Abyssal Awakening

Before familiarizing herself with the newly improved fighting styles of Ria and Luke, Alice wanted to do a little bit of experimentation with her Sigil.

To figure out what she can do in terms of physical resonance as well developing her other Sigils.

And first on the list was naturally Duality.

Finding a space to sit down alone, Alice closed her eyes. The Sigil on the back of her neck burned as she overlayed the Soul of Duality over herself.

From what Tristan had told her, Esse was able to use three powers when manipulating Duality.

First was Inversion, the most basic functionality. What's up is down, what's left is right.

It's what Alice was most familiar with and the thing she uses to create two forms of Tiamat. One that absorbs energy and one that expels all of it in one go.

The second usage that Tristan spoke about was the power of Synchronisation. A link between the mind and soul, an aspect that Alice wasn't too familiar with.

And lastly was Restriction. By hindering one part of what you can do, you gain benefits on another.

Alice was most interested in the power of Synchronisation since it sounded similar to how Resonance works.

If so, what if she was to form a synchronised power between her normal Resonance, Artificial Resonance and Physical Resonance? Or better yet. . .

Her Second Resonance that she hasn't shown to Rosalyn yet.

As the soul of Duality took over, Alice felt like she was floating on the surface of a lake. She knew that wasn't the case but this. . . sensation while having her eyes closed, it was one that tricked the mind.

When she overlayed Allura, she felt this itch to bite on something like a cigarette otherwise she couldn't fight comfortably.

For Duality, she's alternating between floating on the surface and being face down into the water.

As a conceptual power, Duality wasn't something with a definitive form. It's not a towering blaze not a land of ice.

It simply. . . is.

And even with just a fragment of the full power, Alice felt as though countless branching paths were laid out before her.

Immersing herself in this feeling, Alice slowly opened her eyes. For targets she wasn't quite familiar with and didn't know where to start, this overlay stage took far longer than usual.

While Kaden and Allura was done practically instant.

Exhaling deeply, there was now a new gleam in Alice's eyes. Her gaze was colder than the northern winds while black and white energy swirled around her body.

Glancing down, Alice clenched her fist and golden chains whipped into existence. However, unlike before, this time it only occupied her right wrist.

"What the f*ck???" 'Alice' blinked her eyes.

"Weird isn't it?" Alice chuckled.

"Yeah no sh*t. This feels f*cking weird as sh*t. The hell did you do???" Alyss frowned.

"Synchronisation. Well. . . an application of it. Since we often swap controls or what not, I wanted to see if it's possible to take control at the same time. And gotta admit. . ." Alice trailed off.

""This f*cking sucks."" Both of them spoke at the same time before letting out a laugh.

Having two souls control one body at the same time didn't work exactly as how they had initially planned. Instead, it randomly switches controls for parts of the body at random intervals.

One moment, Alice might be controlling the right hand and in the next moment, the left leg.

While it might not be so helpful for them, against someone with multiple souls in them, specially Apostles belonging to the Moon, this could serve to be a great weapon.

The sudden confusion of having your motor functions ripped away could prove to be a fatal mistake.

Cancelling the Synchronisation, Alice regained control for her whole body.

'What else can you do? I doubt Synchronisation is entirely limited to just making us two scramble over the controls.' Alyss asked curiously.

Rather than explaining, Alice decided to demonstrate instead.

In her right hand, she conjured a ball of Abyssal energy while in her left, a ball of Void energy. Bringing the two towards each other, the colours started to blend, contorting the realm around them.

"Resonance stabilises the power of three energies, turning it into something else to be used. Trying to perform a resonance with two powers simply causes an imbalance and f*cks up things inside the body. However. . ." Alice smiled, clasping her hands together and compressing the orb into a size small like her thumb.

"With Synchronisation, it forms a balanced structure between two powers. While not being as stable as three, at least it won't break itself apart without people interfering." She shrugged.

And then there was the final power, Restriction.

Restriction was rather self explanatory thanks to the name.

Yet when activating the power, Alice found herself inside a strange realm. Surrounding her was a boundless grey desert and a starless sky.

No wind, no sound.

Only one thing occupied this space and it was a robed figure sitting in front of a giant scale.

Despite trying to peer under the hood, Alice found herself unable to see his true face.

"State your desire. . ." He spoke slowly. His voice dry and crackly yet carried the words with such clarity that it was impossible for Alice to misunderstand.

Folding her arms, Alice decided to test something out first.

"I want my Void Axis to hold the full concept of severance to ensure that it can cut through anything and everything."

She wanted to see how this robed figure would react to her words, what kind of restriction it would give her.

*RUMBLE!!!

Feeling the sudden surge of energy and the ground trembling beneath her feet, Alice stumbled back in the sand and saw a singularity placed on one side of the scale. It pulsed out with a malevolent energy, discharging arcs of energy in rhythmic fashion.

"A desire full of greed. . . As such, the price must match thy greed." The robed figure let out a dry laugh.

Watching the man hold out both his hands, Alice paused with a slight frown.

Information about the price was directly injected into her mind with the man waiting for her response.

The first option was obvious, to take the authority of Severance for herself. Once she does so, even if she can't control it well, it'll allow her to accomplish the attack. However, doing so will take her out of combat for around 2 days as her body can't handle that kind of forceful discharge without proper preparation.

As for the second option. . .

Permanently give up the fragment of Severance that she has stolen.

If she does so, she'll be able to unleash its full power for a single attack.

Usually, Alice would try to find a loophole. But she knew that this wasn't possible for this exchange.

Once she burns the fragment, even if she was to drink Allura's blood again, it'll be impossible for her to use severance.

After this attack, her body will become completely incompatible with the power unless she is able to receive the power of Severance in its entirety.

Scratching her head, Alice glanced at the robed figure and rejected the exchange.

Then again, it's only to be expected since her desire was an attack that wouldn't miss. To utilise the authority bestowed by a Goddess even though she wasn't an Apostle.

Glancing at the man, Alice wondered for a moment before opening her mouth.

"What if I want to use my powers to completely get rid of the side effects plaguing someone's body?"

So far, she's been able to temporarily get rid of visible effects and corruption. But to truly cut out side effects? That was still outside of her reach.

"To use one's power for others, to relieve them of their burden, one must carve off thy flesh." The robed man chuckled.

The restriction was clear. To completely rid someone of their side effects, Alice had to use herself as sacrifice.

If she was to accept these restrictions, the power of Duality will erase someone else's side effects.

Powerful but indeed the drawback made one think twice.

Asking a few more questions, Alice understood that this 'restriction' was one that told her whether or not something was achievable using her current powers.

Asking questions such as give her a skill that can kill a God in one hit from this distance was impossible, she simply lacked the power and information to make this a reality.

To complete an exchange, knowledge of the task was also necessary. Otherwise not even the power of restriction can figure out a path for her.

Of course, there was a leeway in that by sacrificing something, she'll be able to exert more power than normal.

To go above and beyond.

Just as she was about to end the questioning session, her pupils constricted.

If it could go above and beyond. . .

There was one last burning question in her mind.

A topic that she had knowledge of to some degree. Whether or not it was sufficient was another question entirely but regardless, Alice had to ask.

On the off chance that this robed figure could tell her the answer.

"Allura the Apostle of Severance suffered a hit from the Apostle of Famine. Using my powers and the souls that I've stolen, can you create a skill to erase the wounds on her body?"

A silence that felt like it stretched on for eternity ensued. Alice could tell the robed figure was contemplating whether or not it was possible. It was going through all the possibilities to see if she had the power to complete a task like this.

Then, he opened his mouth.

"To erase the mark of Famine, a mark of absolute suffering, thou does not have the power."

Even though she was prepared, hearing it still gave her a sense of sadness. Even after gaining this much power, there still wasn't anything she could do. She couldn't help Allura nor give Kaden a hand.

All she could do was cheer from the side.

"However." The robed figure continued. "Thou does not have adequate information. The passage of time changes many things, this is no exception. What you saw was the origin point, a memory of the wound. See the real wound and an exchange may be achieved."