Abyssal Awakening

Clenching her fist, Alice had a small smile on her face. The applications of Void Steps unlocked the door to many possibilities, all revolving around the concept of blinking through space.

Now that she understood what allows her Void Steps to succeed, she could adjust the steps and change the overall composition of the skill.

Turning it from a movement skill to an attacking one.

Snapping her finger, Alice created a singularity above her finger and transformed it into a Void Flux.

Aiming her finger upwards, she then cast Void Steps.

*BANG!

In an instant, the Void Flux disappeared from its location, flying high into the sky and out of sight.

By applying the 'faulty' Void Step and adjusting the targeting of the skill to only apply to the Void Flux, she was able to essentially squeeze it through the realms and cause it to shoot in one direction at ridiculous speeds.

To put it simply, the false Void Steps was acceleration. It's what caused her bones to break and her limbs to be torn off during the impact.

And the True Void Steps was teleportation, blinking through space and being squeezed out where she intended to appear.

That's why there was no 'phenomenon' of her arrival. No gust of wind or anything like that.

Exactly how Feris did it.

But the false Void Steps was not like that. It was far faster than her usual choice of ripping through the Void and running through it. If she wanted to, she could even make her Blood Mirrors far more deadly using this false Void Step.

All in all, understanding exactly why it could succeed allowed her a deeper insight into how she should use this technique of hers.

'Though… it's not exactly my technique is it ahaha. It's stolen from Feris much like how my other skills are also stolen. My own skill is still in mid development *sigh.' Alice laughed inwardly.

When she unleashed the skill that was still in the process of being finalised, she felt close to grasping its true essence but fell short.

Perhaps, if she were to complete the technique, it might be able to harm the Doctor.

[There's no rush. You also have to remember that these techniques are taken from those at the pinnacle of strength. One is an Apostle and the other is the owner of a realm. They are people who've already completed the difficult task and crystallised it into an attack or technique that represents their struggles. You are going through that stage right now.] Cayla cheered Alice on as making a person technique was no walk in the park.

All of these techniques are made with a goal in mind and Cayla had her own theories.

For Allura, it was her desire to become an unyielding sword for Velouria. She might not have the power or raw strength behind her attacks but she'll cut through anything and everything with lethal sharpness.

For Feris, perhaps her identity as the owner of the Void was because she wanted to detach herself from the real world. Hence the Void Steps that allowed her to run.

Alice was still trying to figure out what she wanted to do with her life aside from taking revenge. After revenge, what's next? Rebuilding Ayr was done in mind for Allura.

She has yet to fully understand and grasp what she is living this life for. Perhaps when she does, her skill will finally be complete and a name can be bestowed upon it.

Making her way back to the camp, the scout soon followed behind her and she noticed that he was looking a little uncomfortable. Clearly, the quick demonstration of Void Steps startled him but Alice simply shrugged and moved on.

Even if he tells the others, she doesn't care since her only goal was to get to the port and make her way east. To explore the surface that has been out of her reach for so many years.

###

"Miss, may I ask you to evaluate us?"

Blinking her eyes, Alice glanced at the five people in front of her.

She had woken up early this morning to continue her journey and nothing out of the ordinary occurred. A few weak beasts roamed nearby but the aura of the guards was enough to scare them away.

But once they prepared to camp, the five of them finally approached her after giving her the occasional glance throughout the day.

"Care to clarify?" Alice asked, taking a sip from some cheap mead she had stocked up in her pouch.

"Allen mentioned that you were fast enough to the point he couldn't register your movement at all. And during our fight, you seemed to be judging how you would've done it better. In other words, please give us some pointers. Anything that can help our growth as Hunters will be appreciated." The swordsman requested.

Scanning her eye across the five of them, Alice could see that they were thinking the same thing and were being serious about it.

"I wouldn't say my pointers are suitable. My thoughts are entirely based on how I would fight and my own knowledge of my skill sets." Alice scratched her cheek.

She was still just a student herself, learning to master skills and fight better. She wasn't exactly in a situation where she could coach others outside of just sparring and trying to figure out their weaknesses.

Plus, there's also the case of the raw power difference between them. If the gap is too wide, Alice wouldn't be able to give effective tips seeing as how she could just kill them all in the blink of an eye.

"That's fine. I want us as a group to take every opportunity there is to learn and get stronger." The Swordsman replied almost instantly as Alice's smile twitched from his rather… bright and upfront personality.

Furrowing her brows, Alice thought about it for a moment but saw no reason to reject it.

Plus, she might even learn something from this.

"Alright, sure. Think of me as a beast you want to subjugate. Don't hold back since it's not like you'll be able to kill me anyway." Alice curled her lips up into a grin.

The shield vanguard frowned a little before accepting it with a nod.

"I'll give you guys some time to strategize. You don't need to tell me when you want to start, just attack when you're ready." She waved her hand and stood up.

Making her way into the forest, tapped her foot against the ground as briar thorns began to burst out from the ground around her.

A field of spider lilies bloomed amidst the snow and Alice made herself a throne to sit on.

Relaxing her posture, she closed her eye and stretched out her senses through the blood she spread through the ground.

'What's your plan?' Alyss asked curiously.

'The plan is simple. Don't make a single move and focus on casting. It should be rather doable and lets me focus on my control. Plus, I can put my new understanding of Void Step into practice no?' Alice smiled.

'Just make sure you control the speed of the projectiles. I don't think it'll be good if one of them was to die now would it?' Alyss reminded.

'I don't think that'll be an issue.' Alice chuckled.

At that moment, several strands of briar thorns jumped out from the ground, catching an arrow that was shot towards her.

"A little too predictable if you were to imbue this much energy into it. Even if you made an effort to hide its presence." Alice muttered before pinching her fingers together.

A swirl of blood gathered around the arrowhead before blossoming into lilies, preventing it from detonating.

"Now then, your opening attack from the archer is caught. What will you do?" Alice asked as her gaze pierced through the trees and locked onto the scout.

He felt a chill down his spine as sweat rolled down his cheeks. Despite this distance, she could still accurately track him down even though he was using a camouflage skill.

However, there was one silver lining despite being discovered.

She wasn't using her movement skill! Instead of going through the close quarters combat route, she's choosing to fight with casting instead. This was perfect for them.

After all, their biggest concern was whether or not they could even catch her in the first place!

With her attacking method now discovered, they jumped into action.

A surge of water rushed towards Alice like a serpent as it crashed into a barrier of blood.

Behind her, the Vanguard burst out of the bushes with a golden glow around his shield. He was already in his resonance form but much to his surprise, the ground suddenly collapsed beneath him as tendrils of blood grabbed his ankles.

Spider lilies and briar thorns began to wrap around his body as he could feel the energy leaving his body. Cracks began to form around his armour.

*KSH!!!

A flash of light tore apart the briar thorns as Alice raised an eyebrow.

While her briar thorns aren't exactly the toughest material that she had access too, they were still pretty tough by usual standards. Yet he was able to cut through it with ease.

A little outside her expectation but nothing that'll make Alice change her plans.

Tapping her finger against the arm rest, blood converged into a single bead as Alice activated Void Steps on it.

*BANG!!!!

The vanguard was able to raise his shield at the last moment out of instinct but the collision was far stronger than he thought.

It felt as though he was a piece of wood in a storm, thrown around like he weighed nothing.

Blasting the two away, Alice watched as they regrouped and the healer healed their wounds.

Since she asked them to treat it as though they're hunting a beast, she'll play her part.

Killing intent seeped out as the Hunters paled.

In front of them now stood a beast in the form of a human, flanked by a mass of briar thorns and blood. A beast of slaughter.