Abyssal Awakening

Looking at the floating ring, Sigurd couldn't hold back the smile on his face.

The ring was crafted from a dark metal that shimmered with the boundless weaves that were fused together to grant it form. An ever changing, ever glowing faint layer of energy danced across the surface of this ring.

Located in the centre, a small intricate design resembling that of a sundial could be seen with patterns surrounding it on the side. Along the ring, wings of flowing ribbons wrapped in a loop, forming the main body.

Engraved on the inside of the ring was the name he had granted this equipment.

Aeternum Vow.

A Vow of Eternity. The perfect name for Selen who's skill is to mess with time and perception, dragging it out so that one feels as though they're stuck in eternity for that moment, unable to register what had just occurred.

"Girl, come here and attune to this equipment so it can recognise you as its master." Sigurd called out as Selen had barely recovered from the recoil of Sigurd forging the ring.

"What do I do?" She asked curiously, standing in front of the ring. Even without attuning to it, she could sense the power it was radiating.

"Drop your blood on it. It'll latch itself onto you. Unlike the split haired girl over there, this aint no personal artifact so don't get your hopes up. It'll only be suitable for the skills you've shown thus far. If you decide to go down a different path in the future, it might struggle to keep up in regards to what you need." Sigurd warned, taking a step back and holding his arms.

Nodding her head, Selen grabbed a dagger and made a small cut on her finger.

Squeezing out a single drop of blood, she watched as strands of energy jumped up from the ring, infecting her blood and travelling into her finger.

A foreign force wormed its way inside.

Selen could feel her insides burning up with this energy as her Sigils began to glow one by one. From this weave, strands could break off, linking with her Sigils and forming a resonance!

While Selen was trying her best to attune to the ring with her eyes closed, Sigurd walked over to Alice.

"What do you think girl?" He asked with a small smirk.

"Huh?"

"The energy. You can see it right?" Sigurd clarified, gesturing towards Alice's eye.

"You saw the way the energy moved to my command, how my hammer forged it a new form." He grinned, twirling the hammer with one hand before dismissing it.

"Maybe, maybe not. Who knows." Alice shrugged.

However, her guard was already raised. The fact that Sigurd is even mentioning the way energy moved meant that either he could see it as well or he had a rough idea.

But if he could see it, then the question becomes how?

The only two people who could see energy or at least to her knowledge were herself and Velouria. And that was only because they both have the Eyes of the Abyss, a blessing that lets them see the truth of the world.

Cayla's power.

So, how can a Lord of the north possess the same or a similar power?

"Hah! Keep your secrets then. I know the truth anyway. So what do you think? Do you think you can replicate it? If you do, I'll give you something good.

I'll even fix that glove of yours free of charge." Sigurd offered.

Furrowing her brows, Alice wondered if there was a catch with this offer. From not caring about her to suddenly offering a reward and even a free repair.

[Suspicious.]

'Suspicious as f*ck.' Alyss agreed.

'Definitely suspicious.' Alice nodded.

However, if this was a true offer with no catches then Alice would be stupid to reject this offer.

Plus, she wanted to try it out to begin with.

"I don't think I can replicate it. Especially since the way you forge requires all of your Sigils to work at the same time. But I'll give it a go." Alice shrugged.

But her response caused Sigurd's smile to grow as he told her everything he wanted to know.

The fact that she could even tell he was using everything meant that she could see far more than what he initially estimated. This gift, this talent… this eye. She was perfect for the role of a blacksmith!

Finding an empty spot, Alice closed her eye and recalled the scenery that she saw. That magnificent scenery of energy and the way Sigurd commanded it.

If Sigurd's method was forceful, she'd go for a more gentle approach.

*Badum

At that moment, Alice felt a beat in her chest. From her core, a dark energy surged forth, wrapping around her heart. Above her head, energy began to converge into obsidian shards that took the rough shape of a crown.

Without even activating her Resonance, the relics of the Abyss began to harmonize.

Unfortunately, this harmonization was stopped. A thick wall of curses prevented the link from being linked up. A resonance between the crown and heart was formed while excluding the eye.

Activating her second and third Sigil, violet flames burst forth from her hand. Around her, blood pooled into a whirlpool. Sparks danced across this pool as Alice furrowed her brows.

The scenery that she saw was clear in her mind yet the surge of energy began to go out of control. She couldn't reign in the violet nature of this whirlpool.

"You can't be gentle when using this method. Asking a bull to move slowly while you jump onto its back is asking it to throw you over and stomp on you. Wrap your hands around and grab tight. Go with the flow but don't let it dictate the pace. Use its momentum against it and reign that b*tch in." Sigurd called out after seeing Alice struggle.

Taking a deep breath, Alice gritted her teeth. Veins bulged along her arm and neck but she didn't give up.

She didn't need to make an earth shattering weapon. Even if it's a shell, she just needed to follow the rough theory and the process behind Sigurd's method of creation.

Naturally, there were gaps in their abilities that Alice had to somehow bridge herself.

Snapping her eyes open, a singularity swirled into existence within her pupil.

Creating a black hole above her palm, a vacuum began to suck in the flow of energy.

Sigurd recognised this step immediately. While it was slightly different, it was no doubt the same method where he could create a vortex with his hammer strike.

'Now she needs to introduce balance and harmony within this chaos.' He thought to himself, observing her actions with amusement and focus.

This was probably the hardest part of the entire forging process. To create chaos and introduce peace within the centre. Then before this peace can settle, throw it back into chaos once more.

From one extreme to the other, it's this reinforcement process that will truly allow his equipment to shine.

Wrapping her hands around the black hole, Alice narrowed her eye as she began to compress it own to a single bead.

The swirl of chaos around her raged but her focus didn't waver.

*BANG!!!

Crashing the orb, flames, briar thorns and spider lilies exploded out from the centre of this maelstrom, creating a field of malevolence around her. Rather than peace, it's more akin to a harrowing forest that's been set aflame.

*CRACK!!!

Unfortunately, a glass crack appeared in the middle of this forest and the scene was torn apart. The convergence of energy could no longer be stopped as Alice understood that she had to condense it into a shape now or else all this energy would've gone to waste.

Bloodline Release!

The image of her soul burst out from behind as black tears began to fall. Taking hold of this energy, Alice created another vacuum, sucking in all the energy around her and condensing it into the shape of a sword.

Taking deep breaths to calm herself, the crown disappeared and so did the singularity in her eye. She returned to her base form.

Glancing at the sword in her hands, she could tell that it was far better than the haphazard weapons that she made in the past.

With her spare hand, she created a blood blade using the method she used previously.

Even without testing it, the answer was clear. But to see the exact difference, Alice tossed the newly created blade into the air before infusing energy into the blood blade.

Void Flux – Cleave!!!

*BANG!!!

A trail of stellar flames followed her slash but upon colliding with the newly forged blade, her blood blade shattered into countless pieces and the energy used for the cleave dissipated without striking the target.

"A little rushed but not bad for an initial product. Seeing as how you controlled it with such familiarity, seems like this power isn't something recent for you." Sigurd clapped his hands.

While the new blade was an unfinished product, the foundations was there. All she needed was time.

Time and guidance. With these two, she could become a blacksmith far better than he could ever be. A girl with talent that far surpasses his limits.

"Takes a bit too long to use it in a fight though. I doubt they'll wait for me to forge something good to use against them." Alice shook her head.

There was no doubt that this blade is strong. Far stronger than what she used before but it took too long to form.

In the thick of things, when every second counted, she couldn't afford such a blunder as doing so meant death!

She needed something both fast and strong. For this reason, this method didn't suit her.

Waving her hand, Alice dismissed the blade as it crumbled apart.

"So now that you've seen this, what do you want?" Alice asked.

It was clear that Sigurd wanted to see her capabilities with his method of forging. The only question left now was why.

Curling his lips into a grin, Sigurd stopped in front of Alice.

"What do you think about inheriting my title of Lord?"

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