Abyssal Awakening

Nodding her head, Alice and Ria started to follow Neal as he took them up the tower and made his way to the bridge connecting to the other tower.

"I believe the S grade and A grade students are at the Academy right now with their professors. I\'ve already notified them that I\'m wanting a quick meeting with them so it\'s all up to chance now. I can help to some extent but as I said, I can\'t guarantee that they\'ll listen to your request."

"That\'s fine." Alice nodded, understanding that it was difficult for Neal as well despite his status.

As they reached the Academy tower, Alice glanced at the outer appearance and shrugged. It was no different to the other towers but the inside was probably different compared to the Hunters Guild.

With Neal taking the lead for now, they simply stayed silent while he talked to the receptionists and arranged a meeting with the professors, stating that he wished to arrange a quick sparring session for two people he vouched for.

Thanks to Neal\'s status and his recent efforts in helping with the city\'s defence, they accepted his request for a meeting to discuss the details regarding the spar.

"Phew… Seems like things are going smoothly. However getting to actually spar with the A grade or S grade students will not be easy since you have to prove you are worth their attention. Ria should be fine since she beat Freida last time but you might have to go out of your way to prove your power Alice." Neal reminded.

"I\'m sure Alice will be fine. She was limited by one Sigil last time after all. But now that she\'s gotten her second Sigil her adaptability and power has improved dramatically." Ria reassured as Neal raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"You got a second Sigil? Congratulations. Can you tell me which beast you got it from? I can update it from my end so you don\'t have to worry about updating it yourself." Neal asked as Ria immediately understood her mistake and cursed inwardly.

Meanwhile, Alice was unsure of how to explain her Sigil.

After all, the violet flames weren\'t something that should be disclosed lightly.

\'I can probably try to hide by violet flames by having it activate through my first Sigil in combat.\' Alice thought to herself as she opened her mouth.

"I got the Sigil from a Blood Widow. Wasn\'t exactly what I wanted since it only lets me control a tiny bit of blood from my body." Alice smiled and shrugged while Ria couldn\'t help but give a small thumbs up.

A reply of half-truths and lies.

"A Blood Widow? I can see why you would need the Scarlet Powder and Lunar Siren Blood. Alright, I\'ll mark it down when I get back then. But I\'m surprised you actually hunted a Blood Widow. That\'s a beast that even Hunters with three Sigils would struggle at." Neal praised as he guessed that it was Allura\'s arrangement to have Alice fight a Blood Widow.

\'I didn\'t think she would have Alice fight a Blood Widow at this stage… I suppose that\'s what makes her powerful compared to the other Hunters. Even when Alice was just at one Sigil, that killing intent and lust for battle was not something even average Hunters could compare to.\' Neal thought to himself.

\'Like master like student.\'

As they were being led to the waiting rooms, Alice could see the difference between the Hunter\'s Guild and the Academy tower.

Even while they were simply walking through the corridors, Alice could see small statues of what seemed to be important figures to the history of the Academy. Graduates who have achieved great feats throughout the world, people who have changed the Academy for the better and so on.

"Is this Academy unique to Zadash? Or is it part of a larger organization like the Guild?" Alice asked curiously.

"This Academy is merely a branch of a larger system. Each city has its own Academy branch, some bigger than others. The Academy tower in Zadash is considered a medium branch while the main branches have entire compounds that can fit several of these towers within the location." Neal explained.

"Are you interested in enrolling by any chance?"

Hearing this, Alice paused for a moment before shaking her head.

She was indeed curious about academy life because she was deprived of the opportunities. However, with what she needs to do right now, going to the academy may delay Allura\'s plans further.

\'We\'re already delaying things because she wants me to properly understand what I have discovered about my power.\' Alice thought to herself.

But if she was to answer truthfully, then yes, she was curious about school. She had a small desire to find out the things she has missed out in life while imprisoned away from sight. The Academy life being one of them.

Noticing the slight interest that Alice was showing towards the Academy, Ria couldn\'t help but smile understanding that Alice must\'ve been depraved of such opportunities.

But to her, the Academy life was nothing interesting. Most would go to make friends and get to know people but she could never get along with those in her class.

Her own history and interactions of the Cult made it difficult as every time she saw one of the students, she couldn\'t help but picture what they would look like if they were bathed in a pool of blood and left for her to kill.

Alice was no exception, and she knew this was a side effect of her participation in the ritual.

However, she was able to control these thoughts to some degree, so it didn\'t bother her.

After making their way to the waiting room, it didn\'t take long for one of the professors to arrive as Alice was surprised by their appearance.

She was a tall woman, not as tall as Allura but still far taller than even Neal. Long black hair with a bright blue under colour, heterochronic eyes with the left being blue and the right being yellow.

Her outfit was a rather simple professor suit consisting of a white shirt, tie, black vest and a pair of pants. On top of the suit, she wore a jacket.

"May I assume that these two are the ones that want to spar with our students?" The woman asked as Neal nodded his head.

"Professor Nixia, it\'s a pleasure to meet you again. And yes, these two are the ones who want to spar with your students. I can personally vouch for their capabilities as they have sparred with some of your students before with one being able to achieve victory." Neal smiled as Nixia squinted her eyes at Alice before turning her gaze to Ria.

"I heard of them. I must say I\'m surprised that you had offered such a high price for a simple spar. The amount of trouble that could\'ve come our way if word got out was especially interesting to put it lightly. Regardless, I\'m not one to judge what you wish to spend." Nixia shrugged as she massaged her neck.

"It\'ll be up to the students if they want to spar again. I won\'t stop you from trying to convince them if you wish."

Hearing this, Neal sighed in relief as Nixia wasn\'t against them sparring.

Meanwhile, Alice couldn\'t help but glance above Nixia\'s head and noticed that she had 6 Sigils available for use.

\'I can only see up to 6 Sigils. Considering how Allura has been describing Abyss Lords, I doubt she\'s reached that level. She\'s probably someone that\'s been stuck at this level for a while.\' Alice thought to herself as she doubted that they\'ll see so many Abyss Lord level Hunters in a city like Zadash.

"Follow me." Nixia stated calmly as she didn\'t wait to see their response and turned around to leave the room.

Looking at one another, Ria and Alice quickly followed behind her as she took them to one of the elevators up into a training facility.

Compared to the Hunter\'s Guild, there were more training equipment ready for use.

The layout of the tower was similar and they soon, they arrived at the training room with Nixia clapping her hands once.

The moment she did, every student within the room stopped what they were doing and gathered up.

"We have two guests today. They\'ve come with hopes of having a sparring session. Whether you accept or deny is up to you, I will have no input in this. They have been personally vouched by Instructor Neal and one of them managed to achieve a victory against one of our students last time. This should serve as a good opportunity for you to gain some experience.

As there are many of you and only two of them, they will issue the challenge. Do not take it as then thinking you are weak as they are also here to gain experience. It merely means you are worthy to challenge. Do you understand?!" Nixia shouted as all of the students responded in sync.

Seeing this, both Ria and Alice were surprised by their discipline as Nixia turned towards them.

"Please, feel free to challenge at your leisure." Nixia invited as she stepped aside, allowing the two to see all of the choices.

Without hesitation, Alice stepped forward.

Her eyes were locked on Chloe and Chloe understood what was going to happen.

"I wish for a rematch with Chloe." Alice challenged.

"I accept." Chloe bowed slightly. She could still remember the fear she felt during their last battle but this time, she will go all out immediately to ensure a swift victory.