Abyssal Awakening

Trying her best to ignore this headache, Alice forced herself to stand up and leaned against the wall.

She could see stacks of empty bottles, half eaten food and her mead stash completely emptied, which was to be expected.

Looking to her side, he could see Luke still sleeping soundly as his clothes were half pulled off from their scuffle last night.

After making Ria drink the mead, the two of them went back to forcing one another to drink.

But this time Ria joined in as a neutral third party whose only goal was to make the two of them pass out first.

As for Ria… She was passed out on the bed in a similar state.

Massaging her neck, Alice got to cleaning up the place since today was the day of the exam.

It took her around an hour to clean up when Luke woke up.

Sitting by the window, he didn\'t say a word and simply held his head in pain from the hangover.

"Mornin\' How did you sleep?" Alice asked with a grin.

"Terrible thanks to someone feeding me mead all night. Urg…" Luke rolled his eyes.

"That\'s what partying is all about. But you can\'t deny it was pretty fun." Alice laughed as she made her way to her wardrobe and got out her new outfit for the day. It was the exams so she couldn\'t just turn up in her current wear.

"You\'re not wrong. But I\'d keep this kind of drinking to a minimum. I still got stuff I need to prepare on my end since I\'m a Special class Student. Along with the other Special class, we\'re required to observe your exam and give our opinions. Not that I think you would struggle." Luke shrugged, adjusting his jacket so it didn\'t look like he just slept on the floor.

"As for Ria… Well, I\'m still worried even if she does have four Sigils now."

"Xinbei did mention that there were some changes to the exam. Probably because I cleared the Hall of Champions. It\'s safe to assume that like everything that me and Ria touch, it\'ll probably be much harder than the previous exams. Would the normal Students be affected?" Alice asked curiously.

"Wait… what?" Luke blinked his eyes in confusion.

"Yeah, apparently the principal made some changes due to me. Not sure why considering I cleared the Hall of Champions but Xinbei said he couldn\'t do anything about it."

Furrowing his brows, Luke sighed before standing up.

"I\'ll ask him about some details. Ah before I forget, I need to tell you something about the Inverted World.

"When you enter that world, be careful of everything around you. Even though they\'re technically \'moments in history\', the world itself turns them against you. There are both physical and mental dangers. What you perceive as safe may actually be extremely dangerous." Luke warned.

"Alright, I\'ll remember that."

Nodding his head, Luke made his way out of the room and closed the door behind him.

With just her and Ria left, Alice gave her body a stretch before nudging Ria awake.

"Hng… huh? What time is it?" Ria asked, rubbing her eyes. Clutching her head, the last thing she could remember was being forced to drink more than usual.

"It\'s already morning. Well… as close to morning as constant nighttime goes. The exams will be starting in a few hours." Alice chuckled.

Sitting up groggily, Ria yawned while her hair was in a mess.

"I don\'t ever want to do that again. I can still taste the mead in my mouth." She complained while standing up and stretching her body.

"Oh don\'t be a big baby, it wasn\'t that bad ahaha."

"For an alcoholic maybe. I want to take a bath and then eat something before we take the exams." Ria sighed. She wanted to cleanse the alcohol taste from her mouth as soon as possible.

Agreeing with Ria, the two grabbed another set of clothes before making their way to the bathhouse.

###

Following a quick bath in the bathhouse and some breakfast, the two made their way to the Academy. Compared to usual, the Academy was bustling with activity as airships could be seen coming in front the distance.

The trains were packed to the brim while countless young Hunters looked towards the Inverted World with hope and nervousness in their eyes.

Upon arriving at the foot of the Academy, Alice could see the courtyard being filled with clusters of students and examinees alike.

Whether they\'re here to take the entrance exams or taking the exams to improve their class, all were equally nervous after the rumour that this year was going to be many times harder than before due to an incident.

Rumours were spread that a split-haired girl with a crown was the cause. Due to her action of defeating the Hall of Champions, the principal of the Academy had made some adjustments to the test.

Tensions were high and it felt as though a single spark could set off the crowd.

Looking at this giant crowd, Alice couldn\'t help but feel grateful that she chose a jacket with a large hood. If it wasn\'t for this, perhaps everyone in this courtyard would\'ve attacked her out of anger for making the test harder.

She was currently wearing a white shirt with a ribbon and a pair of black gloves. A black skirt with the back being longer than the front and reaching down to her calves. The dress had golden chains connecting the buttons and the underside was deep red in colour.

A pair of black frilled stockings connected by garter belts and a pair of ankle high boots with small heels.

Over her outfit, she wore a large white jacket and a hood that hid her face in shadow.

As for Ria, she wore a modest white martial arts attire with a black undershirt. A pair of silver armoured gauntlets for protection and a skirt that reached down to her ankles. The fabric of the outfit was light so she could move without being hindered.

As for her hair, she tied it up into a tall ponytail.

Looking over to Alice who was wearing a hood like usual, Ria couldn\'t help but chuckle since it was to hide the crown above her head.

With the commotion that she caused by clearing the Hall of Champions, she was basically public enemy number one right now.

"Do you have all the blood beads you need? I can make a few more if you don\'t have enough." Alice asked as she rummaged through her pouch to make sure everything was in place.

To prepare for this exam, the two of them had prepared 6 vials of healing blood each, 2 vials of Alice\'s blood beads, one berserk vial each and finally, one fresh vial of Alice\'s blood in case something dangerous was to appear.

Even if Alice didn\'t activate her second Sigil\'s ability, her blood still contained anti Abyss properties and would help in certain scenarios. Not only that, it\'ll allow Alice to potentially locate Ria if they were to get split up.

"I got everything don\'t worry. In fact, I even wanna say my pouch is too full right now. One hit and everything inside might break ahaha." Ria joked, showing Alice the full pouch.

Before they could continue their conversation, an oppressive aura descended from the heart of the Academy, causing everyone in the courtyard to shut up.

Even Alice felt a chill in her body as though her blood was warning her.

All they could hear was the sound of heels clacking against the ground.

Walking towards the podium, a tall woman could be seen with a soft smile on her face.

\'Allura???\' Alice widened her eyes before frowning. Even though the woman by the podium looked like Allura, it wasn\'t her. The feeling she got from the woman was completely different.

Not only that, but there were parts of her figure that were different as well.

She had a pair of deep crimson eyes, medium length ashen white hair, red markings running up the side of her cheek. A pair of pointed ears and a mysterious smile. She wore a brown turtleneck shirt, a black blazer with a belt around the waist, a pair of suit pants and tall heels.

Draped over her shoulders was a large jacket connected by a set of silver chains.

Stepping up to the podium, she reached out with her hand as blood mist swirled before her, condensing into a greatsword. But compared to her height, the greatsword looked like a normal longsword.

Stabbing the sword in front of her, she rested her hand on the pommel while sweeping her eyes over the crowd.

Noticing a small hooded girl staring at her in a mixture of bewilderment and shock, she couldn\'t help but chuckle.

"Ladies and gentlemen, esteemed examinees and fellow students, I wish to thank you all for making the journey here today.

"For the examinees, this is a time of challenge and opportunity. It is a chance to showcase your talents to the world and realise the potential hidden within your body.

"For the students, this is a chance. A chance for you to reach up and grab hold of opportunity with your own hands. It is a chance for you to gain access to the countless resources we have prepared for the Special class Students and those who wish to go beyond…"

While Ria listened to the welcoming speech, Alice couldn\'t help but be fixated on something else entirely.

That being what was above the principal\'s head.

She had expected to see six Sigils as she had done many times before but the Sigils could not be seen. Instead, it was replaced by something else.

[Crimson Witch of Ruin - ✦✦✦✦✦✦]