Abyssal Awakening

Hearing the woman's offer, Alice couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief inwardly. She thought this woman would've asked for something absurd but in fact, all she wanted to do was have Alice take out Keira.

It was already something she was planning to do once she recovered but this just makes it easier.

"Sure, I'm assuming she's still roaming the Void right? Or did her friend come and get her?" Alice asked curiously.

"Nope, she's still going around in the Void, killing everything in sight and looking around for you. She doesn't have a clue where you are though." The woman shrugged.

Based on her estimates, if Keira were to continue aimlessly, it'll only be a matter of time before the mutations hit and she'll change into a monster of the Void.

If that happens, she'll be reduced to her baser instincts and wreak even more havoc in her realm. At that point, she'll have to take matters into her own hands which she'd rather not do.

That requires her to make an effort after all.

Just thinking of it tired her out as she let out a groan of annoyance.

"If you can take care of the trouble you started, I'll patch you up and send you back. In fact, if you do it quickly I'll even teach you how to control that Void energy of yours considering you've already fused with it." The woman offered.

Blinking her eyes in surprise, Alice couldn't help but wonder what she was going to teach her and how the control would affect how she used her abilities.

"With enough control, you can do something like this." She chuckled, appearing behind Alice.

Just as Alice turned around, she disappeared once more and reappeared at her crystal.

"Impressive right?" She gave Alice a smug smile.

Folding her arms momentarily, Alice closed her eyes.

Leaning her head against her hand, the woman glanced at Alice in amusement. She could tell that the girl was trying to figure out her trick. This skill of hers wasn't something based on speed, it's purely about control and understanding.

With Alice being such a novice at Void energy, it was impossible for her to grasp it.

*BANG!!!!

A loud collision rang out beside her as she froze up for a moment. Slowly turning right, she could see Alice in a rubble of crystals while clutching her head. One of her legs was missing as she seemed more annoyed than in pain.

Stretching for a moment, she regenerated her foot.

"Okay, maybe it's a bit harder than I thought. If I'm not careful more of my could be shredded." Alice mumbled.

The woman no longer had a smile on her face. There was only shock in her eyes.

"How did you just do that?"

"Hm? I thought you would know since you're the one who showed me no? You're sliding the energy and creating friction between the Void and reality aren't you? It's a half opened portal and forcefully propels me in a direction. Though stopping is a bit harder than I thought." Alice replied while standing up.

She could see that the woman was making use of the Void's ephemeral nature. A split second of control to open a path back to reality. By having it collapse almost instantaneously, the two realms rub against one another and creates a warp point within the same realm.

It's akin to trying to leap into reality but being squeezed back into the Void because the portal disappeared. But with enough control, it doesn't severe whatever was in the way due to a protective barrier. It'll push them out instead.

With these conditions in place, a near instantaneous teleportation technique is born though there are other issues with this. First was how to control the destination of the teleport and the second was how to stop.

If it wasn't for the crystal in the way, Alice might've been flung further out into the Void than intended and left to drift.

While thinking of ways to make some modifications, Alice didn't notice the woman looking at her with pure disbelief.

Even if Alice was able to adapt to the energy of the Void, this was too fast. Her understanding of it should be shallow at best.

But in order to accomplish this skill, it's a requirement to understand how this energy works and make the most out of it. Since Alice was able to trigger the reaction despite failing to stop, it meant that her understanding had reached the necessary level!

Above all else, it meant that Alice could see how the energy moved when she performed the Void Steps just now.

Never in her life has she seen someone more absurd than Alice. Someone who soaked in the knowledge around her like a sponge, someone who was this sensitive to the flow of energy and someone who had adaptability levels that were off the charts.

Once again, she was left to question what kind of monster raised this kid.

"Stopping after triggering the Void Steps is a little harder to execute than just controlling the energy. I'll show you how once you do the job for me okay?" She tried to convince Alice.

After all, if Alice were to stall, it would get to the point where she'd need to make a move.

"Honestly… That'll be a little boring. I think I can figure it out myself if I have enough time with it." Alice replied after a short pause. There was a devilish grin on her face as there was only one thought in her mind.

Scam the sh*t outta this woman.

It's rare that she bumps into anyone with such in depth knowledge of how the Void works. Since that was the case, she couldn't pass up this opportunity to gain as much as she could from her!

Hearing her response, the woman's smile twitched as she had to hold back the urge to smack this girl over the head.

"Fine, if you can resolve this quickly without me needing to make a move then I'll teach you something else other than the Void Step."

"Deal!" Without giving the woman a chance to back out of this, Alice accepted the agreement while making her way over to the edge of the island.

Earlier, she had expanded her senses and recognised that Selen and the others were below her. Since they were all safe, Alice didn't have to worry much about them. They just needed a short break to recuperate.

Since she needed to deal with Keira, she'd send them back first. It's not like she could go back to begin with.

That brief contact with reality, even with a barrier around her was enough to tear her legs apart. She didn't even want to imagine what would happen if she were to fully teleport back to reality.

Just the thought alone was enough to give her shivers.

"So where do I need to go?" Alice glanced back at the woman who curled her lips into a grin.

"I don't know, you'll have to find out for yourself. Me helping out would be considered as making a move after all."

Alice's smile twitched before shrugging her shoulders.

After her near death experience, it felt like her mind had opened up to more ideas than before. Right now, she had a theory she wanted to test in order to track down the hybrid.

Taking a deep breath, Alice sat down at the edge of the island.

All three of the Abyssal Artifacts had their own uses. But what Alice discovered was that it could replicated to some extent. While not to the same degree of effectiveness, it was still far better than not being able to use it.

With Cayla sealed, her methods of obtaining information was limited. But Alice could still remember the sensation.

Now that she had achieved a similar resonance with the Void, replicating it could be possible. But only if she was in the Void.

Summoning Ruinous Void, she activated the Singularity form. Unknowingly, her eye began to change as a singularity appeared in her eye rather than red spider lilies.

Her senses expanded rapidly, resonating with the strands of energy within the Void realm.

It felt similar to a large spider web where Alice would sit in the middle and feel the vibrations through the strands. The signs of battle occurring throughout the Void.

Conflicts between Void beasts, colliding islands, fissures being opened momentarily, pre established portals that are being maintained and even vaults.

Blood began to drip from her nose but Alice wiped it away and focused her mind.

This was too much information. She needed to categorise and filter out the unnecessary things and focus only on the uncanny energy that the hybrids exude naturally.

While Alice was replicating Cayla's method of gathering information despite the strain on her mind, the woman watched with an interested glint in her eyes.

She didn't even think of this method of gathering information. Despite being the owner of the Void, she had to do things manually which exhausted her. Eventually, she gave up and decided to be lazy, letting people do whatever they wanted as long as it didn't disturb her.

But if she had thought of this method many years ago, she would've had an easier time managing this realm.

Of course, she wasn't about to tell Alice. After all, if the little greedy minx found out she had learnt something from her, she might turn around and demand payment.

'Absolutely not.' The woman thought to herself while smoking her long pipe. Alice had already learnt the method of Void Step while demanding something more.

If she had to owe the girl another favour on top of that, she'll be exhausted by the time she's done. At that point, she might as well take care of the strange beast herself.

After all, a lazy life is the best life.

Soon, Alice stood up and stumbled a little but recovered. There was a glint in her eyes as she curved her lips into a grin.

She found Keira.