Abyssal Awakening

Chapter 277: Nyer's Evaluation And Next Lesson

As the two of them sat down, Nyer glanced towards the cliff.

"Cayla, are you not joining us?" He chuckled, offering Cayla a seat.

Hearing this, Alice was surprised as she thought Cayla would be with Velouria but clearly that wasn't the case.

Without saying anything, Cayla simply sat down next to them.

"Now that we're all here, let's talk. The only thing I can really say about your fighting is that you tend to get a little carried away once you get into the groove of things. Your vision becomes narrow and you forget that they may have more trump cards.

"Your instincts when it comes to using your abilities are top notch, nothing to complain about there. Flames are also surprisingly effective. I will say you're missing out on the potential of your third Sigil though." Nyer shook his head.

"What do you suggest then?" Alice asked curiously while pulling out her flask and filled it up with Ayrian Mead.

This talk was going to last a while so she may as well get something to drink while she listened.

"Making annoyances is all well and good but it lacks a certain… kill potential. Naturally, it's impossible for you to manifest the metal inside their body but think about it like this."

Reaching into his pouch, Nyer brought out a spare sword and shredded it into tiny splinters.

"First of all, if you were to create tiny needles even smaller than this, you should be able to control it without any issues right?" He asked.

Flicking her finger, Alice did just that and created a handle of metal needles.

"Now, how fast are you able to expand the material? I don't have Kaden's power so I can mimic it but I'm sure you should know what I'm getting at." Nyer smiled.

Furrowing her brows, Alice closed her eyes and visualised the pathways within her body.

If she wanted to expand the metal as fast as possible, she'd need to increase the output and speed while efficiency would plummet.

Watching the needle expand, Nyer scratched his chin.

"Hmm… It's a little slower than I had hoped. But it's not like this isn't impossible to work with.

"Have you ever tried to throw a little splinter at them and then expanding it?" He asked but Alice shook her head.

It wasn't as though she had never thought of it but simply put, the expansion was too slow and making the splinters took too long.

Rather than using her energy for an attack that takes too much effort with a low return, she'd rather use it to disorientate her enemies with pillars.

"Then what about interrupting their breathing?" Nyer smirked.

"What?" Blinking her eyes in confusion, Alice tilted her head, unsure as to what he meant by this.

"If you can't expand it then there's no need to. What if you make a handful of these splinters near them? For example, if I had your third Sigil against an opponent that takes deep breaths to calm themselves...

"What do you think will happen if they began to breathe in countless splinters of sharp metal either through their mouth or nose?"

Imagining this situation, Alice shivered as the damage done inside their body could be dangerous. She couldn't materialise metal inside their body but letting them breathe it in was 100% possible.

"What if their body is stronger than the splinters? And the splinters have no effect." Alice asked but Nyer shook his head.

"There are two options for you if this happens. First option is to merge it with your flames. I've seen you coat your flames on things. While I'm not sure the exact conditions required, I'm guessing one of the requirements is your blood.

"Your flames have always appeared on your body or through the blood that you generate. If you coat these splinters with your blood and then let them breathe it in then you can ignite it just as it enters their orifice.

"The second option is for you to expand the splinters as fast as you can. It won't do much damage since it's slow but it'll be a pretty good distraction. Imagine you're about to fight someone then you find out that a piece of metal was expanding in your mouth or nose. You'll be in a hurry to get it out and in that time, your guard will be down." Nyer explained.

Hearing his ideas, Alice's smile twitched as Nyer was cruel but effective!

His ideas are aimed at making the most troublesome scenarios for his opponent to deal with and not only that, but he was also able to pinpoint the requirement for her flames to appear.

'What a terrifying opponent.' Alice shivered.

"And speaking of which, I believe Master sent you here to help Alice right? Are you helping her awaken her Eye?" Nyer smiled, causing Cayla to pause in shock.

"It's not surprising really. It's pretty obvious that her Eye is special and the only other one I recall being similar is you. Considering that she has the crown, it's only natural for me to assume that you're helping her too. What I don't understand is how she possesses the crown and the Eye even though you're still linked to Master." He sighed while leaning back.

"Regardless, I'm sure Master has her plans. My job right now is to simply teach and nothing more."

"Master sent me here to see if I can help Alice awaken the Eye and learn more about it. You can think of it as having a dormant piece of me. It showed signs of waking up during the fight but failed to cross the threshold." Cayla explained while looking at Alice who seemed a little lost.

"When did it show signs of waking up?"

"When you began to copy my movements. Master should've told you what the Eyes do right? It grants information." Nyer chuckled.

Even though there were signs that Alice was great at mimicking and learning, that last demonstration was no doubt a product of the Eye. The way she mimicked his movements until they were fully synced up. Even down to how he froze space.

"Cayla, you should help her learn how to control that last power. If she can master it then she'll be able to pinpoint her opponent's weaknesses much faster." He suggested as Cayla agreed.

Walking over to Alice, Cayla had a suggestion.

"Can you let me borrow your left eye for a while?" She asked while Alice paused.

Recalling what it was like the first time Kaden dug out her eye to implant Cayla, Alice couldn't help but wonder if it was going to be the same.

"Are you going to gouge my eye out?" Alice asked with a twitching smile.

"What? No. I'm just going to house myself in it for a while since it's not a permanent connection." Cayla shook her head.

Feeling a little sceptical, Alice eventually relented and let Cayla do whatever she needed to do.

Pressing her palm against Alice's left eye, Cayla transformed into countless strands of energy that embedded itself into her eye. A cool sensation washed over Alice and surprisingly, it was painless.

In fact, Alice could even call it soothing.

[You can open your eyes now. It should feel a little annoying to get used to.] Cayla's voice rang out in her mind as Alice nodded her head.

Opening her eyes, the familiar sight of Hell Gate was untouched but Nyer looked far different than what he looked like before.

Dull patterns could be seen around his body, signifying the Sigils marked onto him.

[This is what you should be seeing when… 'I' awaken. It'll grant you full access to the knowledge of contracts created by the Abyss, meaning you can see how many Sigils they possess or how strong a beast is.]

'No kidding.' Alice swallowed her saliva nervously.

Now that she has temporarily gained full access to Cayla, she could see the aura around Nyer. A peak into the power he holds. Just the sight of his aura sent her body into a fight of flight response as she struggled to sit still.

Seeing the forced smile on her face, Nyer understood that she must be seeing what Velouria was used to seeing.

Letting out a soft chuckle, his aura began to shrink until it was bearable for Alice.

"Not many people would do this since it's a very niche skill to have but you should never take things at face value. Some random old man could be a grizzled veteran like me. So just because you can see things with Cayla, don't go around picking fights okay?" Nyer laughed as Alice nodded her head.

"If I remember correctly, Cayla should help you see the energy pathways within your body as well. You can use that to determine what your opponent is trying to do along with refining your own attacks. Since your instincts are top notch, we'll be focusing on refining your other skillsets during the time we have."

His next goal was to teach her how to be annoying with her skills. The more annoying she is to fight, the faster her opponent's focus will break. And once that happens, they're more prone to dropping their guard.

It was how he taught Allura to fight which is why she talks a lot during a fight now. Through taunting and mockery, she was able to force others to make mistakes out of anger. As for Kaden, he simply found flaws in their casting, there was no need for words.

"Prepare yourself. Since this'll be the last break we'll be taking." Nyer grinned.

Hearing this, Alice froze up.

"I will teach you how to become an absolute menace to fight. To the point that people will avoid fighting you even if they're stronger."

Seeing Nyer crack his knuckles, Alice felt her senses ringing out in danger as a cold chill went down her spine. But she could not run as Nyer already had her in his grip.

Without giving her a chance to complain, he threw her towards the training ground and chased after her.

Only the echoes of Alice's scream could be heard in Hell Gate followed by the clashing of blades.