Abyssal Awakening

"Yes it is. The last bastion in the Abyss, the holy city Ayr." Kaden nodded with a smile.

Hearing this, Alice understood that she had been transported to a time in history when Ayr was still around.

Meaning, this was a time before their master\'s death, the death of the previous owner of Cayla and the one who left her the crown.

"Can you tell me more about Ayr?" Alcie asked but to her surprise, Kayden shook his head.

"Nope. Remember the rules of the game? You ask a question and I answer. I ask a question and you answer. If you want more out of a question you should phrase it better. You simply asked me if the city was Ayr or not and I answered truthfully." Kaden grinned while Alice clicked her tongue.

"Tsk, stingy."

"You should know how to ask better questions then." Kaden laughed, patting Alice\'s head.

A wave of energy entered Alice\'s body as she realised her wounds were healing and the fatigue brought forth by her attack disappeared.

Looking at her hands in surprise, she didn\'t think Kaden was able to do this.

"Anyways, I believe it is my turn to ask a question, right?"

Seeing his smile, Alice couldn\'t help but feel as though this had been planned by him. A way for him to get information from her and to find out about her origins. While she got some answers herself, she had told him a lot as well.

"If you have a mother who is your mentor and taught you a lot of the stuff you know now, you must have a father, right? What\'s he like?" Kaden asked with a grin.

The nature of his question caused Alice to pause in a mix of surprise and confusion.

While she may call Allura mother, it\'s more that she was her guardian and Ria kept saying Allura was like her mother. In terms of a father figure… it would probably be Kaden himself.

"Hmm… He\'s kind of avoiding my mother. Never around but does check up on me once in a while. His training is… well… Abusive is putting it lightly urg." Alice furrowed her brows since Kaden\'s training made Allura\'s look like child\'s play.

"And what does it look like?"

"Nope~ Remember the rules of the game? You ask a question and I answer. I ask a question and you answer. If you want more out of a question you should phrase it better. You never asked what he looked like." Alice stuck out her tongue before taking a few steps back and readying her weapon once more.

"Tsk, stingy brat." Kaden\'s smile twitched as she used his own words against him.

But that was that was fine, there was plenty of time to get more answers as they continued this game.

Taking a deep breath, Alice narrowed her eyes. As it stands currently, she has no way of reaching Kaden. She needed to capitalize more on her capabilities aside from the flame.

\'He\'s on guard against my fire. The best chance I have against him is through my single Sigil resonances. The first Sigil resonance increases my physical power and hallucinations. I haven\'t tested out the resonance with my third Sigil yet. However…\'

Last time she used the one Sigil resonance, she gained the crown above her head as a side effect. She wasn\'t sure what else would happen if she was to keep using it.

Which is why this was going to be her next question.

"Resonance activates with three Sigils. But I can do it with one. What are the potential side effects and dangers of doing so?" Alice asked before dashing forward.

Slashing down with her blade, Alice watched as Kaden simply flicked it aside once more before stepping into her range.

Two fingers jabbed against her sternum, forcing her to take several steps back as he followed up with a kick into her stomach.

"Resonance is a state where it draws out the power you gained from your Sigils. Through the balance of these three, it pushes you closer to becoming a beast while maintaining your humanity. You can think of Resonance being a foreshadowing of what kind of beast you could become if you were to succumb to the Abyss.

"Now, one Sigil resonance is very difficult for a human to activate. The reason is that it requires a singular Sigil to dominate your body. For beasts, this is a natural state. But for humans, this threatens the balance between being a human and being a beast. It\'s hard for a human to render the other Sigils dormant to allow for this to happen.

"As for the side effects… It\'ll be no different from drinking excess Abyss Blood and receiving the properties of the beast. To put it in other words, imagine one Sigil resonance is akin to drinking your own Abyss Blood if you were to become a beast." Kaden explained as he eyed Alice\'s crown.

"I see…" Alice furrowed her brows.

She wasn\'t sure about the relationship between her constitution and the one Sigil resonance but it was probably best not to risk it. The crown staying above her head was a sign that things may not be as simple as she had hoped.

Snapping her finger, metal swords erupted around Kaden in an attempt to skewer him but he simply brushed them away.

"For my question, I think you already know. What does your father look like?"

"Long black hair tied into a ponytail like yours hmm… and his face is a little different. Your eyes are sharper and he doesn\'t have as defined of a jawline." Alice shrugged before listing out other details.

What she described was Kaden\'s disguise as Thane rather than what he looked like usually.

"What about your mother?"

"Remember the rules?" Alice rolled her eyes as Kaden sighed.

"Fine fine, ask away."

"Do you know the origin of this fire and what it is?" Alice asked as she covered her entire body in her violet fire.

Pulling her sword back, she shot towards Kaden and unleashed a flurry of slashes.

Blocking every slash using his finger and his shadows, Kaden was silent while analysing the properties of her fire.

"Why do you ask? Didn\'t you get this from a beast?"

"Because the beast I killed didn\'t have this fire. My second Sigil draws out the potential of my blood. Meaning this fire is something that originates from my blood. I established a ritual with the flame once before and it conjured a draconic beast that I didn\'t know the origin of.

"Not only that, a friend of mine called the Sigil [Foul Blood Manifestation]." Alice explained while snapping her finger.

Activating a Void Flux next to Kaden\'s head, she forced him to dodge to the side before releasing a horizontal slash that he flicked up.

"Hmm… That is quite strange. Can you tell me the properties of this fire? I might be able to match it with a few beasts that I know of but no guarantees." Kaden asked curiously.

If what Alice was saying is correct then this was something Nalem will definitely be interested in. A fire that did not originate from a beast and could emulate Allura\'s skill crafted from her understanding of her own Authority.

"I don\'t know much but it seems to hate Abyss powers and It has a mind of its own but it usually cooperates with me. When using it, I can cut apart Abyss powers. Even my mother was surprised by its effectiveness." Alice explained while releasing a wave of violet flames towards Kaden who took the chance to test its effectiveness.

Creating a wall of shadows, Kaden watched as the flames began to \'devour\' his shadow and assimilate it into itself to act as fuel.

Narrowing his eyes, Kaden had a small frown on his face. Now that he was looking at it closer, it was nothing like anything he\'d seen before.

"Would you like to postpone this for later? I know someone that might have an idea. But as it stands, I have no clue." Kaden shrugged his shoulders helplessly.

"But I will say one thing. Why are you wasting the potential of your Sigils? When you fight, you should aim to use utilise everything with maximum efficiency. You\'re underusing the power of your Sigils and relying too much on your fire." He asked while taking out his hand from his pocket.

"Allow me to give you a quick demonstration. Your first Sigil gives you a physical boost, your second gives you the fire and blood control, your third reinforces your blood and gives you metal control. I won\'t go into depth with the first Sigil nor the second. Let me show you what you could be doing with your third Sigil."

Stomping his foot down, his shadow stretched across the field of flowers in a similar manner to Alice\'s web of blood.

During the fight, he had been analysing Alice\'s fighting style and habits while asking his questions. At this stage, he had learned everything he needed to know when it came to how she fights.

Dashing towards Alice, Kaden stomped his foot down and two spikes of shadow shot up next to Alice who managed to dodge at the last second.

Following up this attack, threads of shadow manifested around Alice\'s ankles, making it harder for her to move.

But Kaden wasn\'t done. Using these as a cover, he dashed around the side and entered her attack range before snapping his finger.

A pillar of shadow interrupted Alice before she could attack Kaden, hitting her precisely on her wrist. Even with Cayla\'s help, too many attacks were happening in her blind spots!

Alice wanted to brute force her way through the restraints but two more pillars slammed into the back of her knees, forcing her to kneel.

Holding a shadow blade against Alice\'s neck, Kaden kept the same smile on his face.

"See? Bit of a waste if you don\'t use your third Sigil in tandem with your movements. You have great eyesight, use it to your advantage. With enough understanding of your opponent, you can forcefully create a weakness." Kaden explained as Alice could only nod her head.

"Now then, it\'s time for my question. What does your mother look like?"

"What does whose mother look like hm?" A voice rang out behind Kaden as he felt a chill down his spine.

Allura\'s hand gripped his shoulders while she was forcing a smile on her face.