Abyssal Awakening

However, their group was battered and bruised. Bo even had to step in to ensure that they were alive.

"Get something to eat first then we\'ll talk. I know you\'re not fond of each other so we\'ll talk one on one." Bo instructed, making his way to the building where Torgeir was.

Seeing this, Alice sighed as she figured she might as well grab a drink for now.

"Wanna get a drink?" Alice offered Selen but she shook her head.

There were things she needed to reflect upon after this training excursion and she\'d rather not use this time to drown herself in alcohol.

Shrugging her shoulders, Alice made her way to the tavern and ordered a few jugs of mead for herself and some snacks.

Looking for a table to sit on, all of the tables within the tavern were taken.

However, hidden away by the side, she spotted a familiar large figure by the window.

Curling her lips into a smile, she hopped over and placed her jugs on the table.

"What\'s up big guy? Seems like you also had a rough time." Alice laughed as she sat down opposite him and offered a jug.

Raising an eyebrow, Egil didn\'t think Alice would take the initiative to sit at his table.

But considering that she was the one who helped him get this opportunity, he didn\'t see why he shouldn\'t talk. She even brought over a jug of mead to share.

"It\'s hard to escape the shadow of your past. But I should be able to manage since I have a sturdy body." Egil chuckled, reaching for the jug.

"Hou~ Seems like your group isn\'t cooperating either. I don\'t know why but the gal in my group hates me on first meeting ahah. She even started blaming me for all kinds of sh*t during the fight even though I literally saved her life like twice. Well… maybe not that far since she\'s pretty sturdy but you know what I mean." Alice complained, raising her own jug and knocking it against his.

"Wait what?" Recoiling at the mention of such an incident, confusion filled Egil\'s mind.

Who would be unhappy that someone saved them in the middle of a battle?

Swinging her head back, Alice gulped down several mouthfuls of mead and began to recount the hunt.

How they ran into the Mortis Necrothrax and how the fight went.

The more he heard, the more his expression faltered.

Truly, the dynamic of her team confused him. He could still remember the passive pressure that Alice was exerting during their duel when Bo was acting as her representative.

If it wasn\'t for her giving him the freedom of movement that he had, Bo would\'ve been defeated rather quickly. It was only thanks to Alice\'s quick judgment and pinpoint control that helped Bo push him to the limit.

For someone to not appreciate this kind of help and even call her useless was… baffling to Egil.

"Seems like you had it rougher than me." Egil chuckled.

"Who knows. You still haven\'t told you what happened on your hunt yet." Alice shrugged.

It was more of a passive annoyance if she was being honest. There were ways for her to deal with it and even now, she was forming new plans for the next day.

"Mostly just people throwing attacks while I\'m next to the beast. It doesn\'t hurt but when I\'m not expecting it, it\'s still surprising." Egil sighed.

Even though he was brief, Alice understood how difficult it must be to reign in his anger if people kept throwing attacks at his back.

He couldn\'t exactly fight back because of Torgeir keeping an eye on him yet if he keeps taking these hits, he\'ll reach a limit and will do something he regrets.

"Indeed. Sometimes you just wanna let loose and smack some sense into them but they\'re so fragile. If I wasn\'t injured, one hit is all I need." Alice lamented.

It was true, one Void Flux was all she needed to take out most of the Warriors she\'s seen.

Hell, Void Flux wasn\'t even needed for some of them! Just her partial Bloodline release would\'ve been enough.

Yet here she was, a body that couldn\'t handle her power.

Thinking about this, Alice became curious.

If her body couldn\'t handle it, what if she was to forcefully bring it up to the standard? To consume the blood of someone stronger and raise her Sigil count.

When her thought process reached this stage, Alice sat up.

Her smile twitched as she had an idea of why her body was in this state. The biggest suspect was Kaden\'s feather! To consume such a concentrated mass of power from an Apostle at that.

\'There\'s no way right?\' She laughed but doubt lingered in her mind.

Right now, this was the most likely answer.

\'I guess next time don\'t eat random crap. Kaden did give that feather to protect us rather than for you to eat it.\' Alyss rolled her eyes.

\'Oh shut up you were pretty impressed when I did it.\' Alice scoffed.

Turning her attention back on Egil who was confused by why she was suddenly silent, Alice coughed and cleared her throat.

"I\'m sure your group will get better. After all, if they don\'t, they\'re just sabotaging themselves. Torgeir won\'t choose people who\'ll keep throwing attacks at their allies back, no matter how durable they are. As long as you prove he didn\'t make a mistake in giving you a chance then it\'s fine." Alice reassured as Egil nodded his head.

Swinging his head back, he finished his drink in one go.

"Thanks for this by the way. I\'ll make sure I pay you back." He grinned. However since this was the second time he said it, it sounded less persuasive.

Giving him a small wave, Alice watched as Egil left the tavern to continue his training.

While he may have a strong physique and defensive power, his offensive options were lacking. Or so he claimed. Thus he needed to find ways to channel his power into offensive potential.

Seeing Egil working towards an unknown goal, Alice felt a little inspired.

Now that she had an idea of why her body might be acting this way, it was about time she tried to resolve it.

Of course, she still needed information. No matter how much of a rush she was in, charging in blindly would just destroy her in the process.

Finishing her drink, Alice was about to leave when another jug was placed down in front of her.

"You\'re the last one left." Bo gestured for her to remain seated.

"I\'m guessing the other talks when pretty good if you\'re here so soon." Alice accepted the mead with a smile.

"Somewhat. They only require small reminders. Bjorn got easily distracted by what\'s in front of him and was too confident that the attacks won\'t hit him.

"Einar just need a reminder on how to keep the beast\'s attention properly. Brynja… Needed a reminder to not bring personal feelings into a battle. Still, she didn\'t say why she didn\'t like you only that she\'ll keep it in mind for the next battle." Bo scratched his hair.

"Selen was fine except she needed to be more open minded and help the others as well. But you? You\'re probably the one that\'s giving me the most headache. How do I put it… You\'ve never played a supportive role before have you?" He asked as Alice shook her head.

While she has supported Ria in the past during a battle, it\'s more as a supportive damage dealer rather than a full on support.

"That\'s the issue. How do I put it… You\'re and Brynja are the keys for this team to cooperate with one another. As supports, your job is to bring out the most out of your allies. However, during the fight, you were fighting with far too high of an expectation for them.

"Expectations comes only after experience and trust. But instead, you were so focussed on what was possible, you didn\'t see what was happening around you. Sometimes it\'s better to take a step back and assess the situation as a whole before making a move. That way, you can see the full picture."

"I know it\'s probably impossible to ask you two to work together properly. So instead, I told them to just do their thing and don\'t antagonize you. It\'s better for you as well right?" Bo asked as Alice nodded her head with a smile.

"Yep that works perfectly for me. If they fight as per usual, I can study how they move and help them. But if they force themselves to act differently, their choices and habits will begin to conflict."

"If that\'s how it is then everything should be alright. Just try your best since we\'ll be heading out early to hunt again tomorrow. Our target this time is a Dreadhorn Ravager. It\'s the same rank as the Mortis Necrothrax but make no mistake, it\'s more aggressive so you\'ll have to take more care than you did today." Bo reminded as he stood up and made his way out.

Finishing her drink, Alice wiped her mouth and leaned back.

\'I\'ll ask Torgeir for some of his blood as emergency next time I see him.\' Alice thought to herself as tomorrow was going to be… interesting. Hopefully, Einar and Brynja were more cooperative this time or as Bo said, stop antagonizing her and just do their job.