Abyssal Awakening

Looking at the large crowd that was gathering around the barracks, Alice was rather surprised by how much importance they placed on the Warrior's Honour.

Some came to watch Egil lose. Some came because they were curious but most came because it was specifically the Warrior's Honour.

As Warriors, their honour was equivalent to or perhaps even more important than the honour of Knights back in Extalia.

They formed a large circle around the main 'arena', which was just a large empty space where they were training earlier. Around the borders of this arena, Torgeir had soldiers make a boundary with shields that were stabbed into the ground.

Once the last shield was placed, a resonance effect activated between them, forming a dome.

"Usually, these shields face outward to stop attacks from reaching us. But since this is a duel for the Warrior's Honour, these shields will face inwards to prevent any stray attacks from coming out." Bo explained.

Bo was the soldier that Torgeir had picked. Above average but not quite at the level where he could lead a squad of his own.

He had long wild black hair shaved at the side. Markings on his cheeks and silver earrings.

Donning a fur jacket with relatively low amounts of leather armour and mostly cloth for movement, he hung two hand axes on his waist.

"Hou~ First time I've seen something like this." Alice remarked while tapping her finger against the barrier.

Hearing the low echo, it seemed to be similar to the shield her shard generates but on a weaker level. Needing multiple shields in order to be deployed.

"It's a relatively new creation. However, it's helped reduce the casualties on the front line by a lot. Even if not all of them are set up properly, the individual shields are still good to block one stray blast." Bo laughed.

"So if you want to impress the Captain then you'll have to show you're better than these shields." He suggested while glancing over at Egil who seemed to be meditating while sitting on the ground with his legs crossed.

There was another reason why Bo was the one chosen to help represent Alice during this duel.

He volunteered himself.

According to Bo, he has a slight grudge against Egil since his old friend was injured by Egil a while back and couldn't fully recover.

They took too long to get the healing blood to him and by then, if he drank the blood, it would've healed the wound in a weird way that would've impacted him more than letting it recover naturally.

However, once it recovered naturally, his life as a warrior was basically over and he could only work as a backline support. Shuffling supplies while watching his brother at arms go out to war, unable to help protect their backs.

"Don't worry, just fight how you would usually fight. I'll adapt." Alice reassured. This was also a test for herself.

A test to see if she could synchronise herself with someone who she doesn't know anything about. To learn of their fighting style, their habits and their movement in the midst of battle.

She could do it with enemies and find out ways to exploit them but struggled with doing the same on her allies.

It took her a long time to understand how Ria moved yet she could see through her enemies within the span of a fight.

"Alright. But just to let you know, I use a lot of jumping attacks so if I suddenly jump, don't be surprised okay?" Bo smiled, liking Alice's confidence.

Seeing that everything was ready, Torgeir made some final checks before stepping towards the arena.

He had expected Alice to ask for some information on Egil but that wasn't the case. Just like Egil, she was going into this battle blind.

Clearing his throat, he opened his mouth.

"Are both sides ready?!" He shouted.

Opening his eyes, Egil stood up and took a deep breath. His gaze was steady and locked onto both Alice and Bo.

Pulling out his axes, Bo took an offensive stance and glared at Egil.

Alice flicked her finger and the Shard floated next to Bo.

"The challenger! Egil will obtain Alice's spot in the squad should he land a blow against Bo and Alice herself within the limit of two minutes and thirty seconds! The defender! Alice will obtain 500 Gold pieces if she protects Bo and herself from Egil's onslaught for this duration!

Are all three Warriors ready?!" Torgeir shouted, explaining the rules to the onlookers while making sure both sides are prepared.

"Ready!" Egil shouted, a red aura flaring from his body.

"Ready." Bo nodded.

"Ready~" Alice smiled with a slight wave.

One was pumped up and ready to go, one was calm and the last… looked like she was going on a picnic.

Wondering to himself if this was the right choice, Torgeir sighed inwardly and nodded his head.

"BEGIN!!!"

*BANG!!!!

Just as Torgeir announced the start of the battle, Egil burst into action!

One step.

One step was all it took for him to leave behind a crater where he stood and close the gap in an instant!

However, neither Alice nor Bo were slouches who couldn't react to him.

Bo jumped into the air with a flip, ready to strike with his axes while Alice had already deployed the shield.

She knew the shield probably couldn't take a head on attack without any of her energy being supplied to it. Thus, in order to defend against the attacks, she had to tilt it at the right angle to diffuse the impact.

*CLANG!!!

Claws made from energy manifested around Egil's arm as he parried Bo's attack. Stepping on the shield that Alice made, he tried to use it as a foothold.

Noticing this, Alice deactivated the shield and positioned it to stop Egil from striking at Bo using his spare arm.

Surprised by Alice's fast reaction, Bo hadn't expected Alice to be able to match their pace with that injured eye. But seeing as how she could keep up with this speed then there was no reason for him to hold back!

Twisting his body, he kicked Egil's arm, breaking open his guard.

Throwing his hand axe into the air, Bo took this chance to launch a follow up kick against Egil's chin but the kick did nothing. Egil didn't even flinch as he took a deep breath.

"ARG!!!!"

Letting out a shout that shook the ground, Egil forced Bo back and slammed his fist into the ground.

Pulling out a large chunk of earth, he slammed his fist into it, launching it towards Alice!

Before Alice could make a move, Bo appeared next to the axe he threw and chopped down, splitting the earth.

'This Bo guy is pretty impressive wouldn't you say so? Rather than you defending him, it's him defending you.' Alyss blinked her eyes.

'Yep. Though this isn't exactly helping my case.' Alice laughed, not feeling the pressure of this fight just yet.

Egil hadn't put his focus on her and so far, it's just been a match between Bo and Egil.

In order to become more of an annoyance, she had to use her Shards as tools of annoyance just like how Kaden taught her how to use the metal from her third Sigil.

Staying low to the ground, Bo dashed towards Egil and threw both of his axes!

Wanting to parry the throws, Egil pulled his arm back and prepared to strike when the Shard positioned itself in front of his eyes, blocking his view!

*CLANG!

Putting up some defences as a last resort, Egil furrowed his brows while the Axes bounced off his body.

He reached towards the shard with the intention of pushing it aside but Bo was faster.

Slamming his elbow into Egil's torso, Bo clicked his tongue after realising it had done nothing and jumped away, looking to reposition himself.

Before he could land, the shard flew over and deployed the shield and transformed into a foothold!

"Oh! Not bad!" Bo laughed, jumping into the air and recalling his axes.

Narrowing his eyes, he pulled his arms back as Sigils lit up on his shoulders. On the edges of the axes, orange energy coated the blades.

Mountain Cleaver!

In an instant, Bo reached his terminal velocity and slammed his axes into Egil's body.

*BANG!!!!

The ground buckled beneath Egil as he found himself knee deep. He wanted to put up a guard but the Shard split into two pieces and latched themselves on his inner arm, stopping him from forming a proper guard!

If it wasn't for the fact that his body was durable, he might've lost right here, right now.

Since that was the case, he'll take her out first! Bo can't damage him and the only one preventing his movement was her!

First Resonance!

Activating his resonance, his Sigil markings stretched across his body while bestial traits manifested across his body. It wasn't the same kind of trait as mutations but rather spectral aspects that overlapped his form.

The claws of a tiger, horns of a bull and the body of a bear were just a few of the traits that manifested across his body.

The activation of his resonance threw Bo back.

"!!!" Sensing danger, Alice immediately recalled her shards and created a shield next to her body.

*CRACK!!!

The shield was barely formed when Egil's fist slammed into the barrier of energy, shattering it in an instant and sending Alice crashing towards the borders of the arena.

It wasn't a direct hit but just the force from her shield and his fist colliding felt as though she had just been kicked in the chest!

Wanting to recover before she slammed into the walls, Alice wanted to make a foothold with her shard but Egil had already caught up!

'Holy sh*t this guy is a physical monster!' Alice shouted in her mind as she hastily created another shield only to have it shatter in one punch once more.

With her guard broken, Alice watched as the follow up punch rushed towards her.