Abyssal Awakening

Chapter 292: Risks Of The Third Option

"How would you differentiate between the two?" Nalem asked as Alice fell silent.

"And on the off chance that Alice tries this without knowing the difference, what'll happen?" Kaden asked as there will most likely come a time where Alice will be forced to try this.

The important thing was for her to understand the risks and the consequences of doing so.

"Once again, this is all theoretical so don't take my word for it okay? This is unknown territory and I'm simply telling you my guesses. The best case scenario that I can imagine is that she'll strip them of Abyss Blood with some minor impacts to their Sigils and physique. Better than being dead.

"Worse case scenario would be causing her blood to go berserk and aim to remove anything and everything that even remotely resembles Abyss Blood. I assume Alice herself will be safe since she's the host of the blood but her target will definitely be crippled and die a most horrible death." Nalem shook his head.

Forcefully removing all Abyss Blood and if she's not careful, their blood as well would not only kill them physically but damage their soul as well since it's connected to their Spiritual Heart.

"Is there a way for me to reduce the risks?"

"That depends on you. If you can figure out a way to control your blood properly then it should decrease the dangers. But removing the side effects from someone's body will always come with risks." Nalem warned.

When dealing with something this delicate, there was no absolute safe option. It's merely a case of finding the path of least danger.

"But I'm sure I've given you plenty to think about. I'll continue my research and let you know if I find anything new." Nalem stretched.

"Do you not want to stay for some food?" Kaden asked but Nalem shook his head.

"I'll pass. Thank you though."

Giving the three a wave, Nalem left the house while Alice simply started at the table surface.

Rubbing her finger against the mouth of her flask, she wondered about how she could differentiate between the two sources of Abyss Blood.

One from drinking external blood and one formed within the body.

'First of all, I need to understand how Abyss Blood changes the body. Nalem mentioned that it's like painting a canvas that's the human body. Removing it the moment might be easier since the two bloods haven't fully mixed.

'But if it's one that has remained for a long time, staining the canvas then… Hmm…' Furrowing her brows, Alice sighed in frustration.

If she was to forcefully remove the 'stain', it'll no doubt damage the canvas if she wasn't careful. Plus, if she takes too long to filter between the two, there was a high chance that her blood would 'stain' her target as well.

Letting her blood remain in their body for too long was the issue with the second method so to accomplish the third, she needed to be both fast and accurate.

"What a pain." Alice groaned as she wanted to do some tests of her own.

Now that she wasn't fighting with her life on the line, the adrenaline that was rushing through her body faded away and a fatigue struck her like an unstoppable object.

Holding her head, Alice let out a yawn while rubbing her eyes.

"You haven't slept for like 3 or 4 days now right?" Allura asked, noticing Alice's condition.

"Mnm… I wasn't tired earlier though…" Alice nodded slowly while giving her body a stretch.

"I presume that no one would be tired after almost getting killed by a God. We have a spare room upstairs if you want to use that to rest up." Allura offered but Alice shook her head.

"I'll just… take a nap on the sofa."

Lumbering over to the sofa, Alice curled up and instantly fell asleep.

Soft breaths could be heard as both Kaden and Allura were shocked at how quickly she was able to fall asleep.

"She must've been incredibly stressed." Allura muttered as Kaden started to clean the plates.

"It's only natural. After training with us, she went into the meeting with Gods. Then she had to train with Nyer and without any breaks, she went to train with the Apostles. I'm more surprised she held out till now without any rest." Kaden shrugged.

"True… Do you think there's anything we can do to help her achieve the third method of extraction? If she can succeed that means we can help the ones affected by side effects."

"Nalem mentioned it's a matter of control and being able to differentiate between Abyss Blood and their blood right? As long as we can find a solution to these two questions, I think Alice will be able to do just fine."

It wasn't going to be easy but that's to be expected. Alice was seeking a solution to the biggest issue brought forth by the existence of the Abyss. The price of power.

There were two methods of obtaining power in their realms. The first was through the three Gods of the surface. For normal people, this power stopped at being able to live a little longer or be healthier based on the divinity of the God.

But for the Abyss, they were able to choose their own power that they wish to gain based on the beast they hunt.

Despite the conflict between the surface Gods and the Abyss, their Apostles still accept the contract and gain power from the Abyss.

If Alice could find the solution for all of this, there was no doubt that everyone would be looking to gain possession of her. She was the only true remedy for the price demanded by the Abyss.

'Though I guess it doesn't matter if people find out or not since we're in a memory. Those in her time will be clueless about her advancements.' Kaden thought to himself.

He felt pity for Alice.

She held so many secrets that many would kill countless people for. The ability to ignore the side effects of Abyss Blood, the power to burn it away and keep herself safe, the ability to mimic other's powers through consumption and even being able to learn and modify powers displayed by Apostles.

To live with all of this and hoping she doesn't slip up and expose herself…

"Do you think she looks lonely sometimes?" Allura suddenly asked as Kaden glanced back in surprise.

"What makes you say that?"

"I don't know… Sometimes when I look towards her, she always has this lonely light in her eyes. Supressed sadness you know? She might smile, laugh, grin in excitement or even joke. But there's always something being hidden, like she's hurting inside and she might not even know it." Allura sighed while walking over to the sofa and sat down next to Alice.

Stroking her hair, Allura's gaze softened as she pitied the girl.

"I think she's being as honest as she can. Though this is most likely something she has to resolve herself. Maybe it's a trauma from her past or maybe it's a conflict with a friend. Either way, it's up to her to resolve it and people like us can only really cheer her on from the side."

"Hmm… maybe. I want to do more for her but I guess even as Apostles, there's only so much we can do." Allura smiled bitterly.

Hearing this, Kaden couldn't help but chuckle inwardly. As Alice's adoptive mother in the future, there will be plenty of chances for her to help Alice.

"Say shall we look for a good beast that can act as her fourth Sigil?"

"Oh?" Raising his eyebrows, Kaden hadn't thought of this yet. He wasn't sure how hunting down beasts would work with them being a memory. But considering the fact that Alice was able to obtain a portion of Tiamat's power, it meant that it wasn't impossible for her to hunt down beasts.

And with that being the case, they could take this chance to help her acquire a strong beast that might be hard to encounter in the future.

Rubbing his chin, Kaden nodded his head.

"Sure, we can do that. Though... Nalem is a little busy with his experiments so we'll have to ask someone else. What kind of beasts do you think will be suitable for her fourth Sigil?" He asked curiously.

"Alice wants to be close to mid ranged. So something that can help augment this will be desirable. She also needs something to help her attack with the sword. Her Void Flux – Cleave is good but since it doesn't contain the blessing, it exposes the biggest issue with my attack.

It's too slow and lacks proper penetration power." Allura analysed as she thought about the possible choices that Alice could go for.

"Her first Sigil increases her strength and gives hallucinations, second gives her blood control and fire. Third gives her blood manifestation and metal manifestation. Going by what you said, maybe a fourth Sigil that helps her with exerting maximum power in the shortest time would be better?" Kaden crossed his arms in deep thought.

As the two wondered about the possibilities, an idea appeared in Allura's mind.

"What if we're looking at this wrong. We're too preoccupied with having Alice match her opponents or overwhelm them in power. But that's not how she fights. She fights very strategically, finding ways to cancel out their abilities with her fire or restricting her movements." Allura sat up as she glanced back at Kaden.

"Who said her fourth Sigil can't be one that debuffs her enemies and reduces their power rather than increasing her own?"

Thinking about this for a moment, Kaden smiled.

"Alright, I'll go look for a few candidates and make profiles on them for Alice. It should be a nice gift for when she wakes up." Creating a portal, Kaden stepped through and made his way to the library.

For Alice's fourth Sigil, he wanted to find a beast that can provide multiple debuffs to her opponent.

When you can't use your Sigils nor can you use your physical power, what can you do against Alice?