Abyssal Awakening

While Selen and Egil went to sleep, Alice stayed away throughout the night. They tried to convince her but it was no use.

She couldn't rest easy when her gut was screaming warning signs at her. Only when they returned to safety would she sleep.

Continuing through the night, Alice found herself on the verge of drifting off a few times but kept herself awake through various methods.

Occasionally, there would be people waking up out of a panic before falling asleep straight away.

Of course, Alice wasn't the only one staying awake since there were people taking shifts and keeping watch. But they weren't maintaining an array like she was.

"Working hard I see." Torgeir chuckled, sitting near Alice once it was his turn to keep watch. Even though he was the commander, he couldn't allow himself to sleep peacefully while others worked hard to keep watch.

"Someone has to. The others aren't maintaining this array after all." Alice shrugged. She could tell that Torgeir noticed this since she spotted him observing it earlier.

"I figured that was the case. Something on your mind? It's gotten you quite on edge."

"You could say that. Just a gut feeling for now, nothing more. It shouldn't be an issue to keep this barrier maintained until the end of the journey." Alice dismissed with a wave of her hand.

"I see… would you like a light spar then? To get the blood pumping." He offered. Thinking about it for a moment, Alice nodded her head.

"Sure, why not. No abilities, just pure physical sparing."

Nodding his head, Torgeir stood up and took a few steps away from Alice.

This light spar was going to focus entirely on hand to hand combat. He got a rough idea of how strong Alice was from her little walk on the battlefield but even he knew she was holding back.

A spar would give him an idea of her reaction speed and fighting style now that her body wouldn't bleed whenever she did anything.

Giving her body a stretch, Alice hoped this spar would wake her up a little.

Bouncing on her feet, she made some light jabs in the air.

"Ready when you are." Alice smiled.

"Seems like you're confident. Alright, let's begin-" Just as Torgeir finished the words begin, his pupils shrunk as Alice's foot was already inches away from his face.

*BANG!

Blocking with his arms, he was surprised by the force and power behind her kick but she wasn't finished.

Twisting her body, Alice followed up with two more kicks before a downward heel, forcing Torgeir on the retreat as he tried to counter.

However, Alice kept herself close to him and manoeuvred through his blind spots.

Her physique was already small so her doing this only made it harder to hit her.

Since this was pure hand to hand without any abilities, Torgeir couldn't lock Alice down.

Going into a handstand, Alice kicked up, breaking Torgeir's guard.

"What's wrong? Don't tell me you're only planning on blocking?" Alice smirked.

Rolling his eyes, Torgeir took a deep breath and stomped down with his foot.

Alice was mid handstand and this stomp disrupted her balance, causing her to flip back as Torgeir followed up with a punch.

*BANG!!!

Smacking his punch to the side to divert the direction, Alice's smile twitched as she heard the air crack from the force.

"Is this a spar or are you trying to kill me?" Alice asked as Torgeir shrugged.

"I'm sure this is nothing to you."

No denying that, Alice jabbed him in the sides before kicking off his knees to jump into the air. Releasing a quick one two kick to the head, she grabbed him on the arms and tried to knee him in the face.

However, Torgeir managed to break free of the grapple and blocked the knee. Grabbing the ankle, he slammed her into the ground.

Rolling to the side, Alice did a leg sweep but it felt like hitting a brick wall instead.

Torgeir was stupidly stable and wouldn't move a step.

This back and forth exchange continued a few times as Torgeir got a grasp on Alice's fighting style. Her style mostly revolves around using her legs to generate as much power as she could while using her fists to disrupt her opponent.

Jumping back, Alice took several deep breaths.

"I'm going to change it up a bit." Alice chuckled as chains began to appear on her arms and neck.

"I thought you mentioned no abilities?" Torgeir raised an eyebrow.

"Don't worry about it, it's not an ability." Alyss's voice rang out next to him as Torgeir's pupils shrunk.

Instinctively, he raised his guard.

*BANG!!!!

Sliding back from the force of the punch, he felt as though he was hit with a hammer.

Glancing up, he could see Alice with a maniacal grin.

Stomping down, she launched herself towards him as Torgeir could sense that something changed within her.

Taking a deep breath, he stabilized himself as he prepared to defend against her kicking attacks.

"Wrong, I don't use kicks that often." Alyss chuckled, giving him an uppercut. Following up with a left hook, she slammed her elbow into his chest before punching his abdomen, pushing him away from her.

Just as Torgeir recovered, Alyss appeared in front of him again.

*BANG!!!

Tanking another solid right hook, questions flooded Torgeir's mind.

How could someone's fighting style change so much so quickly? It's not just a change of styles either. Habits as well. It's like he's fighting someone completely different.

However, just as he was getting used to the punches, the chains disappeared and her foot appeared in his vision.

*BANG!!

Stumbling back from the kick, Torgeir theorised that the chains were the sign of her style changing.

With Alice continuously switching styles, it took longer than expected for Torgeir to adapt to it. In the end, it ended a stalemate. Alice couldn't deal enough damage to be declared a winner while Torgeir couldn't quite catch Alice.

But it achieved their initial goal of giving Alice something to do.

Sitting down on a log, Alice reached into her pouch for some mead. However, her hand froze as she eventually decided against it.

She wanted to drink it after a good spar but the danger was still present. She could still feel the gaze of the enemy down her neck and drinking would only expose herself.

Especially since she'll struggle to control herself once she had a drink. Instead, she opted for the fruits that Ragnar gave her instead.

'Twinnie, I think we have a major issue that we need to sort out sooner rather than later.' Alyss spoke up as Alice glanced over in confusion.

She could see Alyss clenching and unclenching her fists.

'What is it?'

'Our fighting styles are too simple and predictable. We're just using raw strength which we're at a disadvantage in. Aside from that, it's also just instincts. Too many wasted movements and unoptimized attacks. You also saw how easy it was for Torgeir to deal with us right? Even though he's a caster just like us.' Alyss explained.

Thinking about it for a moment, Alice nodded her head in agreement. She didn't have any specific style or attack plan. She merely attacked in a way that felt 'right' based on her instincts.

While her instincts have indeed saved her from death many times, it's also true that she struggles with landing substantial blows without just relying on her Void Flux or other attacks.

'I think it's about time we figure out a proper fighting style. Didn't Ria mention in the past that the eastern Hunters use Sigils with their martial arts and fighting styles? Since we're on the surface, it wouldn't be bad to travel east for a bit and visit the Land of the Blistering Heat, Sikha.' Alyss suggested.

Furrowing her brows, Alice contemplated this choice. It's a slight detour and it'll take longer to regroup with Ria and Luke. However, doing so could improve her power substantially.

'I don't see why not. Once we finish things in Verona, we'll head east to Sikha. I'll need to buy a map and get some travel funds too.' Alice began making plans.

[There's probably one thing that you need to be wary of Master if you plan on visiting Sikha.] Cayla spoke up.

'And that is?'

[The Sun God Solaris. If my memory is right, the east doesn't follow any of the three God religion closely but Solaris has always had an influence over there. I don't know how it's changed but considering your recent… conflict, it would be wise to stay vigilant when visiting the country.] Cayla warned.

Nodding her head in agreement, Alice could almost imagine a pillar of flames shooting down from the sun the moment she makes herself known.

Solaris now knows that she holds traces of Velouria's power thanks to the chains along with the fact that she could 'steal' one of his believers from him.

She could expect him to send a crusade or something of that nature to capture and kill her if she wasn't careful.

'Seems like I'll be making use of the jester Sigil more than I thought.' Alice chuckled.

While she was making plans regarding her visit to Sikha, hours passed and soon, Torgeir woke everyone up to resume the journey home.

Throughout the night, the cold chill of a predator observing their move never disappeared and Alice maintained the grid at full function.

Minutes turned to hours, hours into days. Occasionally, one or two beasts would approach but the other casters dealt with them easily. It didn't require Alice to make a move since her focus was on the grid.

After going without sleep for so long, Alice could feel herself reaching her limit but she ignored the fatigue to the best of her abilities. There was only one night left before they reach Esna. One last rest and one last journey through the day.

Safety was close. Once they're back in Esna, she can drink her mead and sleep.