Abyssal Awakening

\'To optimise my abilities, it\'s probably best to see which pathway produces the most results for now. Once I have discovered the right pathway, I\'ll be able to adjust the efficiency and power behind the attack.\' Alice thought to herself as she began to try different variations to summoning her blood.

Seeing Alice experiment by herself, Allura glanced over to Kaden and shrugged.

Sitting down next to Kaden, Allura didn\'t even need to say anything before Kaden pulled out a plate with some cake on it.

"Thank you~ Seems like she\'s pretty busy with her own thing. Doesn\'t seem like she\'ll need my help to test things in sparring for now." Allura smiled happily while eating her cake.

"Mnm, she\'s rather independent when it comes to things like this huh? Though I suppose in a way it kind of resembles how you are. Well… When you\'re actually focused." Kaden chuckled while seeing Alice experiment with different variations of her energy pathways.

On the pillar, he could see how she was fine-tuning where the energy flows. Which pathways generate more power and which ones synergise with one another.

Within the body, there are 12 main pathways, one for each Sigil and Resonance. These are created upon obtaining the Sigils. Each of the pathways has its own minor pathways that can help optimise the flow of power and efficiency of your abilities.

For Alice, she has access to four main paths.

"Shouldn\'t we give her some hints?" Allura asked curiously as Alice seemed frustrated while trying the different methods. Some of the minor pathways she used didn\'t let her activate her Sigil ability which frustrated her, but she was slowly eliminating the pathways she didn\'t need to use.

"We could but it\'s better to let her do her own thing for now. Let her experiment, struggle and discover breakthroughs on her own. Once she hits a bottleneck that she can\'t get past, she\'ll either seek our help or try new methods.

"The best way for her to grow is to do it herself. We\'re simply here as her backup." Kaden smiled.

"You sound like you\'re raising a child with that kind of advice." Allura smiled while sneaking a few glances at Kaden who was oblivious to these looks.

"Hmm… It\'s not far off I suppose. Even though Alice is very powerful, her understanding regarding Sigils and how to use them are lacking. Yet she can still produce this much power with just what she has access to right now is very impressive." Kaden nodded, causing Allura to sigh in annoyance.

\'That isn\'t what I\'m thinking about, idiot.\' Allura grumbled inwardly while looking over to Alice.

During this period of testing, she realised that her energy would flow down one specific path without alterations when she activated her third Sigil. After that main path, the smaller ones would dictate the power and efficiency of her attack.

\'I can\'t have everything. Going for efficiency causes the cast time and power to drop, and going for power causes efficiency and cast time to drop. Aiming for a fast cast time like I am now causes both to drop. If I aim for both Power and efficiency, the prep needed for activating increases heavily.\' Alice thought to herself as she kneeled down on placed her hand on the ground.

Going by what she had discovered, there were certain ways of activating that benefitted the Sigil differently.

Summoning blood would require the fastest cast time but the lowest power since she wasn\'t using her blood to attack.

Metal, on the other hand, would require power since it needed to be sturdy. Alternatively, she doesn\'t need to cast it quickly since her main form of offence would be her flames.

Using this logic, she understood that if she focused on power against her battle with Lyra, she wouldn\'t have needed to form a ritual to overwhelm her. There would\'ve been the possibility that her standard flames would\'ve been enough as she had prioritised cast time thus far.

\'Wait… Then all those times when Allura and Kaden instantly activated their abilities were… Lowest power!?\' Alice widened her eyes, realising that Allura\'s Nova Core was a skill that heavily focused on cast time!

If she were to take longer with each cast, then the detonation result of the Nova Core would be outrageous!

Realising this, Alice glanced down at her hands before looking over to Kaden.

"How sturdy is this place?"

"Enough that Lua can\'t break it without going all out with her authority. Does that answer your question?" Kaden replied. This is a training ground; it was only natural that it was made from the best materials and reinforced to the limit.

Nodding her head, Alice took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

Since her Void Flux skill was an extension of her second Sigil, she needed to find the right pathways to heighten the power while ignoring the required cast time. Of course, she still needed to take into account the basic requirements.

Her Void Flux had to be achieved within a certain timeframe or else the skill would dissolve itself.

Breathing out, a flood of energy erupted within her body as she activated the first step.

Third pathway, maximum cast speed, minimum power!

Blood erupted around her as she snapped her finger and condensed the giant pool of blood into a single point.

Second pathway, maximum efficiency and cast speed, minimum power.

The blood collapsed in on itself while Alice activated the second half of her second Sigil.

Her flames.

Second pathway, maximum power, reduced efficiency and cast speed!

Transforming into a single spark of blinding light in front of her, Alice fired it to the opposite end of the training arena before detonating the attack.

At that moment, a wave of light filled the room while stellar flames erupted out from the core. The ambient energy around the room was sucked into the attack, acting as fuel for the flames.

Seeing this, Alice understood that using this method, it allowed her Void Flux to remain longer on her opponent\'s body rather than an instantaneous attack!

With this in mind, she adjusted her cast formula. This time, maximum cast time and efficiency!

Aiming her finger, Alice rapid-fired the attack and detonated them once they reached a satisfactory distance.

Using this method, the energy she needed to use this attack could be ignored but the power was now severely lacking. Those with sufficient armour would be able to defend against this attack pretty easily but that was not the main benefit of this method.

The pushback!

This variant of Void Flux allowed her to create a localized shock that could possibly knock aside attacks or even divert the path of a swing! Depending on the situation, it may be more beneficial to use this variant than creating a wall of her violet flames.

"Kaden, is there a way to shorten the cast time even more?" Alice asked curiously. She had already experimented with her second pathway to try to reduce the cast time needed as much as she could. She wanted to know if there was another method so she could cast her abilities instantaneously.

"Of course there is. You\'re already doing it." Kaden chuckled, causing Alice to pause in confusion.

Standing up, Kaden made his way over to her.

"Think back to the actions you go through when casting your skill. Think about what is required and what isn\'t, how can you simplify the casting process?" Kaden asked as Alice furrowed her brows.

Her casting process consisted of four actions. Creating blood, condensing blood, igniting the spark and then firing. Without these steps, she couldn\'t activate the skill.

"I can\'t. Manifest, condense, ignite then fire. I can\'t activate the skill without any of these steps." Alice frowned but Kaden simply laughed.

"I know. But that\'s not what I\'m asking. Think outside the box. What else are you doing while doing these steps?"

Tilting her head, Alice decided to cast a Void Flux to see what Kaden was talking about.

First, she flicked her finger to manifest the blood, then she gathers the blood above her fingertip, she aims, ignites and then fires.

Looking over to Kaden, he still had the same smile on his face as Alice repeated the process once more.

\'Outside the box… Outside the box… What does he mean by that? Am I missing something?\' Alice thought to herself in frustration while repeating the casting process.

Unable to come up with an answer, Alice could only huff in annoyance.

"I\'ll give you a hint. Look at me, I\'ll give a quick demonstration." Kaden smiled as Alice turned towards him.

Tapping his foot on the ground, his shadows began to expand before transforming into a familiar.

"This is the first demonstration. Now, I\'ll do another one."

Taking a step to the side, Kaden turned around and pointed at Alice\'s shoulder.

Tilting her head, she glanced at her shoulder and realised that there was now a raven on her shoulder.

"That\'s the only hint I\'ll give you." He laughed while leaning against a pillar.

"???"

\'When did he even cast?\' Alice frowned.

He wanted her to compare the two methods he used but she didn\'t even know his second method!

Scratching her hair in annoyance, she sat down and crossed her legs while replaying what she saw in her mind.

The first time, he tapped his foot and his shadows enlarged to form a familiar. The second time, he took a step and the familiar was already on her shoulder. How?

As the scenes continued to replay, Alice realised a link but wasn\'t sure if she was reading too deep into it or not. Looking up at Kaden hesitantly, Alice opened her mouth.

"Was it the tapping of the foot? Did you merge that with your step?" Alice asked but Kaden shook his head.

"So close yet so far. But you\'re half right. What I did was eliminate the need for a separate casting action. Most people use an action to dictate their target and the skill they want to use. But if you completely eliminate that, the cast time will naturally increase while efficiency decreases." Kaden explained but Alice was still confused.

"Now what if the action and the cast is merged?" Kaden smiled and raised a single finger.

Mimicking Alice\'s casting action, shadows instantly converged towards a single point.