Abyssal Awakening

"We're… directly challenging the sects? Wouldn't that be bad? That's practically spreading my face to the entire region." Jin's smile twitched.

Alice's goal was to make sure the Eclipse didn't go after him anymore. But if he was to show his true face to the world while they're challenging the Sovereign sects, wasn't that just broadcasting his survival?

"Well duh, I'm not that stupid. We're going to go using disguises. Let's go as a wandering master and disciple, hoping to broaden our horizons or something. Challenge the sects to a duel and if they don't accept, we'll break a few things, knock out a few people, maybe slander their ancestor or something." Alice shrugged nonchalantly while Jin couldn't help but sigh and facepalm.

When Alice gets like this, no one could stop her troublemaker instincts.

"Anyways just don't worry about the details. I'll sort it out." Alice reassured with a thumbs up.

"You know, somehow that gives me more worry than just straight up attacking them."

"Tch, I'm the master here, why are you doubting so much." Alice frowned, smacking him on the back of the head as glass fragments appeared across his body.

"We also need to find a decent blacksmith to modify your blades a little to suit the new style."

Right now, Jin's blades are akin to cleavers. Short and broad.

But due to the fact that the new style requires using the blades as anchors for certain movements, turning them into standard longswords or curved blades would work better in this regard.

He didn't need something fancy like being hand crafted by a Lord or something, just a good blacksmith would do.

"We can probably find a blacksmith when we make our way to the Empyrean Dragon sect. they're a sect that's located on the coast with trades between them, the Abyss and nations overseas." Jin explained, pulling out the map.

"Wait, they trade with the Abyss?" Alice blinked her eyes as she glanced over in surprise.

After escaping the Abyss thanks to the Inverted World, she hadn't had a chance to go back yet.

She was aware that there were gateways leading back down in all the nations but she simply never got the chance to visit.

"Yea. All three Sovereign Sects are situated over a gateway that lets them train their disciples. For the Empyrean Dragon, I believe their gateway leads to a split land of scorching deserts and blistering cold where dragons reside. Or at least that's what the rumours suggest." Jin explained while marking out the sect on the map.

Considering the martial arts of the Empyrean Dragon, it wasn't surprising that they would choose to hunt down draconic creatures to match their needs.

"It is open to the public for a price. By hiring the disciples of the Empyrean Dragon, they allow certain people to go down for a Hunt. Of course, the disciples can choose to reject your commission."

Hearing this, Alice understood that it was probably similar to a system employed by the Hunter's guild.

'They probably limit what you can Hunt as well. Unless you're a member of the sect, I doubt they'll let you Hunt the stronger beasts since this portion of the Abyss is probably being used as a sort of 'farm' for them.' Alyss spoke up as Alice nodded her head in agreement.

If one could hold a monopoly over a portion of the Abyss, especially one with powerful beasts, they could severely limit the power of those within the same region. An imbalance of power.

Standing in silence, Alice suddenly had a wide troublemaking grin on her face.

"I wanna mess it up."

[I suggest you reign it in. If you try to open that gate further, it'll cause the Abyss to bleed into reality. If you try to close it, you could cause them to lose the powerful foundation they need to keep the Cult at bay in the south.] Cayla warned her against it.

Logic and real consequences were the best methods to stopping Alice when she's in her troublemaker state. Though that only works if the logic and consequences are heavy enough for her to reconsider.

Thankfully, Alice seemed to give up.

One on end, she didn't want the Eclipse to gain a leverage. On the other, having the Abyss bleed into Reality was similar to what the Will wanted so she didn't want that either.

Meanwhile, Jin observed Alice talking to the voices in her mind and noticed that she lost her troublemaker grin.

Sighing out in relief, he began to plan a route to the Empyrean Dragon sect while Alice worked on their disguise. Continue reading stories on My Virtual Library Empire

For Jin, she gave him long black hair with streaks of jade while leaving his golden eyes unchanged. She marked the corner of his eyes with red highlights while also changing his physique to be more muscular and cloud like markings across his arms and chest.

Unfortunately for him, she didn't buy any clothing for males so he could only stay with what he had and put a disguise over it.

A sleeveless black shirt, silver shoulder guards and wrist guards. Green fabric wrapped around his waist while he wore a pair of loose fitting pants and a pair of black shoes.

A simple attire for Jin.

Meanwhile, Alice didn't hold back for herself.

She gave herself long blonde hair that was tied up into a high bun, a pair of golden eyes and elongated ears. Streaks of blonde hair framed her face while yellow flower hair pins were placed above her ear.

She wore a sleeveless Eastern dress made up of primarily orange and yellow hues with hints of black around the edges and details. The high slit skirt reached all the way to her ankles, exposing her legs. Above the shoes, she wore an orange anklet with a small orange flower.

Placing some flower ornaments and orange tassels around her dress, she finished it off with a pair of black silken gloves that reached her bicep with a pair of orange flower bracelets.

Naturally, all of this was an outfit that she bought rather than an illusion.

Creating a blood mirror to admire herself, Alice nodded in satisfaction before adjusting her voice.

"Ah~ Ah ah~ Ahem ahem, testing testing~" She modified her voice so that it was deeper than usual, giving it a sultry feeling.

"Fufu~ perfect, don't you think so dear disciple?" Alice chuckled elegantly while taking out a fan from her pouch.

However, Jin simply stared at her with a blank expression before letting out a mocking sigh.

*PUCHI!!!

Feeling a vein bulge on her forehead, Alice's smile twitched as she couldn't hold herself back and smacked him on the back of the head, dispelling his disguise.

"I didn't even say anything!?" Jin clutched his head.

"The only right answer was to praise me as the perfect beauty I am." Alice folded her arms while gesturing him to lead the way.

Reapplying his disguise for him, Alice created a floating spear before sitting down with her legs crossed.

Seeing that she wasn't about to make a seat for him, Jin sighed and simply walked.

###

Looking at the map that he's made, Luke sat down and folded his arms. This area was both large yet small. A vast majority was simply the desert with countless beasts waiting beneath the sand.

Broken weapons poked out, acting as a grave of sorts for those that have lost their lives within this harsh land.

In terms of 'villages', there were more than ten with all of them spaced out roughly the same distance from one another. But rather than a tradition village, it's more so a handful of houses and people living there.

There were even traces of some villages being destroyed by beasts as a few now occupy where humans should be living.

Despite not being able to leave, people were able to enter.

But like a fleeting mirage, they were sent elsewhere within this vast landscape.

Of course, they have the choice of chasing after them as Ria tried. But the moment they came close, they were shifted away once more.

Not wanting to risk splitting up with one another, Ria and Luke didn't chase after anyone else.

Noticing Ria coming back from the village, Luke glanced up.

"Still not willing to talk to us?" Luke asked as Ria shook her head.

"Parents are shielding their children and running away, not wanting any kind of interaction with me. Even if I offer food or the whatnot, they didn't seem to care even though they're basically withered husks." Ria shrugged helplessly.

She was hoping that she could potentially gather some details from the kids since they were more inclined to speak. But the parents didn't give any chance of that.

They couldn't be called hostile yet they weren't exactly cooperative either.

"Maybe they just don't trust outsiders. I don't know what's the difference between us and the residents since they don't get teleported away." Luke sighed.

He wasn't sure what causes the teleportation phenomenon. But whatever it was, it only occurred when they try to interact with outsiders like them.

"The way they get food is also weird. I don't see them Hunt or anything like that yet there's always food on the table." Ria frowned.

The longer they stayed here, the more eerie it became.

She recalled the stares of the adults. At first, she thought they were simply weary. But now that she thought back to it carefully, that didn't feel like the case at all.

That gaze… judging, contemplating, observing. It felt as though she was…

No.

She IS food on a platter.

Upon coming to this realisation, Ria glanced back at one of the houses with a frown and saw a single eye staring at her from the cracks of the window.

Steady, unblinking, observing her every move.