Abyssal Awakening

"So far, I don\'t see anything wrong with you. Same as usual, with only the powers of the Abyss. No sign of Abyss Blood side effects or the powers from a ritual. Cayla wasn\'t kidding when she said your body is strange." Allura scratched her head.

"Let me give you another lesson. Rituals are done in a manner where you are directly blessed by one of the three Gods. The Moon Goddess, the Eclipse God or the Sun God. Their power is a tier above what you get from Sigils. So if there is ever a conflict, the power of the ritual will always win. Which is why I assume that girl Verona was converted into a beast and had her Sigils suppressed.

"What should\'ve happened usually would be for another Ritual or an act similar to occur. Meaning, if one intervened, you should have been turned into a beast as well. That\'s what should\'ve happened normally." She explained as Alice understood the pain she felt before passing out. It was her body fighting against the ritual and a God\'s blessing to stop her from becoming a beast.

Knowing this, Alice couldn\'t help but feel glad she chose the third path that empowered her potential with her blood.

\'If another situation like this happens in the future, my body should be able to withstand it easier now, I think.\'

"Either way, now that I know what\'s going on, I don\'t need to worry too much. I actually planned on taking you to a friend of mine in the mainland, even though you\'re not ready for that place. This gives us a bit more time." Allura shrugged as she leaned back. Pulling out a cigarette, she smoked and sighed with a smile.

"So, what did you get for your second Sigil? There must\'ve been some strange options in the batch." Allura asked as Alice shrugged.

"I don\'t know. Cayla didn\'t know either. We just know that some of the powers of the Maiden still got transferred, but most of it empowered the potential of my own body."

"Does that make your resistance stronger? I didn\'t think there was a limit if nothing happened despite all the blood you drank." Allura raised an eyebrow.

"I don\'t know. A lot of my body is still a secret to me. Maybe the scholars who operated would know more if we go back to the surface…" Alice replied. Just thinking about going back to her old home gave her chills.

Allura shook her head.

"We can find out slowly. Plus, they only found out how it worked through brute force. What we want is for you to understand how your body works without such methods. So, just keep training and experimenting how you want. But let\'s head down now. Ria and Gin were pretty worried, so I\'m sure they\'ll be relieved to hear that you are fine.

Oh, and in case you\'re worried about how thin the walls were when you ranted, this is a little trick I learned from Kaden." Allura smiled as she flicked her fingers.

Shadows started to seep out between the gaps of the wood and gathered into an orb which Allura dropped into her own shadow.

"Basically, it silences a room and stops all sounds from going out. Now, shall we go downstairs?" Allura asked as Alice nodded in response.

"And you don\'t need to tell Ria, if you don\'t want to. It seems like she already got a basic gist of how your body works from the way she explained last time, but I\'ll keep Gin in the dark and make up something for you. I don\'t think you want too many people to know about your body."

Patting Alice\'s head, Allura opened the door and stepped downstairs.

Hearing that Allura had already made preparations to keep her secret safe, Alice couldn\'t help but smile. She could feel a new sense of happiness in her chest. Jumping off the bed energetically, she hopped downstairs and caught up with Allura.

Noticing that Ria was waiting by a table, Alice gave her a wave. Ria sighed in relief and rushed over while Allura gestured to Gin so that they could talk for a bit.

"How are you feeling? Is there anything still hurting?" Ria asked while scanning Alice up and down.

"I\'m feeling fine. Allura made sure nothing was wrong, too." Alice reassured with a smile, surprising Ria who hadn\'t seen her smile unless it was in the middle of a fight.

However, she felt happy for her friend\'s change in expression. It simply meant she was more relaxed now.

Even though it was slight, Ria could tell that Alice was always on guard, to some degree. It was especially so after their fight with the cultists after she exposed a secret about herself.

Glancing back slightly, Ria leaned next to Alice and whispered into her ear.

"Does Allura know? She seemed pretty serious when she was bringing you back. I assume it has to do with what happened last time." Ria asked as Alice nodded.

"I see… That probably explains why she seems relaxed now. But how was it? Did you get your second Sigil?" She asked.

"Yes, I did. Though it\'s on my eye." Alice laughed awkwardly. She now had two strange eyes. One was called Cayla and the other was changed because of her Sigil.

"Your right eye?"

"No, my left." She shook her head. Activating her second Sigil, Alice revealed the marking on the left side of her face to Ria, who examined the Sigil with interest.

"Do you think we can borrow a training arena to see what it does at this time? Ah. Actually, you don\'t know what\'s going on right now, do you?" Ria paused.

With Alice being unconscious for a few days, there had been a few changes around the city.

"Huh? What\'s going on?"

###

While Ria was explaining the situation to Alice, Allura had grabbed Gin outside of the Inn and lit up another cigarette.

"So? What\'s the diagnosis?" Gin asked with a slight frown on his face.

"Nothing serious. Her body is fine, no damage was done, and she wasn\'t dragged into a ritual. No effects from drinking the weird blood either. Just know we should exclude Abyss Blood from training plans but keep them as tools for battles." Allura explained, causing more questions to appear in Gin\'s mind. However, he knew how she operated.

\'With how she\'s explaining it, it\'s probably better for me to just take her word for it.\' He thought to himself while shrugging his shoulders.

Ignorance was bliss. If Allura deemed it necessary to hide the truth, then so be it. He wasn\'t curious enough to stick his nose where it didn\'t belong.

"Alright. Then, what about the Sigil? I assume the bounty was done correctly through you, even without a Shaman."

"Yep, it\'s done. Though the effects are unknown. The source was a weird mix of three powers, so naturally, the power that Alice gained from it is going to be unknown. I\'m planning on learning more about it tonight before the fight breaks out." Allura chuckled in amusement while looking up at the skies that covered Zadash.

Compared to the calm skies overlooking the city not long ago, dark clouds had gathered. Furthermore, a strange energy created a large dome-like barrier that covered the land. It encompassed Zadash and the land surrounding the city.

"You have to admit that it\'s a pretty sturdy thing. I\'m just surprised that they used something like this in such a low-ranking city. Not only that, they\'re even testing out the beast they created from a fallen Lord in this place, too," Gin remarked.

"I suppose it\'s just some insurance on their side of things. Though I don\'t think they expected two Lord level Hunters to be in the area while they test their new pet." Allura chuckled while glancing back inside the Inn, at Alice and Ria.

"You can probably show off a little when the battle starts. Maybe give them a sneak peak of what an Abyss Lord is like. Of course, if your old bones can\'t handle it, then we can just take them out quickly and save you the hassle." She smiled.

"Tch, are you trying to taunt me here? I\'ll do what I have to since I\'m not getting younger. I\'m not like you, who has stayed young for so many years." Gin shook his head while taking a drink from his flask.

"What do you mean? I don\'t have an age. I\'m simply a veteran Hunter who\'s a neutral party," Allura replied, acting innocently.

Gin rolled his eyes. He had long gotten used to Allura\'s antics. Even for someone like him, who\'d known her for most of his life, Allura was still a woman of many secrets.

Watching Gin enter the Inn and speak with Ria, Allura stepped to the side for a moment. She plunged her fist into the shadows before pulling out a raven by the neck.

"Are you going to keep watching or actually say something, you raven b*stard." Allura glared as the raven opened its mouth.

"What a warm welcome! Can\'t I simply watch? I thought being neutral was your whole thing, Lua," Kaden\'s voice rang out quietly.

Hearing his way of calling her, Allura couldn\'t help but frown.

She sighed deeply. "Whatever. I doubt you\'re here to fight. I\'m assuming you got some idea of what Alice\'s body is like, which is why you gave her the Eye. Right?"

"Naturally. I met the brat in one of the most well-secured prisons I had ever seen. You should\'ve seen the guards they put around the place. Practically impenetrable! And when I saw the brat, she actually resisted one of my Sigils after it took effect." Kaden laughed.

"Anyways, it seems like you have it covered. So, I won\'t interfere too much. Have fun looking after the brat, Lua. I\'ll come down to see you if I get a bit lonely at night."

Without waiting for Allura\'s response, the raven exploded into shadows.

Gritting her teeth, Allura forced a smile. She could feel her veins about to pop from the anger. However, finding out that he hadn\'t changed even after all that time, she couldn\'t help but shake her head.

"For f*ck\'s sake, Kaden…"

If they ever met again, the first thing for her to do would be to punch some sense into him.