Abyssal Awakening

Sitting in the Void, Alice waited until her energy was recovered. However, she still wasn't sure if her body was suited for going back to their realm.

Opening a rift back, she decided to test it by sticking her arm through.

*BANG!!!

Almost immediately, she could sense a slight rejection from the realm as her arm was blown apart in an instant.

Blinking her eyes, Alice looked at the stump left on her arm. Her smile twitched as she regenerated her arm and let out a sigh.

"Stupid Feris. At least tell me when it's safe to go back if you're not going to help." Alice mumbled.

Since it wasn't safe to go back, she decided to practice her Void Steps.

Right now, she understood the activation conditions but stopping the charge was difficult.

To begin with, the Void Steps required her to step on a portion of the realm that was rubbing against another realm. It's the friction between these two realms when done right that can propel her forward.

Narrowing her gaze, Alice activated the Void Steps once more.

Stepping down where she manipulated the realm, Alice immediately felt an overwhelming force throwing her body forward as she struggled to maintain her posture. No matter how she tried to exert her strength, the moment she is launched, her posture breaks.

*CRASH!!!

Slamming into some rocks, Alice let out a frustrated sigh.

'I wake up and the first thing I see is you slamming yourself into a rock. The f*ck is going on?' Alyss yawned.

'Just learning some new skills. While you were sleeping, I met the ruler of the Void and killed the hybrid.'

Hearing this, Alyss blinked before nodding her head.

At this point, she wouldn't be surprised if Alice was to randomly meet one of the Gods never mind the ruler of the Void.

'So what's the skill you're trying to learn?'

'Void Steps. By stepping on the friction between two realms, I can propel myself forward. Basically, teleportation if I do it properly.'

Standing up, Alice did another demonstration as she activated the skill. Once again, her posture folded the moment she teleported and slammed into some rocks.

'Isn't it just a case of keeping your posture though? Seems easy enough.' Alyss asked while resting her chin on her palm. From a third person perspective, it looked easy to execute.

'Yeah, easy for you to say. But I'm a caster you know? I don't have a freakishly strong body.'

'Debatable. I don't see casters throwing hands and trading punches with someone specialised in close quarters combat. But setting that aside, let me give it a go. When we switch, more of the power is diverted into reinforcing the body than casting so my physique should be better.' Alyss retorted with a smirk.

'Go for it.'

Rolling her eyes, Alice activated the skill and switched places with Alyss.

She wanted to see how quickly her twin's confidence would shatter once she felt the overwhelming force throwing you forward.

Just as Alyss was about to step onto the skill, she noticed something strange with her body. However, she wasn't able to adjust herself in time and was flung into a rock just like Alice.

'So what's this about being easy enough?' Alice revealed a smug grin seeing her twin upside down.

'Didn't count! I wasn't ready! Also what the hell did you do to our body?' Alyss pouted, feeling embarrassed by her mistake. The overwhelming urge to punch Alice's face with that smug grin was growing by the second.

'I unlocked the full Bloodline Release. Turns out my soul is unique enough to be used as a base now. I don't need to worry about Velouria's bindings.' Alice explained offhandedly.

Hearing this, Alyss's smile twitched as this wasn't something you should gloss over.

Switching back with Alice, she had her show the full Bloodline release.

Seeing the spectre that represented Alice's soul, Alyss found it rather charming yet freaky at the same time. And honestly, a good representation of what Alice is like as a person.

One moment she could be this fluffball who's indulging herself on mead and the next she's ripping someone's heart out from their chest. Both cute and deadly.

Not to mention a strange enjoyment for white and pink clothes even though Alyss herself preferred darker colours. Long sleeves also.

However, with Alice's Bloodline Release fully unlocked, there were some passive benefits to their body.

They still not quite at the standard of other strong five Sigil Hunters but passively, they were around four Sigils worth of physical strength.

Activating her Bloodline Release would push her past the boundary and bring her closer to six Sigil levels of physical strength.

Once Alyss figured out their new strength, she prepared herself for another attempt at the Void Steps.

'No excuses this time okay?' Alice grinned.

'It was just a coincidence last time. This time I'll show you how easy it is.' Alyss scoffed.

Preparing herself, she took a more stable stance and had Alice activate Void Steps.

*BANG!!!!

Slamming into a rock, all Alyss could hear was Alice's howling laughter.

The sudden increase of force propelling them forward was not to be trifled with. No matter how Alyss braced herself, it felt like having a rug pulled out from under them.

'So how the hell did this Feris woman or whatever she's called do it successfully.' Alyss mumbled in annoyance while trying to hide her embarrassment.

'Who knows. But it was just a coincidence last time huh? Seeing you falling on your ass doesn't seem to be a coincidence for me.' Alice replied, not wanting to give up this moment to bully her twin.

Their little scuffle eventually woke up Cayla who saw the two arguing about who can do the Void Steps better. Seeing this, she let out a sigh before going back to sleep.

###

Practicing some more while occasionally checking if she could go back to reality, they found a slight gimmick to the Void Steps.

A way to prevent them from falling flat on their ass while teleporting. Unfortunately, stopping was still an issue but at least they now looked good while slamming into a rock.

Some of the rocks even have Alice's outline imprinted onto the surface.

But soon, she saw that her arm wasn't blown to pieces and understood it was time to head back.

Giving her body a good stretch, she gave the Void another glance before stepping through the portal.

Shielding her eyes from the Sun, Alice furrowed her brows and looked around her.

Right now, she was in the middle of a crystal cluster. The sun reflected off the countless mirror life surfaces as confusion filled her mind.

If her coordinates are correct, this should be where she teleported them before Keira's attack landed. Yet none of this was familiar to her.

"Don't tell me this is the result of her attack…" Alice muttered in disbelief.

Searching for the highest point, Alice jumped up and scouted around the place. She could see Esna in the distance.

Meaning, this was indeed the mountain range they crossed before teleporting. If Keira's attack packed this much power, Alice didn't even want to imagine what would've happened if she didn't teleport them.

Just thinking about it caused cold sweat to roll down her back as Alice was glad she could deal with Keira before she got another chance to attack them.

'Should've woken me up if you were fighting the Hybrid. I wanted to get a few good hits in myself ya know?' Alyss lazed on a throne while sitting up side down.

'You and Cayla were both having such a good time sleeping so I didn't want to wake you two up.'

'AH! That reminds me you piece of sh*t! Me and Cayla almost worked ourselves to death trying to keep your body from falling apart! I know it was a life or death situation but at least give us a heads up before you go ape sh*t and start trying out crazy stunts!' Alyss raged, remembering why she was sleeping in the first place.

Trying her best to pacify Alyss, Alice made her way to Esna as Selen and the others are probably waiting for her.

###

"Say, do you think Alice is having a better time than us?" Ria asked as she swung her legs back and forth.

"Probably." Luke sighed, doing the same.

Right now, the two of them were locked in a cage dangling above a sacrificial altar that the Eclipse Cult has crafted.

"It's not like she's getting herself captured or being prepped for sacrifice is she?"

"True… Though knowing her she'll probably be fighting for her life regardless. Urg… I wanna go to the surface too." Ria lamented while looking at the countless hooded figures filtering towards the altar.

"At this point, I don't think the loli hag is going to let us go without torturing us properly." Luke shivered, thinking back to Rosalyn's training.

Hell, even calling it training was being generous. Rather than training, it's more like torture for Rosalyn's amusement and an outlet for her frustration against Allura and Kaden.

"If she hears you say that she'll deep fry you in blood." Ria warned.

"Let me have a break. It's not like she's here anyways." Luke shrugged.

"Who said so?"

Freezing up, Luke glanced to his shoulder and saw a tiny red bat staring at him with its head tilted to the side. Its beady eyes staring at him unblinkingly while a menacing grin could be seen on its face.

"Who said I wasn't here, Lulu? We're going to have some fun once the two of you are finished with this mission." Rosalyn laughed.

"HUH?! Why me as well?!" Ria felt wronged as she didn't even say anything bad about her.

"You didn't defend my honour and allowed this dumbass to slander me. All of them are here now. You have an hour to wipe this branch clean." Rosalyn shrugged before waving her wing.

Feeling her anger build up, lightning crackled across her body as Ria tore apart the cage around her.

All her frustrations, all her anger, she'll take it out on these cultists!

She wanted to finish Rosalyn's training quickly so she could reunite with Alice soon and gamble her days away in the arena!