Abyssal Awakening

Walking away from the arena, Alice couldn't help but frown at the result. With how quick he recovered from the poison, she doubts that he'll go down even if she was to use her own blood. His resistance was simply that high.

Not only that, his physical power was off the charts.

'For him to be able to move at normal speed while the world was slowed down, so effortlessly at that… How fast would his full speed be?' Alice asked herself but the answer evaded her.

Whatever it was, it was clear that she was no match for him. And the best chance she had, he was still fast enough to recover.

'Unlike others, Abyss Blood does not leave a permanent boost for me. My base strength will forever be below other Sigil users. The only time I'll get a permanent boost is when I obtain a Sigil, the moment I siphon the beast's strength for myself.' Alice sighed inwardly.

While Allura may be right regarding not rushing head first into things, there were gaps that technique simply couldn't cross.

Of course, it was arrogant of her to think that she had tried everything but she shouldn't rule out the possibility of getting a Sigil early.

'How should I even explain this to Allura? Regardless, I need to study up on different Abyss Beasts so I have a better idea of what I want for my second Sigil.'

Meanwhile, Ria wasn't sure what to say seeing the disappointment in Alice's eyes.

"You feeling alright? If you're upset about not landing a hit on him don't worry! Not a lot of people can especially when they only have one Sigil. I'm sure once you get more fighting experience, you'll be able to overtake him in no time!" Ria cheered as Alice nodded her head.

"I want to hunt already." Alice sighed. She wanted to hunt so that she could earn some coin to buy the stuff she needs.

She couldn't keep asking Allura to pay the costs.

"Ohhh itching to go out and fight are we? Lets hope the process doesn't take too long so we can go grab a mission from downstairs." Ria grinned excitedly. She was glad to see that Alice was as excited about fighting as she was, someone who she could truly resonate with.

"Mnm. Speaking of mission… You said you needed to report? About the forest."

Hearing this, Ria froze up. In her eagerness to help Alice, she had completely forgotten what she was going to do after reaching Zadash.

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"Right, there was that I needed to do. I'll pop downstairs quickly to hand in the report then."

Watching Ria run towards the elevators, Alice couldn't help but chuckled in her mind as she sat down and waited for Neal to finish the registration process.

This moment of silence to herself allowed her to reflect on the fight. Closing her eyes, she thought about what else she could do in that moment. With the limited tools she was given, what could she have done? She wanted to set some traps using her blood and the knives, but with how closely Neal was observing her, it was hard to do anything without him noticing.

'Perhaps I should ask Allura what I should do in that kind of situation. I need to be able to set traps with my blood without my opponent noticing if an upfront confrontation happens.' Alice thought to herself.

One of her original plans was to coat one of the knives with her poison then embedded it into the ground. That way, the moment he takes a step towards her, the blade should cut the sole of his foot. However, not only did he see through her plan, but he also made sure to keep an eye on her hands to make sure she couldn't do anything of the sort.

'Plus, I don't think the knife would be able to pierce his boots. He would've just broken the blade when he stepped down.' Alice sighed.

Shaking her head, she glanced to the side and noticed a pile of newspaper being left on the table.

Grabbing one, she was curious to see what it was about.

Unfortunately, most of the words eluded her as she was only able to read around half of the page. But just this half was able to give her some information about what was happening out in the world.

'Strange… beasts… movement of churches… murders of high clergy members… War between nations… Apostle of Famine rumoured to appear?' Alice furrowed her brows, unsure as to what to make of these titles.

All of the news in these papers were focused on the events happening in the Abyss, causing Alice to wonder what was happening above ground. How she could return to the surface and how the Zenia family was coping without her being around for them to experiment on.

Their production of usable Abyss Blood would've slowed without her being around.

'Knowing them, they might be experimenting with other people to get the same results.' Alice frowned.

Running her hand through her hair, Alice learned back and sighed.

She placed her hand over her right eye and wondered what else this eye could do.

'Allura said the Eye has a mind of its own. It'll take a while for it to awaken fully so for now, I have access to two functions. One being a bounty an the other being able to slow down time… Do I have to see the monster for the bounty function or can I just… activate it?' Alice wondered to herself.

In this moment, she felt a surge of power from deep within. The world around her darkened as she was transported to the void where she chose her Sigil power after killing the spider.

Widening her eyes, Alice could see the reflection of this void beneath her as though it was the surface of a mirror.

In her mind, words started to echo.

[What do you wish to hunt?]

'No way…' Alice paused in disbelief. Furrowing her brows, she wanted to experiment with what the eye could do.

"What can I hunt? What can I choose?" She asked.

Without replying, her surroundings lit up with ghostly replicas of beasts. From tall monstrosities to small insects, every single beast that she could choose was available to her.

Swallowing her saliva, she wondered if she could categorise the beasts based on what she required.

"Can you show me the Sigils… That will give me poison powers in my blood?" Alice asked.

Answering her question, hundreds of beasts disappeared, leaving behind those that matched her question.

Alice's breathing hastened as excitement welled up in her mind. She didn't want to say the name of the beasts that she was thinking of just yet since she wasn't sure if it'll lock in her choice for the bounty. If it did, she'll be forced to hunt that beast for her next bounty.

"Show me… Beasts that have blood powers along with poison."

Once again, the catalogue of beasts changed as the list became smaller. There were a few that Alice recognised within the group but many of them were unfamiliar.

Walking through this strange realm, Alice wanted to explore more when she felt a crawling sensation on her skin. A gaze on her back.

Turning around, she froze up at what she saw in the sky of this strange realm. It was a single eye that was barely opened. The gaze scanned through the realm before stopping on Alice.

It felt as though she was being stared at by something primordial, something that reminded him of what she felt from Kaden the first time they met.

In this instant, Alice wished she disappeared from this realm and returned to reality.

"!!!"

Snapping her eyes open, Alice panted and saw that she was still on the seat within the Hunter's Guild.

Holding her eye, cold sweat filled her back as that eye in the sky looked exactly the same as the Eye that was planted into her eye socket.

Regulating her breathing, she calmed her beating heart and thought about what she had just learned.

'I can look through what seems to be a catalogue of beasts. I can filter it based on my thoughts and the key to entering this realm is commanding the Eye in my mind. To leave is the same as entering.' Alice thought to herself as she looked at the floor.

'The time I have within this place seems to be limited as the giant Eye in the sky doesn't seem too welcoming of me. That feeling… I don't want to see what happens if I awaken it fully. I should only enter that realm once I properly ready to designate my next bounty.'

Making up her mind, Alice adjusted her sitting posture and waited patiently.

Time passed as she watched the myriad of Hunters moving back and forth through the building. She found it rather curious as to how the Guild was responsible for all of these Hunters. Was there a reason they had to obey? What stopped this place from collapsing in on itself if Hunters decided to rebel?

Curious thoughts flowed through her mind as she spotted Neal coming out of the training rooms with his jacket on.

Whispering something to the receptionist, he called out towards Alice.

"Miss Alice, your Hunter's Guild License has been processed and you are now officially a Hunter. Right now, you have access to the most basic missions but once you demonstrate knowledge and strength befitting of harder missions, your license will be upgraded.

You need to keep this license safe and the moment it is lost, you should get a replacement as soon as possible as you will not be able to accept any missions or get discounts from the stores affiliated with the Guild." Neal explained while handing Alice a card similar to her ID card.

[Hunters Guild License]

Name: Alice Agnelia

Age: 20

1 Star Hunter (One Sigil)

"The missions you can accept right now are on the one star mission board. The number of stars should roughly equal to how many Sigils you own but some are harder than the others. Just because one mission was easier doesn't mean all missions of the same star grade are just as easy so keep that in mind. I look forward to your future young Hunter." Neal smiled.

"Thank you."

Walking away with the License in hand, Alice couldn't wait to accept a mission and begin earning some coin.