Abyssal Awakening

With a new branch of possibility now open to her, Alice dedicated her efforts to mastering it and seeing what was possible and what wasn't.

Even though she wanted to test what happens when her own blood is amplified through her body, it wasn't easy to get results.

She couldn't test if she could break out of a Personal Realm nor could she test the full effectiveness of the defences.

Alice couldn't test her fifth Sigil either since there were still some lingering after effects even though it's already been a few days since the fight with the Doctor.

She could instinctively tell that if she were to reactivate the Sigil, the likelihood of her being exiled was high.

Thus, this only left her with two Sigils that she could test out her theories with. Her third and her fourth.

The third wasn't unique by any means. It simply gave her the power to manifest and manipulate blood and metal.

Rather than a stand alone Sigil, she obtained it as a means to augment the power of her second.

The fourth might hold more interesting results though.

By pulsing the energy belonging to the Void through her body, could she freely step between the realms without taking the time to open a portal?

She wanted to test it out!

That night, Alice found another clearing to use. Though compared to before, there weren't as many trees around and mostly boulders.

Sitting atop a boulder, Alice closed her eyes and activated her first Sigil.

She could feel the flow of blood through her body, the slight boost in strength and an 'empty container' waiting to be filled with energy.

Activating her third Sigil simultaneously, Alice began to harmonise the two. It was similar to resonance yet at the same time, different. Rather than a resonance where the two are held in balance, the third Sigil is solely focusing on enhancing the powers of the first. Feeding itself into it.

She could feel her body temperature increasing as sweat dripped down her forehead.

Alice could feel her body crying out in pain from the unfamiliar sensation, her veins trying desperately to hold on as a wave of energy coursed through them.

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*Drip… Drip…

Blood could be seen dripping from Alice's eye and nose as she furrowed her brows.

Her method wasn't quite right as her body couldn't handle the pressure being put onto it by the first Sigil. Even with the passive bonuses of the Sigils reinforcing her body, compared to the body of Hunter's who've consumed Abyss Blood over the years, she was still far too weak.

She needed to readjust her method of distribution so that her body could withstand the stress. Otherwise…

Alice glanced down at her arm.

She could see tears in her skin as her muscles snapped and her bones were crushed under the pressure.

"Yikes…"

Turning off her Sigils, Alice took her arm out of her outfit and cut it off before regenerating a new one. Her outfit was soaked with blood but that was a small price to pay for her experimentation.

Right now, her distribution of strength was too… slow. Wherever the energy passed through, her body would break down. She needed a way to immediately spread out the energy so that her body can withstand it as a whole.

However, this was much easier said than done. No matter how Alice tried to spread out the energy, her body would break apart before it could even reach the next area.

If she was to do this in the middle of a fight, the others would only see her losing limbs left and right.

It would be an effective scare tactic to some extent but that was not her goal.

Hours passed and Alice decided to leave it for now. She'll continue tomorrow and it's not like her outfit could handle it anymore.

It was completely soaked with blood and hardened thanks to the temperatures of the north.

Even if she could burn the blood away using her flames and control it so that it didn't burn her outfit, it still felt disgusting for her to keep wearing.

Looking through her pouch, Alice paused as she noticed that there wasn't any cloaks left. This was her last one meaning she had to keep wearing if.

Making a face of disgust, she let out a sigh and relented for now. As much as she wanted to buy new clothes, the money she had left was saved for travel expenses.

Scratching her hair, Alice shrugged her shoulders before making her way back to the camp.

###

There was around 3 days left of the travel. The mountainous areas have reduced significantly and they were mostly travelling through the forest with a few small hills.

The roads here were well maintained and signs of the odd beast here and there couldn't be found anymore. The most dangerous part of the journey was over and it was a smooth journey to the port city.

Alice continued her experiments through the night and rested during the day.

As for her cloak… It was barely holding on with strands at this point. During the experiments with her third Sigil, rather than falling off, her limbs started to just explode at one point, hurling blood and shards of metal into the area.

If she was to drop her guard and funnel too much of her Third Sigil's power, she'll manifest the metal inside her own body.

With no progress being made on the combination between the first and the third, Alice decided to give the fourth a try.

And well… the first attempt left her nude with her clothes being forcefully flung off her body.

When funnelling the power of the Void through her body, she enters a strange state. Like a phantom, she was partially in both realms at the same time.

It was only for a split moment before her body showed signs of breakage and when she 'reappeared' in reality, that caused a displacement with her clothes that couldn't follow her into the Void, leaving her standing in her birthday suit.

Alice decided to not experiment with the fourth Sigil for now.

Not only was it embarrassing for her, but it also had a risk of a full body break down. At least for the third Sigil, it was mostly the limbs that she could regenerate. If her entire body was to break down, Alice wasn't sure if her regeneration could hold.

Setting aside the strange case of her experimentations, Alice noticed the weather was improving the closer they got to the port. It wasn't as cold as before, hell, it was even warm at times.

It was also during this that realised her favourite outfits might not be suitable for her journey onwards.

'Maybe we should do a bit of clothes shopping after all.' Alice muttered.

'Travel expenses.' Alyss interrupted.

'But it's hot ya know? I'll be sweating from head to toe and it'll be disgusting.'

'Travel expenses.'

'Surely you can't have a cute lady like me walking around covered in sweat right? It'll be embarrassing! Plus, I'll stink!'

'Travel expenses.'

'But-'

'Travel expenses.' Alyss was firm on this matter.

Aside from mead, clothes were the second thing that Alice bought the most. If their pouch was filled with 70% mead, the other 30% was composed of 25% outfits and 5% miscellaneous items.

'Caylaaaa, Alyss is bullying me!' Alice cried out to Cayla but she only gave her tearful master a side glance.

[If you're worried about the heat, you can always wear Alyss's outfits. You two have the same body after all.]

Hearing this, Alice coughed awkwardly remembering her twin's tastes when it came to clothing.

All of it was extremely revealing!

Crop tops, short shorts and shoes. It was practically showing off her entire body minus the important parts!

'Right~ There was that too. I'll let you borrow my clothes if you're really worried about the heat, it'll let us save some money for travel.' Alyss grinned.

'Urg…' Frustration filled Alice's mind as she began to pout and throw a tantrum by not talking to them.

All she wanted was some eastern outfits since she's travelling to the east anyways, why do they have to be so mean.

Seeing her twin throw a tantrum like this, Alyss rolled her eyes but she was firm on her decision.

Once they do a few odd jobs and get some money to spare, then she'll allow Alice to indulge herself.

But for now, they had to save what they could for travel.

In the end, Alice decided to combine bits and pieces of both of their wardrobes to make something more to her liking for now. Something that'll tide her over until she gets her hands on some eastern outfits.

Her new attire consisted of a sleeveless black shirt that exposed her back, a large white jacket that went down to her thighs with large sleeves unzipped just past her chest so that it revealed her shoulders. A pair of shorts that Alyss enjoys and a pair of white shoes. She also got some materials from some of her other outfits that were destroyed in battle and repurposed the fabric.

She gave herself an anklet, some belts to hold her jacket in place and a few silver ornaments around the belts.

Her hair had also been growing a tad too long for her liking so she gave it a quick cut. Previously, it was reaching down to butt but now, it only reached halfway down her back. She also adjusted her bangs a little so that it covered the scar on her right eye.

Looking at herself in the blood mirror, Alice had a happy smile on her face as she was satisfied with her look. It was a little revealing around the legs since she usually wears stockings or long boots to cover them up, but a change of pace wasn't bad either.

Naturally, the guards were shocked to see a pretty girl under the cloak but dare not say anything. After all, Alice was someone who could slap them to kingdom come before they even realise what was happening!

And soon, they arrived at the port.