Abyssal Awakening

"For the first week, we\'ll take journeying with these caravans. They aren\'t taking any detours, and their route is predetermined. We\'ll just be joining different caravans at different points of the journey until we reach the airship docks. I believe it should be 3 changes." Ria explained as she recalled what the receptionist had told her.

Of course, she had the note given by the Guild so the other caravans knew that they were there for a ride.

"Let\'s just hope nothing like last time happens again. I don\'t think I can deal with more interactions with the low depths." Alice lamented, remembering the incident where they briefly opened a gateway to the deepest parts of the Abyss.

One where several people were killed in the process.

"Let\'s hope not. Thankfully the main routes used by the Guild caravans are secured by several Hunters who\'ve been tasked to guard the path. Should anything strange appear, they would immediately report it to the Guild and resolve the issue as soon as possible." Ria reassured.

However, Alice only stared at her with doubt as their supposedly \'safe\' journey had been filled with abnormalities and strange people. People who could make a clone who can commune with the Abyss, someone who could tamper with their souls, strange beasts that have been tampered by the Cult of the Eclipse and so on.

Their path thus far was anything but normal or safe.

"W-What? I know it\'s been a bit… Strange so far. But it\'ll return back to normal. I promise!" Ria coughed awkwardly after feeling Alice\'s doubtful gaze.

*Sigh…

"If you say so. I\'ll prepare myself just in case." Alice shook her head as she made her way back to her room.

Packing up everything into a suitcase, Alice carried it down while Ria did the same.

The next caravan that was leaving the city was going to depart in an hour and while they were waiting, they decided to make themselves comfortable in their own carriage.

Thankfully, they didn\'t need to share this carriage with anyone else as not many were going in the same direction as them.

"Do you think Allura noticed that Kaden was here then?" Ria asked curiously while making herself comfortable on the seat.

"Probably. I mean Allura likely has her own way of keeping an eye on us. Maybe it\'s the amulet maybe it\'s something else. Though I can sense a bit of Kaden\'s power on this feather that he left behind. So maybe that\'s his way of looking out for us too." Alice shrugged while pulling out the raven feather that she had picked up.

She noticed that after gaining her third Sigil, her senses towards the flow of abyssal energy had improved. While it was faint, she could sense a strand of energy within this feather.

It was similar to what was in the amulet and bracelet that Allura and Gin had given them. Thus, she guessed that Kaden probably left them the same thing.

Messing around with the feather between her fingers, Alice placed it back into her jacket.

"So can you tell me a bit about the academy? I remember that there was one back in Zadash but we only had a spar with them. What do they study there? Or is it a wide variety?" Alice asked curiously as Ria furrowed her brows before holding her chin.

"Erm… I think it\'s mostly practical studies. So stuff like how to be a Hunter, Abyss Engineering, Blood Alchemy, beast tracking and hunting. There are probably more but this is just what I remember from the top of my head. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing much. Just curious about what it\'s like to be in an Academy." Alice shrugged.

Since she was locked away after her birthday, she never got to properly experience school/academy life. She couldn\'t deny that her curiosity for such a life burned bright but there was no reason for her to enrol.

Her experiences as a Hunter could be gained out in the field, it\'s what Allura suggested as well. Not only that, but she also had no interest in Abyss Engineering and she had heard her fair share of Blood Alchemy over the decade.

The only reason why she was even remotely interested was due to the fact that it was something new to her.

"I mean… If you\'re curious we can enrol there. The process is pretty simple and granted, most are either enrolling when they\'re young or they\'re invited by the academy itself. Without connections or an invite, you\'ll need to take a rigorous enrolment procedure. Honestly… you\'ll take care of the combat aspect rather easily." Ria chuckled.

She had never seen a three star Hunter as strong as Alice before. Especially that resonance. With what she knew of Alice\'s flame, not even her in her Resonance form could deal with that flame.

\'If she was an enemy that I ran into while I\'m out on a hunt, I\'ll probably die before I figured out why my powers aren\'t working.\' Ria thought to herself as Alice\'s flames were truly the bane of the Abyss.

The fact that something rejects the blessings of the Abyss to this degree where even an Abyss Lord needed to exert some strength to maintain their connection was crazy to her.

Alice, a three star Hunter, was able to force an Abyss Lord to exert themselves more than normal.

If anyone else heard such a claim they would dismiss her as delusional, yet it was the truth.

"I\'ll pass. Didn\'t Allura task us with going to the mainland? I doubt we should spend too much time in Silverwind Valley." Alice dismissed with a wave of her hand but Ria noticed the curiosity in Alice\'s eyes.

"It\'ll be fine~ Allura wanted us to enjoy ourselves anyway. Honestly going to the Academy is pretty good too ya know? You get to fight some of the students that main look up to as talented. Not only that, they come from pretty big families too so you know their Sigils will be good.

Don\'t you think it\'s going to be a fun challenge?" Ria persuaded with an excited smile as she too was curious about how she faired against these talents.

Would she be able to compare to them? Would she defeat them easily? She wanted to know her standing against these people and going to the Academy was the first step in doing so.

"I mean… It might be fun. But you realise I can\'t exactly expose my power against a bunch of students, right? Plus, I\'m pretty sure there will be powerful teachers there. If they decide to go against me, I\'m not sure how I would be able to react to that." Alice sighed as they would most definitely ask her about her fire if it was to be exposed.

"Just don\'t use it then. You can practice using four of your swords at once. Well… five if you include your Bloodflame Blade. Six if you include the obsidian one." Ria pointed out.

Contemplating for a moment, Alice had to admit that her words made sense.

She had been relying on her fire for a lot of her fights. It was a powerful tool to fight against those stronger than her but it was also her biggest weakness. Once news of her fire gets out and they become curious about her secrets, she wouldn\'t be able to handle the aftermath of such an event.

If she was able to improve her swordsmanship, she would be able to better utilize the power granted by her third Sigil.

\'Even during the fight with Kaden\'s summons, I was pretty awkward with the blades. It\'s hard to focus on their movement while I\'m busy dodging attacks. Perhaps it\'s better to use one blade to attack while the rest for defence and go on from there…\' She mused to herself while activating her third Sigil partially.

Gathering metal above her hand and transforming it into four small floating blades, each the size of a finger, Alice tried to replicate a sword fight yet the movements were awkward and static.

It lacked the fluidity needed to take advantage within close-quarters combat and certainly lacked the swiftness needed for her to catch her opponents off guard.

After all, if she focused on the movement of the blades, her own movements would be jeopardised and vice versa.

Dismissing her blades, Alice glanced over at Ria\'s expectant gaze and sighed.

"Well I suppose it wouldn\'t hurt to check out what it\'s like. Your friend is studying there too so I\'m pretty sure we can spare a week or so."

"No taking that back! Let\'s get you enrolled once we\'re there." Ria grinned while cracking her knuckles.

There was another reason why she wanted to go but she wasn\'t going to tell Alice. At least not yet.

Since a lot of the students there were sons and daughters of Nobles, their wallets would be rather fat and heavy.

As the merciful and kind-hearted girl she is, she was going to help them lighten their burdens and keep the coin safe from anyone that may have nefarious thoughts about their wealth.

Of course, that was her motivation but seeing as how Alice was just following along since she might as well, Ria knew she needed a motivator for Alice too.

And with Alice\'s biggest hobby being drinking mead, she formulated a plan in her mind.

"Say, Alice."

"Hm?"

"Do you think you\'ll be able to swindle… no that\'s the wrong word. Win some expensive mead from the rich folks there? I\'m sure if they sign a Law of Agreement with you before a fight, you can get some good mead that only Nobles can drink." Ria grinned as her smile reached from one ear to the other.

"!!!"

Widening her eyes, Alice sat up as she hadn\'t even thought of this possibility. The Law of Agreement imposes a restriction they couldn\'t go back on. Meaning if she was to coerce- nono, persuade them in Kaden\'s terms, they had to follow through if they lost. Even if the mead was extremely expensive.

With a fire lit in her eyes, Alice had a goal at the Academy. In the short time she was going to be there, she will rob them of all the mead she could get her hands on.

Wiping the drool from her mouth, Alice was now looking forward to meeting the noble successors.