's her job to find the weakness and exploit it when she fights other Sigil users.

But this was easier said than done. Alice tried to figure out the draw backs of Lars and the Assassin but she couldn't find anything. Their abilities seemed well rounded and didn't have a cool down that could be exploited.

Yet Allura reassured her that there was a rather large glaring weakness to both of their powers.

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Shaking her head, Alice focused her mind back on her own Sigil as she was trying to gather as much power as she could internally.

She could feel the blood rushing through her body as power started to gather. Based on her own estimates, Alice theorised that she could go almost twice as fast as what she had demonstrated before. Only if she was given enough time to focus her mind on gathering the power needed.

If she was distracted, it was harder to build up sufficient power without taxing her body greatly.

'I need to distribute the strength evenly or else I risk compromising one of my limbs. But that's only when I want to draw as much power as possible. If I space it out, I can take people by surprise.' Alice thought to herself, remembering Lilia's lesson regarding weak points.

'How much effectiveness do I lose if I start storing my own blood in a vial? Maybe I can draw out some blood for battle.' Alice thought to herself while touching the pouch on her waist.

With the way the pouch was designed and how it would hold the vials inside, even if she was to fall directly on the pouch the vials would be safe. But if the pouch takes a direct hit, the vials won't be safe.

A quick exploration of her outfit showed her own many secret pockets were scattered about, enough for her to hide daggers or other small hidden weapons.

'I need to earn money if I want to buy the things I need… But how do I earn money? The only thing I can do right now is fight…' Alice thought with a frown.

"You look upset. Something wrong?" Allura's voice interrupted Alice's thoughts as she had just finished handling the documents.

"Thinking about earning money. Too poor to buy anything." Alice sighed.

"That's what you're worried about? Well earning money is both easy and hard I suppose. Depends on what path you want to take for it. But don't worry about money for now, I'll get you some basic equipment. Here's your card, keep that on you at all times and don't lose it." Allura smiled, handing Alice the finished ID card.

"It'll let you travel city to city without a bunch of paperwork. Once we reach Zadash, we'll need to make you a Hunter Guild ID so you can take commissions." Allura sighed while lighting up a cigarette.

"Another ID?" Alice raised an eyebrow since she thought one would be enough.

"Of course. Did you think one ID was the be all end all? Hell no. This ID proves you're a person and can travel to places while Hunter Guild ID lets you use their services. Every place needs a different ID. It's annoying but unfortunately, a single ID for everything doesn't exist.

You can't get something that convenient with a snap of a finger." Allura shrugged dismissively.

"Setting that aside, come with me. We're going to the carriage now. It'll be roughly a 4 day journey to Zadash. I'll tell you a little about it on the way and we'll also be picking up Gin's granddaughter on the second day. She's pretty fun, I think you two should get along pretty well since both of you will be under my care for a bit. For her it's more training purposes."

"What's her name?" Alice asked curiously since it sounds like she'll be spending a lot of time together with this person.

"Her name's Ria. It's better for you two to get to know each other without learning about her from me. Plus, it's easier for you to see how she's like." Allura smiled.

Nodding her head, Alice followed behind Allura as the two of them approached the city gates. Unlike the fishing docks that was near the sea, the gate was not overwhelmed by the smell of dead Abyss Beasts. Several large stables could be seen next to the gate as there were different queues for people entering or leaving the city.

Walking over to the largest stable, Allura talked to the stablemaster and brought out a large wooden carriage with two horse like Abyss Beasts attached at the front.

Their fur was a deep purple with a bright red mane and ruby eyes. A black skeletal armour covered parts of their body as they glared at Allura for a moment before becoming docile.

"Jump on the back. The driver will be here momentarily." Allura said as she glanced back at Alice.

Nodding her head, Alice climbed onto the back. She wanted to sit where they usually kept the luggage since they weren't carrying anything. Sitting here allowed her to observe the world fully.

Seeing this, Allura only shrugged and let Alice do whatever she wanted.

'. . .'

Sitting silently, Alice glanced towards the city. A myriad of thoughts flooded her mind but in the end, she could only think about Lilia. When she arrived in this place, she was alone and didn't know where to go. She was only told to find a woman called Allura and nothing else.

Captured once more, she was to survive in the coliseum.

Then Lilia appeared and gave her the helping hand she needed. Lilia taught her how things worked, looked out for her and protected her when possible. If it wasn't for Lilia, Alice didn't know if she could've made it out in one piece.

Yet it was also these hands of her's that took Lilia's life.

'This second chance you gave me at the cost of your own life… I won't squander it. I promise you Lilia.' Alice vowed to herself.

Lilia gave herself up at the last moment so that she could live.

Narrowing her eyes, Alice engraved the image of this city into her mind. She was going to come back one day to get revenge against Lilia's killer. Everyone that was involved in her death had to die. The bodyguard and the VIP.

"Look at you brooding all by yourself. Thinking about vengeance? Have you made your final farewells to this city? We won't be coming back for a while since I'll be taking you around the Abyss to train." Allura's voice interrupted her thoughts as Alice looked back in surprise since she didn't think Allura could tell what she was thinking.

"Oh don't look at me that way. You're practically radiating malice. Your face is stone cold but your eyes and aura give away what you think way too easily. Honestly, if you learn how to hide all of your emotions and expression in your eyes, it'll become a formidable weapon for you." Allura shrugged.

"How do I do that?"

"Dunno. Do I look like the emotionless type? Either way, it's something you'll figure our yourself. Anyways, make sure you don't fall off, we're setting off now." Allura grinned as Alice nodded her head.

Making herself comfortable, she could feel the carriage moving as the sound of hoovers clacking against the cobbled ground rang out.

"So the city we're going to is called Zadash. It's also known as the city of young Hunters since there's a rather big training facility. You can visit it if you want but we'll mostly be going for practical experience. It's better to learn first hand after all." Allura explained.

"Okay, I learn faster by doing anyways." Alice agreed with a serious expression.

Hearing this, Allura grinned deviously as Alice didn't know what she had just signed herself up for.

And so, the duo started their journey towards the city of Young Hunters, Zadash.