Abyssal Awakening - Chapter 867

Chapter 867: Class Selection

“Isn’t that just a given? To avoid dying as much as you can. Hell, you shouldn’t aim to die in the first place, no?” Alice raised her eyebrows, slightly confused by the second ‘rule’.

Death was the endpoint of all life. So why would an ‘end’ have a continuation?

“Have you ever had a dream when you suddenly fell from a great height? And as you are about to slam into the ground, you jolt up awake. Did your death in the dream kill you?” Monika asked with a knowing smile.

“No…”

“This is the Land of Nightmares. A place of confusing laws, different to the ones you are used to. Death is not the end here. It’s merely a pause. But die too much… Well. There are consequences for that kind of behaviour.” She chuckled.

“There are more that you’ll find out whilst on your journey through this realm. You’ll learn more about the Embryo, about what awaits your arrival. So why not take your time and enjoy yourself a little?

“Careful not to trip while you’re walking, little flame.” Monika did a slight bow.

With her staff, she tapped the ground beneath her and disappeared with a swirl of butterflies and fog.

Alice sat there in silence. She blinked her eyes and scratched her hair.

Monika was a rather confusing woman. But in the end, she still received some useful information from her.

One of which is how to use the Embryos she got from the beasts.

“Offer it to the branch huh…” Alice looked at the crystal.

After a moment of contemplation, she held it above the branch.

To her surprise, golden strands of energy rose up from the soil. The tips of which sunk into the Embryo and began to ‘drink’ the crystal.

Seeing it shrink between her fingers, Alice then watched as the Embryo in the centre was dissolved into the same golden energy from that branch.

Blinking her eyes, Alice suddenly found herself in the middle of a strange space.

In a sense, it was similar to her mental realm whenever she used Cayla’s power.

Around her, several silhouettes stood with different weapons. Their forms swallowed by fog with the only thing visible being the clothes and weapons.

‘Is it asking me to choose?’ Alice wondered.

Approaching the silhouette with a longsword, she felt a stream of information entering her mind.

A knight.

A fighter focused on resilience and confidence. To charge and exchange blows using masterful swordsmanship and dexterity.

Alice furrowed her brows.

Within this stream of information, she felt a sensation similar to her Sixth Sigil. An overlay of experience over her own body.

If she was to harmonise with this option, her fighting style would be one of clashing weapons directly and fast heavy attacks. Despite being focused on dexterity, strength was equally as important.

Alice looked at the different silhouettes.

She now understood what this first Embryo represented.

The choice of how she wanted to approach this nightmare realm, how she wanted to fight and survive.

The obvious answer would be to go for a caster route. After all, being a caster was what she was best at. But without knowing the exact casting rules of this realm and what she’ll be able to do, choosing that was a little risky.

What was absolutely off the table were the silhouettes holding giant weapons such as greatswords or hammers.

And it was for two reasons. One, she didn’t have the strength. Two, her small body wasn’t suitable. Rather than her swinging the weapon, it’ll be the weapon swinging her.

Walking through the choices, Alice rejected them one by one before landing on the last.

A hybrid class of sorts, one that uses a weapon as a casting focus. Being entirely based around dexterity and casting.

“A rapier huh… More suitable for stabbing rather than slashing. Well… it’s better than clashing weapons I suppose and it still leaves the option of casting open.” Alice mumbled while the information flooded into her mind.

Methods of using a Rapier and how she should fight.

To skirt around the edges of her enemy’s range, using the lunge to bridge the gap and stab them in their vital areas. To parry then riposte enemy attacks through keen observation.

And if range was needed, there was a crystal on the pommel of the rapier that’ll allow her to cast spells.

“I guess you’re the most suitable option for me.” Alice chuckled, harmonising with the class.

Of course, her weapon was not limited to just the rapier. So long as she can find weapons light enough for her to use, she’ll be able to use it effectively.

Opening her eyes, Alice found that she hadn’t moved from her spot. She was still sitting in front of the branch only this time, her outfit had changed and a new weapon hung on her hip.

Thankfully, her gun was still there. Even if there was only one bullet left, that bullet could still be a saving grace.

Her current outfit was somewhat similar to her first Hunter’s attire that she received at the Slaughter Docks. An elegant leather jacket with some trousers and knee high boots. There was minimal armour on her body to ensure quick movement.

Her long hair had been braided into a ponytail while the front was left untouched.

The contrasting strands of hair still framing her face.

Set to her side was a tricorn hat with a tuff of feather attached to the side.

Picking up her hat, Alice curved her lips up to a smile.

“Since I need more Embryos to test out a few things, I guess now’s a better time than ever to go on a little hunt.”

Having chosen this hybrid of slashing and casting, Alice had a single ‘spell’ given to her.

Standing up, she made her way out of the basement and out to the streets of this fog filled city.

As Monika had mentioned, having linked up to the camp, the fog had retreated somewhat.

Before, she was limited to a visual range of two meters. But now, that range had increased to roughly five meters with silhouettes becoming clearer in the fog.

‘Their positions haven’t changed. If what Monika said is true, even if I kill them, once I rest at the camp again they’ll reappear.’ Alice thought to herself as she drew her rapier.

Inverting her grip to aim her pommel, she targeted the closest beast. A silhouette waiting in ambush above the opposite building.

Narrowing her eyes, Alice channelled her energy and cast the only spell available to her.

Pale Lance!

Energy converged into a single white lance that shot towards the beast’s location.

Only…

It dissipated before it could reach the beast.

“Well that’s disappointing.” Alice mumbled. The range of the lance was around 8 meters give or take and with how much a single cast took out of her…

She estimated that she’ll only be able to cast around 4 of them before running out of energy.

And as annoying as it is, her energy wasn’t being replenished naturally either.

‘Would it replenish if I rest at the camp like my injuries did?’

Being careful of her surroundings, Alice walked towards the beast until she was within the range of Pale Lance.

Activating the spell once more, she watched as the attack stabbed into the beast’s body, causing it to fall towards the ground.

Like before, it was a hunched back beast with spikes covering its body.

It groaned in pain as blood seeped from its wound but Alice wasn’t going to give it a chance to rest.

Lunging forward, Alice had one hand behind her back and stabbed it in the head with her Rapier!

Pulling her weapon back, Alice quickly ducked down to avoid the swipe while parrying the spikes using her weapon.

Then, as the danger had passed, she countered with a riposte and stabbed it in the torso, piercing the heart.

Slumping against the ground, it dissolved into ash and left behind a single Embryo once more.

‘So two stabs and one spell is enough to kill these beasts.’ Alice thought to herself while picking up the Embryo.

Focusing on the crystal, a path of butterflies appeared leading back to the basement.

But this time, there was a new path that stretched out through the fog. A path leading deeper into the city.

Alice thought about venturing deeper for now but it probably wasn’t a good choice.

Since Monika spoke about gaining power through the Embryos, Alice figured it was probably better to kill a few beasts here and collect the Embryos before moving forward. If using one was enough to awaken some basic fighting prowess and techniques, she couldn’t help but wonder what will be unlocked with more down the line.

What kind of techniques would this strange realm grant her?

And… most importantly, how long until she’s transported back to reality?

She couldn’t possibly spend her entire time in this realm after all. She’ll need to find a way back sooner rather than later.

Backtracking towards where she came from, Alice started to take out the beasts one by one. She was careful not to draw the attention of more than one beast at a time.

Despite being able to kill the beasts without much issue, each fight, no matter how short, left her exhausted by the end of it.

She couldn’t cast her lance often either since she wasn’t sure if it’ll replenish.

After killing eight beasts, she made her way back.

Embryos weren’t always guaranteed to drop with two of them not dropping anything much to Alice’s dismay.

With 10 Embryos in her possession, Alice decided to offer nine to the branch and was brought back into the strange space.

Rather than seeing the silhouettes that represented her class choices, this time she saw a reflection of herself against an invisible mirror.

What the realm was offering this time…

Was the chance of increasing the power within her body.

Realising this, Alice couldn’t help but wonder what the Embryo was to offer this kind of boon…