Abyssal Awakening

While Alice was resting herself within the carriage, both Allura and Ria sat on the roof.

"So is she the one I'm supposed to meet?" Ria asked while pointing at the carriage.

"Yep. You two will be under my care for a bit since I'm going to be teaching her everything about the Abyss. And your grandfather said I might as well take you along while I'm at it." Allura nodded her head with a smile.

"So what do you think of Alice for now? Any impressions?" Allura asked, curious to see how Ria felt about Alice and see if the two were compatible as training partners. With Ria being a three Sigil user and Alice only beginning, the two could help each other grow.

Ria will show Alice how to fight as a three Sigil bearer while Alice would show Ria an adaptive type of fighting as well as new ideas. If the two can help each other, they'll grow to new heights.

"Hmm… She seems… Strange I guess? Not really much else to say. She talks a bit weird, very silent unless I'm the one doing the talking and she just kind of stares at me." Ria shrugged since there wasn't much she could say about Alice.

"I'd be more concerned if she opened herself up to you more considering what she's been through. But what I meant was her fighting style and how she handles herself in a stressful situation." Allura chuckled.

"Oh that's what you meant. Hmm… She's resourceful. I didn't see her peak form but the way she handled herself while being wounded, I'd say she's the more annoying kind of fighter. One that will get hurt easily but if you let them do their thing, she'll be very annoying to deal with. She mentioned that her blood was poisonous, what Sigil did she get for her first one?"

"She killed a Spectral Hunter." Allura smiled, causing Ria to freeze up.

"A Spectral Hunter? Not a Twilight one?"

"Yep. She got pretty lucky, it had just advanced from being a Twilight Hunter to a Spectral Hunter so it didn't have time to prepare traps. She chose the poison blood ability that also boosts her physical strength the longer she has it activated. The only downside is that if she's wounded, it'll speed up her blood loss."

"Makes sense." Ria nodded as the wound Alice had suffered on her arm shouldn't have reduced her to such a state. Yet she was on the verge of passing out due to blood loss.

"There is one thing I will say though. She chooses the extreme options far too easily." Allura sighed while taking a big breath of her cigarette.

"I was watching how she fought. Both in the arena and in the forest. She does not put importance on her own body to the extent that other people would, opting to harm it without much thought. While her first Sigil does indeed support this kind of fighting style, at least the passive part does, it still doesn't explain her thought process. Take the moment she stepped into the special zone for example.

"What she fought was something called Dream Callers. They are beasts that trap their victims in a strange illusion by hypnotising their senses. Not only are they unable to attack while putting their victims into the illusion but their only method of attack is to wear them down and wait until the person passes out." Allura explained while pulling out the purple leaves that Alice had handed to her.

"Once a Hunter discovers that they've been trapped in an illusion, they would reduce the senses they are currently using to dispel the illusion. Such as covering their ears, holding their breath and closing their eyes. It takes a while for the illusion to reestablish itself once you begin cutting off your senses momentarily.

A very simple counter to what is considered fodder and easy target to hunters.

"But do you know what she did? She decided to fight fire with fire. She used the passive ability of her first Sigil to fight these trees at what they do best, illusions. I was this close to interrupting the fight if it wasn't for the fact that she was able to outlast them. From one of the easiest beasts to fight against to something that put her on the verge of death.

All because of how quickly she chose to harm herself." Allura explained while finishing her cigarette. Lightning the bud on fire, she burned it to ash before pulling out another one.

"I have no clue what kind of life she lived but I need to get this habit out of her system. This level of self harm will not help her in the future, even if she was to get Sigils that support this habit of hers."

Hearing this, Ria agreed with Allura's sentiment.

"So what's the plan then? I'm assuming once we get to Zadash you'll want to get experience. So getting a Hunter license is needed and perhaps even signing her up for the training program." Ria asked but Allura shook her head.

"I don't plan on sending her to the training program. I'll have her do research on her own and give her nudges in the direction if she stays too far. If I hold her hand through everything, it'll suppress her own intuition. But setting aside the case of Alice, we need to sort you out as well you know?" Allura laughed while patting Ria on the head.

"Eh? I thought I was doing okay?" Ria furrowed her brows but Allura shook her head.

"I saw how you fought, it's a tad too linear with the Sigils you've acquired. You need to open your mind to fresh ideas, think about what you can do to push the boundaries of each Sigil. There are those that follow a guideline for Sigils, then there are those that innovate the uses themselves. You need to be the kind that innovates if you want to stand out as a Sigil user." Allura laughed.

"Why else do you think I keep myself to using only three Sigils? Naturally, I have more and I can end the fights easier since I'm primarily an Anti Hunter Sigil user, but using the first three lets me optimize how I approach fights."

Flicking her wrists, three Sigils appeared on her body as flames erupted from her hands.

"Granted, my first three Sigils are also a tad incompatible with my other ones since I chose these when I was a young brat like you and Alice." Allura admitted with a laugh.

"Eh? Really? What did you choose for your fourth Sigil then?" Ria asked in surprise. She wanted to know what path Allura decided to choose if her first three Sigils were incompatible.

There was a large jump in power between the third and fourth Sigil and same with the sixth and seventh Sigil. If done well, this gap would become insurmountable with the amount of power you can derive from the fourth Sigil. It was also why Ria was holding herself back from just obtaining the fourth Sigil.

A saying is passed around in the Hunter community. Sigils one through three can be killed by normal people if they take you by surprise. But once you reach four Sigils, only another Sigil bearer can kill you.

She wanted to develop her powers and prove to the Abyss that she can take stronger bounties.

"I chose something that allowed me to bring others to my level for my fourth Sigil. It strips them of their power while boosting my own." Allura smiled mysteriously, refusing to elaborate on the limits of her ability.

"Wait so… What happens if you use it on someone weaker than you?"

"Then they become normal people. That's the key difference between Anti Monster and Anti Hunter. I focused on Anti Hunter so it strips people of their power and makes it easier for me to kill them. It's less effective on monsters sadly." Allura shrugged.

Making a note in her mind, Ria wondered what she should choose for her fourth Sigil. With the direction of her first three Sigils, she was leaning towards being a front-line fighter with raw power.

Before she could think more, Allura flicked her on the forehead.

"Ah! What was that for???" Ria pouted while holding her forehead.

"I know that look. You were thinking about your fourth Sigil right? Trust me when I say this. Don't rush it. Open your mind to the first three and think about what you can do with them. Once you can fight those with 5 Sigils with just three Sigils, THEN you should think about what you should get for your fourth Sigil.

These days, people only think about the honour and respect that comes with having more Sigils instead of the practicality." Allura shook her head.

The strength of Sigil users between the fourth and sixth Sigil had dropped dramatically since the old era with people now unable to cross the gap into seven Sigils. Granted, the situation was a little better in more populated areas within the Abyss but the decrease in power could not be ignored.

'I need to make sure both Alice and Ria takes it slow when it comes to their Sigils. Rush too much and it'll mess with their foundation, making it impossible for them to ascend as seven Sigil users.' Allura thought to herself while lying down on the roof of the carriage.

There was no rush for the next few days as she didn't have any more plans to send Alice into dangerous locations. She had seen what she needed to see, all that's left is to organise a training plan.

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