Abyssal Awakening

"Alice Agnelia. A pleasure to meet you."

"Now that we have properly introduced ourselves to one another, I believe we can talk about your enrolment to the Academy. I\'m not sure how much this stupid duck has explained to you but she probably said something along the lines of enrolment is rather simple." Luke sighed, glancing towards Ria who felt offended by her nickname.

However, she couldn\'t quite retort since that\'s exactly what she told Alice.

"Something along those lines." Alice nodded, sitting down by her bed as the three of them were in her room right now.

Ria sat by the desk and she by the bed while Luke stood by the door.

"I knew it." He sighed.

"You see, while it is true that the enrolment for the Academy could be considered… Easy in some aspects few have actually managed to enrol using these methods."

"Oh? Do you know the details of the test?" Alice raised an eyebrow as Luke spoke as though he knew the details.

"Partially. I was one of the few that passed this test but from what I know, each test given to the contestants is different.

"Mine was to survive and Hunt certain beasts within the inverted world. I couldn\'t bring anything except the tools I had made myself in order to get my scholarship. Of course, this wasn\'t the only thing I had to do but it was by far the hardest part of the test if I\'m being honest. The theory exam was easy with a bit of dedicated study." Luke explained.

Hearing that part of his exam was to Hunt down beasts, Alice focused her gaze above his head and saw three Sigils just like her.

But there was something else that confused her.

"Inverted World? What\'s that?"

"Hmm… It\'s a bit hard to explain since it\'s still being studied. But so far, it seems to be a reflection of the Abyss within the orb. There\'s a passage from the Academy that allows you to approach the centre where you can venture into this alternate world. Unlike our reality, beasts are far more frequent and aggressive in the Inverted World.

"The concepts of this world are… strange to say the least and honestly the teachers can explain it far better than I can. In my area of study, I don\'t need to visit the Inverted World after my initial test. But those in the combat department would frequent the realm." Luke admitted as it was not a topic he had researched much about.

"But as I said, combat is not the only requirement needed for you to enrol freely. There are other tests and in recent years, the difficulty has only increased. If you want to enrol freely right now… It\'s probably easier for you to study well and get in the normal way."

"Urg… The normal way is boring though. I don\'t want to study." Ria groaned while playing around with the frills on her sleeves.

"Then you don\'t need to come to the Academy yet here we are. Also, you still haven\'t told me where Sir Gin is." Luke retorted before inquiring about Gin\'s whereabouts.

"Grandfather\'s sorting out some stuff with Allura. Apparently some trouble came knocking on our door and their mission for us was to get as strong as possible before going to the mainland. Since we\'ve been given free rein on what we want to do before they contact us, I figured we might as well see what the Academy can offer." Ria shrugged.

"Well giving the exam a try certainly doesn\'t hurt. If you want, I can help you arrange a trial exam to see if you can qualify for the main exams. That way you can skip a lot of the boring procedures needed." Luke offered, causing Ria to raise an eyebrow in surprise.

"When did you become such a hotshot? Didn\'t think you had connections like this."

"Being one of the few that can actually pass this test comes with some perks. But setting everything aside for now, how many Sigils have you got for Sir Gin to be okay with letting you roam free?" He asked curiously. With his knowledge of Gin, Luke knew that Gin wouldn\'t let Ria go so easily unless she was able to fend for herself.

"Hehe~ It may surprise you but I\'m actually a four star Hunter now! I even got my resonance!" Ria grinned, puffing out her chest in pride before Alice could even warn her.

"Hou~ Congrats. You finally caught up to me but I\'m already thinking about my fifth Sigil." Luke chuckled, pouring cold water over Ria\'s enthusiasm.

"Tsk, you always have to one up me don\'t you."

"No sh*t. If I don\'t, you\'ll get carried away with your crap." Luke rolled his eyes before turning to Alice.

"So what\'s your plan then? Are you interested in this trial?"

"Just a tad. I\'m more interested in this Inverted World you speak of though." Alice nodded, glancing out of the window towards the orb hovering between the mountains.

"Alright. There are three types of study that you can choose within the Academy. Theory, Combat and the one being handiwork. Theory involves research and study of anything and everything related to the Abyss, its history and even strange anomalies like the Inverted World. Combat is self-explanatory and focuses on Sigils and combat techniques.

"As for handiwork, it\'s what I enrolled in and focuses on craftsmanship. Whether that be blacksmithing or engineering, the course covers pretty much everything. Which one do you plan on enrolling in? I know the muscle head over here is going to go for Combat since it\'s the only thing she has an interest in." Luke asked curiously while Ria didn\'t deny his claim.

"Which one has the most interactions with the Inverted World?"

"Combat. The Inverted World is like a training realm according to them. You\'ll spend a lot of your time training and entering the Inverted World for Hunts if you join the combat group." Luke answered directly.

"Oh? I thought theory would be the one that interacts the most."

"Most would think that. But I rarely see theory students entering the Inverted World since they\'re off trying to prove their hypothesis and performing experiments related to their theories." He shrugged since it wasn\'t the first time he had heard this assumption.

"Then I guess there\'s only one choice since I\'m a bit of a musclehead like Ria." Alice chuckled while glancing over to Ria who gave her a victory sign with her fingers and a wide grin.

"Mnm… Understood. If you don\'t mind, how many Sigils do you have right now?"

"Three." Alice held up three fingers.

"Don\'t let the number deceive you. Alice is more than a match for those with four Sigils. She got both grandfather\'s and Allura\'s stamp of approval for her strength." Ria chimed in.

Hearing this, Luke couldn\'t help but pause and reevaluate the girl sitting on the bed right now.

Unlike Ria who only dressed to look harmless despite having foul language and an aggressive personality, Alice felt like she was the complete opposite.

That being said, he hadn\'t seen her in combat yet so he couldn\'t confirm anything.

Contemplating in silence, Luke eventually nodded his head and made a mental note.

"Alright. I\'ll see how quickly I can help you two arrange for a trial once I get back. But now business is over, let\'s relax for a bit." Luke chuckled as Ria smiled.

"Took you a while. Business mode is finally over huh?"

"You decided to dump me with a bunch of work after not seeing each other for so long. Naturally, I had to take it seriously and deal with it first before I could actually relax." Luke chuckled, sitting down opposite Ria and crossed his legs.

Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out a block of wood and a small knife.

"Ohya? Showing off your figure sculpting to Alice even though it\'s the first meeting?" Ria asked with a grin as Luke shook his head.

It was a hobby that he never showed others with the exception being Ria, Allura and Gin.

"Well considering the way you spoke about Alice, it seems like you\'ve really opened your heart up to them. In order to preserve the friendly atmosphere between you two, I\'d rather not be rigid and lock myself up else I may spoil the mood." Luke chuckled as he delicately shaped the wood in his hand.

Each stroke would remove a layer of material as his finger moved with practised ease and familiarity.

Leaning on the table, Ria rested her chin on her arms as she watched him carve away at the block of wood.

Even though it was a mundane task to her, she didn\'t know but it was enjoyable seeing the focus and dedication Luke showed towards this craft. She wouldn\'t be able to achieve the same feat if she was to try her hand at woodcarving.

With Luke carving away at the block of wood and Ria enjoying the sight, Alice grabbed some cups from her table.

"Care for a drink while you work?" She offered, opening her flask and allowing the aroma of the mead to drift through the room.

"Yes please." Luke nodded as he received a cup of mead from Alice while Ria got a cup as well.

Sitting by the window, Alice had a smile on her face.

She enjoyed this kind of peaceful atmosphere without any fighting or worry.

They didn\'t need to talk, just being in the presence of one another was more than enough.

Glancing out of the window and looking towards the orb, Alice couldn\'t wait to see what kind of revelation she would find within this Inverted World and why the Abyss mourned the passing of an Abyss Lord.