Abyssal Awakening

Sitting on a rock with his eyes closed, Jin pushed his senses to the limit.

The rustling of leaves, the howling of winds and the waving of the grass. He pushed his senses of hearing and touch to the absolute limit so that he could perceive the world around him without the use of sight.

A step.

The sounds of the grass had changed. Something was in the way.

Curling his lips up into a confident smile, Jin snapped his eyes open and turned around.

"There!"

"Wrong." Chopping down with her hand against his head from the left, Alice sighed as Jin wasn't able to open the Zone at all.

Even though he was refining his senses, it still fell short of a Zone. It was akin to a swordsman who knew how to use a sword but didn't have a weapon.

Of course, his senses could be refined further in order to grasp the Zone but the issue was that there was not even the slightest sign of it opening.

Completely sealed shut.

She tried killing intent, she tried to have him single out his senses and even had Alyss spar with him regularly while holding back. Strong enough to kick his ass but held back enough so the fight wasn't ended in an instant.

Hell, he couldn't even open a weapon domain never mind the next stage up being the Zone.

Getting Jin to sit back down on the rock, Alice manipulated a blood needle through the grass in order for him to refine his senses.

'Maybe I'm approaching this the wrong way.' Alice thought to herself.

She tried her best to recall everything that she learned from the Apostle.

Rather than teaching her Offensive or Absolute Zone right off the bat, they worked on the foundation of the Passive Zone.

And in order to create the Passive Zone, Alice needed to understand her own limits. Detection Range, Reaction Range and Counter Range.

How fast can she detect the attack? How fast can she choose a course of action and what is her optimal range of counter?

She had to figure out these three in order to formulate the Passive Zone.

For Jin, Alice had already helped him figure out his Detection Range. Now was simply a case of reaction and counter. But herein lies the issue. Whenever he tries to react or counter, his Detection fluctuates and even weakens.

For that brief instance where he attacks, he'll lose track of his opponents.

A deadly mistake that shouldn't be allowed to continue.

However, Alice had another theory.

To begin with, the Zone was a unique boundary for each person. It changes based on their own habits and methods of counter.

Alice's Zone was large due to her wide detection thanks to Cayla. Not only that, but she could condense it down into a 5 meter radius around herself for the most optimal counter.

Naturally, this couldn't be applied to Jin since he'll have his own habits and methods. Trying to force him to follow her example wouldn't really work.

Furrowing her brows, Alice flicked her finger as the needle shot towards Jin.

Reacting to the sudden change, Jin turned to his left in an attempt to counter. But by the time he turned around, the needle was now approaching from behind.
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"Anddd you're dead." Alice sighed while retrieving the needle.

Scratching his hair, Jin was a little disappointed himself as he slumped on the rock.

"When you detect the needle, you lose focus at the last moment. That split moment can be exploited if you don't prepare yourself properly. Are you not used to the counterattack or martial arts?" Alice asked while twirling the needle.

She needed to figure out why Jin was struggling so that she could help him resolve the issue.

Folding his arm, Jin thought about it for a moment before opening his mouth.

"I think it's because I'm still fighting my habits from the Cult. My first instinct is to use the Eclipse Reaver so it takes a moment for me to reign it in and use what Alyss taught me." Jin theorised.

[That would make sense as the ritual that he's part of is a brutal one. One moment of hesitation and it means death. There's no doubt that the people involved must've hammered in the Eclipse Reavers into his mind, ensuring that he'll default to it the moment his life is in danger.] Cayla added.

'So basically unless he uses the Eclipse Reaver, he won't be able to open a Zone?'

[There could be a high likelihood of that yes.]

Scratching her hair, Alice wondered what she could do to offset this. What could she do to remove what's been hammered into his instincts?

'I don't think he necessarily has to forget about using the chain blades. Eclipse Reaver doesn't have a set pattern to begin with. It's a series of movements that's entirely up to the user's decisions.

'Taking that into account, what if we just change the movements but keep the weapon? We'll meet up half way to resolve the instinct issue.' Alyss suggested.

Thinking about it for a moment, Alice agreed, giving control to Alyss so that she could help Jin create a new set of movements for the renewed Eclipse Reaver.

The key to the new set of movements is preserving Jin's instinct with the chained blades but directing them to a new goal.

What used to be the desire for unrestricted destruction will be control. What breaks will now constrict.

To slowly eliminate the paths of retreat until there is only one path left and that's directly into the maw of the beast.

That night, Alyss stayed up longer than usual, referencing between the Sigils that Jin has and his habits. What his first instinct to danger would be and so on.

She needed to know as much as she could so that she could arrange a compatible set of movements for him.

'Berserker, area of effect, unrestricted power and momentum…' Alyss tapped her finger as she summarised the philosophy of the Eclipse Reaver. Everything was set up to cause as much havoc as possible in the midst of battle.

Instead of being a berserker, they wanted Jin to be a conductor. Someone who can control the battle with his chains.

In the Eclipse Reaver, the chains are merely a means to extend the range of the blades. There are only one or two movements that actually make use of it.

'Control. He can use the chains to bind, drag, manipulate and even restrict potential paths of movement.

'Precision. If he uses his body as an anchor, he can throw out the blades with the precision of rope darts. There must be a clear intent with every move to prevent wasted movement.

'Hunt. Like a beast, he must be relentless in his pursuit. Once engaged, only one can leave unless he chooses to give up.'

Creating a framework of what she wanted to teach, Alyss began to fuse different movements from each martial art using the modified Eclipse Reaver as a base.

Control: Chains and restriction.

Precision: Deception to create a gap for a precise strike. Every strike must have intent behind it. Efficiency and accuracy are key.

Hunt: Unrelenting. Each move is set up to exhaust the target so that he can unleash the final strike to end their life. Once bitten, the prey will not escape.

'For control, a merger between the Chi clan's soft parry and the Titan sect's stability will be good. Precision should be a mix between Skybound Swallow, Vermillion and traces from the Instant Draw.

'And finally, Hunt should involve the Blazing Sun sect's intensity, lethality from the Instant Draw and hints of the brutal nature from the Eclipse Reaver.'

With the theory now crafted, all that's left was to create the movements.

Once a clear goal was in mind, she just needed to create a bridge to reach that destination.

Seeing Alyss so focused, Alice couldn't help but chuckle as she decided not to interrupt her twin. She'll give her control of the body for as long as possible so that she can remain in this state of focus.

###

Waking up the next morning, Jin yawned before looking around him.

During their camping, he had gotten used to sleeping in trees much like Alice.

However, this morning was a little… different. He couldn't help but feel as though the height of the tree had shrunk a little.

Glancing down, he saw that he was basically at ground level as a majority of the tree has been cut away.

"The f*ck???"

Furrowing his brows, he jumped off and looked around him in confusion.

If the tree was damaged to this extent, how come he was still sleeping soundly?

There were hints of destruction all around him. Slashes against the rocks, chunks of the ground being torn up and even grooves where boulders used to be.

But there was one thing that was missing.

Alyss.

Alice wasn't the kind to wake up early so Jin couldn't help but feel as though something was wrong.

Packing his things, he looked around for her only to see a tree flying through the sky.

Quickly running towards where the tree was thrown from, he was shocked to find a large crater with the earth dug out and Alyss standing in the middle.

In her hands, she held a pair of chain blades created from blood and metal.

"You're up earlier than expected. Did I wake you up?" Alyss yawned, glancing over to Jin.

She spaced out momentarily and forgot to catch the tree she had thrown.

"No, no you didn't." Jin shook his head in disbelief. He simply couldn't figure out how she managed to create all this destruction without waking him up.

"That's good, you should be fully awake then. Come here, I'll teach you the new martial arts that I made."

". . . ?????????" Questions filled Jin's mind.

But most importantly, how the hell did she make a new martial art in one night????