Abyssal Awakening

After the long lecture from Alyss about how reckless she was, Alice used this time to excuse herself from the caravan momentarily.

She found a small clearing in the forest next to them as she closed her eyes and visualized the fight against the Doctor.

During that moment, her focus reached the absolute peak. Everything she obtained in her journey for power was displayed all for the sake of killing the Doctor.

However, it wasn't just her focus. She could still remember the strange sensation she felt when using the Void Steps. It was a little different from what it felt like usually.

To verify her thoughts, Alice imagined the tree in front of her to be the Doctor and activated Void Steps.

*BANG!!!

". . .Ouch." Alice muttered as she found herself crashing into the tree and landing upside down.

The usual sensation for using the Void Steps returned. It felt as though she had the rug pulled from under her and she couldn't keep her balance.

But against the Doctor, she felt as though she had a stable platform to stand on.

Like walking up a series of steps, she was able to determine where to stop her Void Steps with ease.

'Was it because of what I activated?' Alice questioned as she decided to activate her Artificial Resonance.

Trying out the Void Steps once more, she slammed into the tree, this time with more power and directly breaking it in half.

"Okay, so using Artificial Resonance turns me into a bullet." Alice murmured while dusting the piece of the tree off her cloak.

If it wasn't the Artificial Resonance then it might be her Bloodline Release since she activated that before the resonance.

Manifesting the figure of her soul behind her, Alice tried for a third time.

*BANG!!!!!

Not only did another tree get destroyed, but the force also broke Alice's arm as she pushed it back into place and regenerated the wound.

"Well…" Alice crossed her arms with a frown. Three attempts and two trees already got destroyed. If she was to keep on going, they might think a beast was wandering nearby.

Closing her eyes, she tried to think of anything else that might've affected how the Void Steps worked.

She tried her Resonance before to no avail, activating all of her Sigils, especially her fifth one might be the key to it all.

However, Feris, the owner of the Void, mentioned that she could teach her how to use Void Steps properly in the past. Meaning, it wasn't something affected by her fifth Sigil. It's entirely based on control and her understanding of the Void.

With this in mind, Alice had to figure out what else she was missing otherwise she'll never master this ability.

She had to limit her options.

'Was it your fourth Sigil? You were using the Seraphim's ability to enhance your Void stuff during the fight against the Doctor.' Alyss asked.

"Hmm…"

Activating her fourth Sigil, Alice closed her eyes and began to control the Void around her.

The Void Steps should be instantaneous, the collision between two realms that forces her to 'blink' forwards. Having this long of a set up wasn't exactly great nor was it accurate to the skill.

Most importantly, even with the Seraphim's power, she was struggling to make the same 'foothold' as the one she felt. Not only did it take longer but she also didn't take this long during the fight.

Something was still missing.

[Perhaps it was not something you did during the fight with the Doctor but rather something before hand? Right before facing the Doctor, you broke out of the personal realm of that Swordswoman, didn't you? Maybe using Ruinous Void was the key.] Cayla theorised.

If nothing she did against the Doctor worked to activate the Void Steps then it must be something outside of it.

Ruinous Void – Fractured Form, disturbs the space around them and injects pieces of the Void into reality, making it practically impossible for a Personal Realm to be established.

Cayla's theory was that perhaps it was this interference that allowed Alice to activate the Void Steps successfully.

After all, the interference doesn't disappear immediately. There are still lingering aftereffects in the space.

Maybe this fracturing was what allowed Alice to get a stable foothold.

Tilting her head for a moment, Alice decided to give it a go.

Summoning Ruinous Void, Alice slammed it into the ground and activated Fractured Form.

The space around her began to crack as she narrowed her gaze and activated Void Steps.

Even without being launched forward, her eyes widened as excitement surged in her heart.

This!

This was the feeling!

The feeling of being able to step on a stable platform!

Her figure immediately blinked forward as she landed on a tree branch without issue.

Activating her Void Steps a few more times, she began to get the hang of it as her figure continued to blink through the area as though she was a ghost.

Landing in the middle of the clearing, Alice was panting for breath but there was a wide smile on her face.

'The energy consumption isn't that bad but it isn't great either.' Alice analysed. The main issue was that she needed Ruinous Void in order to successfully activate Void Steps.

Fractured Void was simply an extension of the way she could manipulate the Void. A tool to make the task easier and make up for her own lack of technique.

If she could master it and activate it on her own, it would make Void Steps far easier to use and less predictable.

After all, Fractured Form sets up a boundary that the opponent could observe. She could sense the disturbance of the Void as she reached her targeted location.

Similar to dropping a stone in water, the ripple across the fractures will expose her location.

It might work the first few times but there's no doubt that this signal will be noticed later.

However, if she were to master this technique then this signal would be eliminated and transform the skill into the same Void Steps that Feris used.

Or at least how Alice perceived it to be used.

"What the hell happened here?" A voice called out as Alice glanced down and saw the scout from the earlier party looking at the destruction of the trees.

He looked up at Alice who was standing on the branch.

"Sorry, I was just practising my skill. It kind of turns me into a bullet if I don't do it right." Alice explained as she hopped off the branch and landed next to him without any issues.

"Are you going to practice some more or are you done?" He asked curiously while glancing at the broken trees.

If what she said was true then how tough was her body? These trees weren't easy to break. But she was telling him her skill that accidentally turned her into a bullet caused all of this? How is she alive?

"I'm done for now. I achieved what I wanted." Alice shrugged before pausing.

"Say, you're a scout right?" Alice asked while glancing back.

"Yes, what about it?"

"So you have good eyesight and reaction right?" Alice continued as he nodded.

"Can you do me a favour then? I want to see how useful my skill is towards someone with high perception."

It wasn't a difficult favour and he was also curious as to what might've caused this damage.

"Sure." Taking a few steps back, he crouched down and pressed his fingers against the ground.

Narrowing his gaze on Alice, he focused his concentration on her.

Seeing this, Alice smiled from behind her turtle neck collar as this kind of opponent would've been perfect for Selen.

Her perception manipulation would practically eat him alive as she was the worst type for him to go against.

Activating Ruinous Void, Alice pushed it down and the space around them fractured.

###

A strange girl stood in front of me.

Right as we were about to leave towards the port city, this girl showed up asking if she could tag along and even paid a sizable sum with the help of another.

She didn't do much during the journey and simply observed our actions, judging us almost. Even during the fight against the sudden ambush by the strange beast, she watched with a slight hint of dissatisfaction.

It was as though she felt like she could do better.

Obviously, the others noticed this as well but they didn't want to verbalise it. It was simply a little annoying.

She asked me for a favour to help her test out her skill and it was perfect for me as well. I wanted to see where she got her confidence from.

It must've been an attack skill that broke these trees rather than using her own body. After all, if she indeed used her own body then how was she standing in front of me?

As I made my preparations to detect her movements, she pulled out a strange object and activated it, fracturing the space around us.

My detection skill focuses on movement and people travelling around me. It allowed me to sense invisible opponents and even those with absurd speeds.

Once they trigger this skill, I'll be able to react instinctively.

Since she asked me about my perception and eyesight, it must mean she wants to test out a movement based skill. I won't let her out of my sight.

"Hm… Seems like it's working as intended."
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!!!

When?! How?! What?!

I glanced back and saw her standing behind me with a relaxed gaze.

When did she get there?? What did she do?!

She recalled her object and began to walk away while I could feel a chill down my spine.

Holding my throat, I couldn't imagine what would've happened if she was an enemy who wanted to take my life.