Abyssal Awakening

"I erm… I think I want to stay in the north for a bit." Selen scratched her cheek.

Blinking her eyes, Alice's brain stopped working for a moment as she glanced to her left, towards Egil who was looking after his mother.

"Is that so?" Alice muttered as she began to put together the pieces.

Feeling a shiver down her spine, Selen glanced at Alice's expression and saw a smug grin.

"Hou hou~ So you want to stay in the north huh? I wonder if it's because of a certain somebody? You were pretty worried about everything that he was doing after all~" Alice shifted closer before nudging Selen with her elbow.

"Erm… We're kinda… ya know. Erm… dating." Selen admitted as Alice froze up.

She wanted to tease Selen a little longer but if they're already dating then it's no fun.

"If that's the case then it's only natural that you stay in the north. Plus, you know about the Zenia family so having someone like that here will help out a lot." Alice chuckled.

"You're not annoyed?" Selen raised an eyebrow.

"Why would I be? Honestly I wouldn't have been surprised if you left me to die after being expelled from the Inverted World. The fact that you've looked after me for this long is more than enough already." Alice smiled.

"So if you want to stay in the north then be my guest. It's not like we're completely cutting off our connection. You can still send letters to me and vice versa." Alice patted her shoulder.

"Will you be alright on your own though?"

With Alice planning on journeying to the south east, having a travel companion would make things far better and split up the responsibilities.

"Pft, don't worry I'm never on my own. I got the voices in my head no?" Alice grinned, pointing at her head.

'The f*ck you're calling a voice in your head. I'm your damn twin!' Alyss rolled her eyes.

"So don't worry about me. If anything, having you here gives me a way to keep track of the things happening in the north. Especially since the Zenias might target this place even if I'm gone ya know?"

Thinking about it for a moment, Selen nodded her head.

"Alright. But if you go to the south east, make sure you find a reliable healer okay? With how reckless you are, if you don't have someone with some degree of medical knowledge next to you you'll break your body beyond repair."

"I'll see what I can find." Alice agreed.

Her close encounter during the battle by the port was a reminder for her that she couldn't completely trust her regeneration. The fact that she almost died when her regeneration wasn't working was a wake up slap to the face.

Just as she was about to say something else, Alice noticed the doors opening and saw Caera walking in with a swagger to her steps that wasn't there before.

There was a grin on her face as she threw her jacket onto the coat hanger and threw herself into her chair.

"Seems like you're in a good mood." Alice chuckled.

Spinning on her chair and sliding across the room, Caera nodded her head.

"I am indeed. You got your meeting with the Queen and I got a greenlight for the next step of my experiment."

"Speaking of the Queen, do you know why she didn't make a move during the attack?" Alice asked curiously.

"Of course I do. I'm the one who made her that way after all." Caera nodded while playing with a strand of her hair.

"But I can't help but notice there's someone else in here. This is a Lab my dear master, not an Inn." She peaked her head over Selen's shoulders and glanced at Egil's mother who was sleeping on the bed.

"Sorry about that." Alice scratched her chin.

"No need for apologies, I'm not blaming you ahaha. But back to what you asked, yes, I do know. When it comes to cultivating divinity, I'm still a novice at it and the Queen is the first target of this experiment. She couldn't make a move as she's in the delicate process of making a cocoon for herself.

"In order for her to attain a stable divinity, she needs to break out of her mortal shell first. But if she was to make a move and exert her power, this cocoon that she's building will break apart and her divinity will fail. In essence, if she was to make a move, she'll only be a demi god rather than a full god." Caera explained.

"The second reason is the other Gods. I don't believe I need to explain how petty the three gods are so you can imagine their reaction the moment they sense a divinity that doesn't belong to any of them in the north. The moment the Queen makes any kind of move, her cultivated divinity will leak out. It becomes a beacon that lets the gods know a new god is appearing."

Hearing this, Alice furrowed her brows.

If this was indeed the case then it was no surprise that Verona didn't want to make a move.

If she did, she fails to become a god and remains as a demi god. In that state, she'll be unable to fend off the three gods from repeating what happened to Ayr.

"So what you're telling me is, she's in our debt because we helped her survive the attack without her making a move?" Alice grinned.

"Pretty much." Caera shrugged.

"Interesting, how very interesting indeed."

Seeing Alice like this, Selen already knew that she was planning on scamming the Queen.

"So when do I meet the Queen?" Alice asked.

"We can go now if you wish."

Tapping her fingers, Alice nodded her head.

She didn't want to prolong her stay in the north. The sooner she sorts out this new cure for those that are fighting, the better it is for her. That way, she can leave the north and there's a higher chance of the Zenias leaving the north alone.

Standing up, she had Caera show her the way.

###

"Distraction again. What are you thinking about so deeply?" The woman tapped her pommel against Albert's head.

"Sorry." Albert sighed.

"I've heard sorry too many times now, tell me something else." The woman rolled her eyes and leaned back in her seat.

"Have you… Ever wondered about what my family does?" Albert asked after a brief pause.

"I have. But it's not part of my pay check to find out. Once I finish teaching you, my connection with the family ends there." She replied honestly while grabbing a blade of grass and placing it in her mouth.

Albert was the only connection she had with the family and she'd rather keep it that way.

"I understand. But in the future, if you were… to find yourself disagreeing with my family, what will you do?"

"Boy, do you want me to fight this family of yours or something? After dealing with you, I'm going back home. There's no reason for me to keep sticking around. But in the event that I do find myself disagreeing with your family… Well depending on what happens I'll probably let my sword talk rather than me." The woman raised an eyebrow before shrugging.

She's noticed that recently, Albert has been more and more concerned with this family of his. Maybe it's the source of the unrest in his heart, maybe it's something else. Regardless, if he askes for her opinion, she'll answer him truthfully. That's how she's been and she won't change that.

"Anyways, stop thinking about it too deeply. There's a reason why I'm not investigating or finding out about your family." She suggested as Albert nodded his head.

Letting Albert resume his mediation, the woman closed her eyes as well.

The scientist that is supposed to tag along with Albert for the next mission.

He was… a strange person. Someone that only saw others as specimens and she couldn't figure out his morals. The way he looked at her felt as though he wanted to just cut her open and see what's inside.

To see what makes her body strong and so on.

'I should probably distance myself from this family sooner rather than later.'

The bad feelings she's been getting from this family has increased over the past few months. And it all began with an incident at the prison when it was broken into. Continue your saga on m|v-l'e m,p| y- r

She didn't know what was hidden there but clearly it was the beginning of everything.

Shaking her head, she cleared her mind. They'll be arriving at the meet up point soon and after that, they'll enter the north. Their goal is to infiltrate the capital. She didn't know the details of the mission but her only goal was to keep Albert safe.

The woman caressed the sheath of her blade and imagined herself fighting against the Lords of the north.

Sigurd, Frida and Urigar. Out of the three, only Urigar stands as a slight annoyance.

Even for Lords who have the same number of Sigils, the quality of the Sigils differ based on what they've done leading up to this point. Urigar inherited his title so his power was limited.

While Sigurd and Frida may have gotten a title approved by the Abyss, it wasn't a 'new' title so their powers were rather predictable.

In summery, it'll be a one sided slaughter in her favour.

So long as it was only against these three.

Then there was the issue of the Queen and any unknown variables.

However, she'll cross that bridge when it appears.

###

Approaching the throne room, Alice watched as Caera pushed open the doors before standing off to the side.

She could see a woman sitting on the throne and her aura around her body. The clear sign of divinity.

Queen Verona, the one who is aiming to become a God.