Abyssal Awakening

Waking up, Alice furrowed her brow. She clutched her head in confusion. She wasn't sure about what happened before falling asleep, but the young hunter recognised the space she found herself in. It was the same space where she got to choose the ability for her first Sigil.

Standing up, she looked around but didn't see any of the options. She was alone in the place.

'What's going on?' Alice frowned while walking around the place, hoping to get her bearings.

She wondered if she was taken hostage by the Eye and tried to leave the odd place, to no avail.

[O' master of mine, you truly bring surprises in each moment that I'm awake.] A feminine voice rang out. It was different from what Alice usually heard in her head.

Turning around, she saw a woman with long white hair. A pair of black eyes with purple pupils stared back at her.

It was a visage she had seen once before, but only briefly.

"Is that who used to own you?" Alice asked.

The woman nodded.

[Yes. This was my previous master. But let's not focus on that. I'm more interested in what I have seen about your past.] The woman smiled as her body was covered with a black liquid before transforming into a form Alice was personally familiar with.

Just the sight of it caused her to take a step back out of instinct. Her throat became clogged with fear.

"Would you mind not taking the form of my father?" Alice forced a brave smile while suppressing the fear inside.

[Your father's actions were quite strange. Even if you are strangely resistant to the Abyss, there was no need to go through such lengths to exploit your body.

After all, even while you are on the verge of death from having borrowed a power you didn't understand, your body managed to fight off the effects and return you to normal.] He shook his head before transforming back into the form of the woman.

"What do you mean?"

[The Maiden of the Blood Moon had three powers within her body. First, the power of Sigils. She was not a beast, but a Hunter. Her Sigil power was simply suppressed in her beast form. Second, her beast powers as the Maiden. And lastly, the powers belonging to the God of the Eclipse Cult.

They had involved the woman in a ritual that empowered her with his blessings.]

[With these three powers in your body the moment you drank her blood, I am quite surprised your body was even able to recover. After all, you are resistant to the nature of the Abyss, not Divinity.] The woman narrowed her eyes while looking at Alice.

[However, you drinking her blood has helped me regain a little of my strength. It's not much, but enough for me to talk like I am now. I still need to consolidate my strength if I want to wake up properly, so I will leave you one last gift for that performance of yours.

Just so that you avoid a situation like this, I'll grant you the ability to see what you're fighting.] She smiled while appearing in front of Alice.

Pressing her hand against Alice's right eye, she stepped back and nodded with a smile.

[After all, you set your bounty to a Maiden of the Blood Moon without realising. If you had failed this hunt, you would've been forced to find a stronger Maiden of the Blood Moon.] She shrugged while yawning.

[Now, go pick your reward. You have three choices of Sigils. Since her body constitution was weird, the options aren't your average abilities. They're on the border between having the powers of a three star Sigil and a four star Sigil.] The woman explained as she stepped to the side. Behind her, three paths opened up for Alice.

"Wait! Can you at least tell me who your previous master was and why you were placed in my eye?" Alice called out as the woman glanced at her before thinking for a moment.

[I don't know. Kaden must've seen you fit to receive me. As for my previous master… You will learn of her when Allura and Kaden deem it necessary. Those two were her closest retainers, after all.] The woman chuckled before disappearing from the space.

Standing alone in the space, Alice sighed.

"At least tell me what to call you before you leave."

She couldn't keep calling it the Eye after all. She could tell that it had its own conscience. So, it must have a name.

[Just call me Cayla. And before I forget, the third Sigil is strange. It's something that only happened due to your strange body.]

Hearing that, Alice nodded before turning her attention to the three paths.

Now that Cayla was closer to waking up, there were more details in what each of the Abilities provided instead of just animated visages of their effects. Alice didn't need to guess what she was going to get.

[Blood Maiden's Garment]

Siphon the blood around your surroundings and empower your physical state. As long as you continue to siphon blood, your physical strength will grow. Higher quality blood belonging to stronger beasts or humans will grant the biggest boost. In this state, you can also heal yourself using the blood.

The image of Blood Maiden Manifestation showed a scene of Alice during the fight. How the blood formed as an extension of her own clothes and allowed her to keep up with the Maiden despite the difference in strength.

'If I was a physical fighter and wanted to focus on the strength augmentation aspect of my first Sigil, then this might be helpful… Though the fact that I can heal myself using this is good.' Alice thought to herself.

Despite her weakness being physical prowess and healing, Alice's eventual goal was to be someone who focused on manipulating blood rather than fighting head on, if possible.

'Then again… it'll be impossible to avoid close-quarters combat, so I'll have to think of alternative ways to solve this issue. If the other two options are bad, then Blood Maiden Manifestation will serve me well as a second Sigil.'

Turning her attention away from the first option, she looked at the second path.

Even without seeing the description, Alice could tell what it was. In front of her, a world of crimson with a red moon could be seen. Blood Spider Lilies bloomed beneath the moonlight and transformed into a pool of blood.

[Blood Moon Sanctuary]

Conjure the Blood Moon Sanctuary around you. While the Sanctuary is present, Blood Spider Lilies will continue to bloom while you gain control of all the blood conjured this way. Damaging your enemies will add to the pool of blood you can control. You can travel through the blood, using it as an entrance and exit.

The entrance and exit must be large enough to accommodate your body or else you cannot travel through it.

The pool of blood created will increase as you gain more Sigils.

It was the skill that helped Alice get an edge over the Maiden. Without that skill and the versatility it granted, she wouldn't have won.

'This improves my survivability and versatility in a fight, but doesn't change the fact that my body is weak. With this Sigil, I'll be able to stop bleeding by hardening the blood like a layer of skin around the wound, but it doesn't change the fact that I can't heal…' Alice thought to herself.

Naturally, she couldn't rule out the possibility that she could heal using the Sigil. As Allura said, it was all about thinking outside the box. If she increased her knowledge and control over Sigils, healing with them may not be an impossibility.

Turning to the third option, Alice noticed that there was no demonstration for the ability. The description was rather vague as well.

'Cayla said that this was a result of my body… Is it related to my resistance towards the powers of the Abyss?'

[Foul Blood Manifestation]

A strange ability to draw out the potential of your blood. The abilities are unknown. They have not been recorded in the annals of history. In this state, two sources of energy flood your body. The powers of your foul blood and the powers belonging to the Maiden of the Blood Moon.

While the powers belonging to your blood are unknown, the powers granted by the Maiden of the Blood Moon will allow you to control your own blood at will. This can include other sources of blood so long as it has been tainted by your blood. The degree of control varies based on the opponent and source of foreign blood.

Reading the description, Alice was hesitant.

'The potential of my blood? The abilities are unknown and unrecorded…' She frowned.

It was her strange body that caused all of that, yet there was now an option to explore the potential of her blood. Not even Cayla understood the powers, despite her vast knowledge.

'If I choose this, I do get some of the powers belonging to the Maiden. However, the powers I gain are far weaker compared to Blood Moon Sanctuary and Blood Maiden's Garment. I lose out on potentially enhancing my own body and being able to travel through blood to boost my survivability.'

Furrowing her brows, Alice sat down for a moment and considered her options. Unknowingly, she started to scratch her neck once more as the memories of her past appeared in her mind. How her father and the scientist tore her apart because of her blood. Cayla taking his appearance made it even worse.

Biting her lip, Alice stood up and made a choice.

'If my blood and flesh is able to reject the powers of the Abyss, it just means I can use the blessings without fear of turning into a beast. This power… I'll end them with the same thing they condemned me for.' Alice thought to herself with determination.

While the powers of the Sanctuary and Garment were good, her biggest weapon thus far had been her own constitution. It was the sole thing that allowed her to face off with someone who had four sigils, survive against them, and even triumph in combat. She wasn't alone in the battle, but that didn't change the fact.

Walking down the third path, Alice could feel an invisible knife carving a pattern across her body, changing her as the blood within her veins boiled from the effects of choosing the path. Just as Alice thought it was over, a needle like pain stabbed into her eye as the Sigil was now being carved into her body.

The location was on the left side of her face, stretching down from her eyelid to her neck.

As the final line was carved, she was forced out of the strange space.