Abyssal Awakening

Upon stepping out of the shadow, the three of them came face to face with Kaden who was standing in an arena suspended in the sky and connected by bridges.

There were four pillars around the centre while large pillars containing blue flames lit up the area on the edge.

"So who wants to be first? I assume for your looks that you want that tall kid to fight first?" Kaden asked while keeping his hands in his pockets.

Both Alice and Ria nodded their heads as they didn't allow Luke to reject this arrangement. With no other choice, he could only sigh and prepare himself to fight someone he didn't know much about.

But considering the fact that he could train Alice and Ria then it meant he had to be on guard.

Finding themselves a place to sit down, Alice and Ria wondered how Luke was going to fair against Kaden.

Looking above their heads, Alice could see four Sigils above Luke while Kaden had nine.

"How well do you think Luke would do? I was busy in the Inverted World trying to survive so I didn't see him fight." Alice asked curiously since she only knew that he was the supportive kind of fighter.

With that in mind, it'll be hard to impress Kaden.

"Hmm… It's definitely unique. I only saw it briefly myself but his buffs are no joke. I felt like I could fight for days on end with his enhancements." Ria rubbed her chin.

Since she was last to be saved, she didn't see much of his abilities but in the short moment that she did, it left quite the impression on her.

She had seen it years ago but she didn't think it would've developed to this stage.

"Oh? Interesting." Alice murmured while focusing on the fight.

Swallowing his saliva nervously, Luke took a deep breath and calmed himself.

On his neck, his first Sigil manifested as cube manifested next to him. The cube was made from a similar material or at least what Alice could assume to be similar to what Void Fang was made from.

The way it shifted with each passing moment looked like it was crafted from countless tiny beings.

Snapping his finger, Luke transformed the cube into the shape of a Pawn from chess.

Summon Piece – Pawn!

A sword appeared in his hand as Luke lunged forward towards Kaden.

While he was fast, compared to Alice and Ria, he was moving in slow motion.

Without moving from his spot, Kaden's shadow stretched out as a mimicry of Luke appeared from the ink using the same attack.

*BANG!!!

As their blades collided, Kaden paused in surprise as his mimicry was actually pushed back! The corrupted blade in its hand was broken and Luke continued forward without stopping.

Creating two more beasts for him to deal with, he watched as Luke navigated through the crowd while keeping himself low to the ground.

With each strike, the floating Pawn piece next to him would begin to shift until…

Promotion – Knight!

Armour manifested around his body as the blade in his hand transformed into a Knight's longsword.

Twisting his body, he released a horizontal slash and left deep cuts on the mimics. However, as they weren't living beings, these mimics lunged forward with increased fervour.

One of the larger mimics slammed its fist to Luke's side, forcing him to parry and take several steps back.

"Tch!" Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Luke retreated while Kaden continued to summon more mimics with a smile on his face.

The longer this fight goes on, the more he'll summon. Summoner type fighters weren't going to limit what they could summon after all.

Furrowing his brows, he stabbed his blade into the ground as the Knight Piece began to shift.

Promotion – Bishop!

The blade disassembled itself and transformed into a grimoire. Strands of energy converged towards him as an illusionary figure appeared beside him.

It was Ria!

Motes of lightning started to manifest above each of the mimics as crackles of energy could be seen flickering across their body.

*RUMBLE!!!

The clouds above rumbled as a line of lightning bolts rained down, carving a path in the wave.

Seeing this, Alice glanced over to Ria who blinked her eyes.

"What?"

"He can summon you?" Alice asked while Ria shook her head.

"Nope. He simply 'recorded' some casting spells that he's seen in his Bishop piece. There's a limit to what he can do solo since his powers are mostly used for buffing other people.

"Pawns buff your general physical abilities, it's basic but it designates targets for him to promote. Knight is used for fighters, Bishop for casters and Rook for tanks. These are the pieces he's able to use right now." Ria explained as Luke fired off lightning to try clear the swarm but with each one that he killed, two more would rise.

'I need to reach Kaden.' Luke frowned as a fourth Sigil lit up on the back of his hand.

Promotion – Rook!

Heavy plate armour appeared around him along with a tower shield. Bracing himself, a burst of energy erupted from his body as he charged forward.

At first, he was slow but with each step, his speed began to increase and soon, he was akin to an unstoppable object charging through the crowd of mimics, bashing everything aside.

*BANG!!!

One of the mimics took his shield slam head on and had its body obliterated in the charge.

Hearing the crack of its body, even Alice flinched imagining what it's like to take that head on without any preparation.

And if Ria was correct, then this was his buffs in their limited form! What would it be like if he used it on someone else?!

Charging through the crowd, he appeared before Kaden and tried to slam the shield into him but he simply yawned and raised his hand.

*BANG!!!!

The shield caved in from facing an immovable object as Kaden grinned, clenching his fist and bending the metal.

Twisting his body, he threw Luke over his shoulders and slammed him into the ground.

"GAH!!!"

"Just because I'm a caster doesn't mean I'm weak in close quarters." Kaden chuckled, raising his foot and stomping down on Luke's chest.

*CRACK!!!

His plate armour was shattered as the ground beneath him cracked apart.

Kicking Luke into the air, he snapped his finger as a serpent like beast jumped out from his shadow and opened its maw before clamping down.

Before Ria could even worry, a wave of energy slashed through the mimic towards Kaden who smacked it aside using his arm.

Anti Beast Resonance!

Bleeding from his wounds, Luke could be seen falling from the air while a golden figure floated behind him.

His first Resonance allowed him two choices. First, layer his buffs on someone and grant them multiple increases.

The second choice, however, was one that allowed him to create 'imaginary pieces' via fusing his promotions together.

In this case, Knight + Bishop + Rook = Imaginary Piece – Paladin!

This was a piece that he recently unlocked thanks to obtaining his fourth Sigil, granting him the Rook buff.

Otherwise, he would've been limited to Pawn + Knight + Bishop, creating Imaginary Piece – Rune Knight.

The Paladin stood behind Luke was covered from head to toe in white plated armour adorned with golden details and wielded a greatsword as though it was a longsword.

A blue cape with a fur collar fluttered behind it as Luke commanded the paladin to slaughter through the group of mimics.

Accepting this command, the Paladin's blade lit up with a golden aura as he rushed towards the group.

As the first beast approached, the Paladin grabbed it by the head and slammed it into the ground.

*BANG!!!

Using the beast as a weapon, he threw it towards the next beast, causing the two to fall back as he raised his blade above his head.

Erupting with energy, the Paladin slashed down, causing a wave of energy to shred the two beasts into nothingness while the others tried to flank from its side.

"URAHHH!!!!"

A shout could be heard behind the mask as it transformed the greatsword in its hand into a giant hammer and crushed a beast beneath its weight.

However, Kaden wasn't impressed while watching all of this.

Compared to the other people with four Sigils, it was 'decent' in his eyes but far from what's required. He has his uses in buffing his team but he'll become a weak link, the first target to kill. Even with this Paladin by his side, he wouldn't be able to fend for himself if he merely stood back and did nothing.

Now that Alice has claimed all three items required to become the next Goddess of the Abyss, he couldn't allow this kind of risk to be near her.

'Why do I have to babysit these brats? I'd rather Lua come instead while I deal with the outside powers.' Kaden sighed. At least if Allura was here, he could work in the background but she was being stubborn.

She kept herself busy in the depths of the Abyss leaving all the annoying work to him despite her current state.

Meaning, the sooner he gets this over with the better.

"It's decent but requires work. You need to focus on keeping yourself alive to be an asset to the team. As you stand, you're nothing but a detriment even with your abilities." Kaden sighed, appearing from Luke's shadow.

Widening his eyes, Luke wanted to fight back when a wall of force slammed into him from the side.

*BANG!!!

Crashing into a pillar, Luke felt his consciousness flicker. Momentarily, he found himself standing on a bridge with a light on the other side before being brought back to reality.

Seeing Kaden cracking his knuckles with a smile, Luke wanted to protest but his glare made it impossible.

"Rejoice kid, an Abyss Lord is going to personally teach you what it means to be a supporter on the battlefield."

Hearing these words, he paled in shock realising that his opponent was an Abyss Lord.

Looking towards Alice and Ria who had grins on their faces, Luke wanted to cry.

'YOU DEMONS!!!'

"You dare look away kid?! Let me show you the consequences!"

"ARGGG!!!"