Abyssal Awakening

From this flame, a single draconic head manifested itself. Unlike before, its form was not an obscure silhouette formed by the flames. Its form was shrouded by darkness yet one could tell the body was encased by a layer of black scales that seemed to devour all light that touched upon it.

Beneath the scales, an inferno raged with the pulse of life.

From its head, the dragon bore several piercing purple eyes, each one glimmering with malevolence, hatred and sadistic cruelty. Each one seemingly staring into the deepest parts of your soul.

At the centre of its chest, a swirling vortex of energy pulsed and thrummed, drawing the energy from the Abyss into itself like an unsatiable maw, hungry for more. It was a conduit for all the vast energy that encompassed the Abyss, channelling the flow through its own body with every beat of its heart.

Its wings that stretched into the darkness resembled parasitic ink, lashing out and latching onto the realm in an attempt to consume the space itself. Within the membranes of these wings, a kaleidoscope of coloured danced and shifted, crafting a prismatic reflection that embodied the nature of the Abyss. So full of beauty yet danger lurks beneath.

Tendrils, spikes and strange appendages protruded from various parts of its body and back, twisting and writing in an unholy symphonic of heresy towards the realm.

Even Alice was frozen in shock beneath its shadow as the beast did not even cast a single gaze towards her. Instead, it looked at the frozen arrow and curled its beastly maw into a grin.

*BANG!!!!!

As the arrow collided against the dragon\'s chest, it was as though all the evils in the Abyss was released. Countless rows of teeth and claws erupted from its body, crushing the arrow into pieces while tendrils of flesh shot out in all directions. Coiling around the pieces of the arrow, it dragged the attack into its body.

Within the prismatic reflection sealed in its wings, the energy of the arrow could be seen being assimilated into the dragon\'s being.

The arrow crafted from Lyra\'s life having exchanged everything with the Abyss was consumed and absorbed with ease. Even Garret found himself not daring to even breathe in the presence of this beast!

Just as the dragon was about to take a step forward, golden chains burst forth from the flames, wrapping itself around its neck, wings and limbs.

The teeth that consumed the arrow tried to fight back but a golden stake burst through its chest, forming a hook and began to drag the beast back into the fires.

Letting out a defiant roar against its imprisonment, the beast found itself helpless against these chains. The last thing Alice could see was the beast\'s mocking gaze before dissembling into a wave of flames that extinguished itself.

A rush of fatigue struck Alice as the blood and obstacles she had set up around the arena disappeared one by one.

Falling backwards, Alice slammed into the arena and found herself unable to even move a single muscle.

Not far from her location, Lyra stood unmoving. The light that crafted her body was now dull and fractured as pieces of her crumbled away. Meanwhile, the damage caused to the arena slowly mended itself.

From within the selection of statues representing the champions, a new platform was created. Little by little, a statue started to form itself into the appearance of Alice. But as the final detail was placed upon the statue…

*CRACK!!!

A fracture appeared in the centre, causing the statue to shatter into countless pieces.

Recovering from his stupor of seeing the beast that Alice had somehow conjured, Garret looked towards statues and frowned.

He had a guess on why the Arena was acting like this. But the answer he came up with was simply outlandish! Yet it was the only possible conclusion.

\'The Hall of Champions is unable to properly record her strength!\' Trembling at the thought, Garret swallowed his saliva as his fighting spirit burned in his chest.

He could feel his blood rush from excitement.

Right now, the girl in the arena only has three Sigils! What would happen if she was to get more? Would she become a Lord? Was he seeing the first steps of a future Abyss Lord?

Shaking his head, he didn\'t want to get too ahead of himself just yet but the truth could not be denied. The Arena acknowledged this girl\'s strength. Lyra the Blade Dancer had acknowledged this girl\'s strength. And as the witness of her fight, he had also acknowledged her strength.

Jumping down, he landed next to her and kneeled down.

Reaching into his sash that was tied around his waist, he pulled out a small ampoule the size of his thumb and broke off the tip. Pouring the sample of blood into Alice\'s mouth, he watched as the countless wounds across her body started to thread themselves back together while she stared at him, unable to speak from the fatigue.

"Not sure if I should congratulate you or question you on who you are. Do you know what kind of place this Arena is?" Garret asked, maintaining a calm demeanour despite his excitement.

"Hall of Champions. That\'s all I know." Alice groaned.

Despite the healing blood, she could still feel pain in her body. A sea of fire raged within her veins. Her blood boiling with each passing second.

Looking at the man in front of her, she could see six floating Sigils above his head and understood that he must be someone rather high up within the Academy.

It was to be expected as the commotion caused by her fight with the Blade Dancer just now was something hard to conceal.

"How did you even get in? I can only assume you must\'ve gotten a visitor pass considering you don\'t know much about this place. Otherwise, you wouldn\'t enter here recklessly."

"Visitor\'s pass. Came here for a commission, went to look for my friend. She was busy so I explored a bit and found this place." Alice answered truthfully.

"Do you have your Hunter\'s Guild ID on you?"

Nodding her head, Alice groaned as she reached into her tattered jacket and rummaged for her ID.

Handing over the card, there was only one thought that went through Alice\'s mind.

\'Urg… I liked this jacket too. Now it\'s wast-\' Upon thinking about her jacket, she realised something important.

Her flask!

Widening her eyes, Alice felt a sense of panic.

"Let\'s see… Alice Agnelia-ARG!!!" Garret muttered to himself when suddenly Alice sat up. Her crown stabbed Garret\'s nose, causing him to stumble back.

Hastily reaching into the other side of her jacket while ignoring the pain in her body, Alice felt the blood drain from her body. With a trembling hand, she pulled out the flask that had been slashed to pieces.

*Crack

Her heart broke in half.

Tears streamed down her face as she looked at her flask, the memories of her mead surfacing in her mind. The moments they shared, the joys she enjoyed and could\'ve enjoyed. Yet the path of the future had been cut off.

Her flask was dead.

"???" Holding his nose, Garret blinked his eyes in confusion seeing Alice suddenly burst into tears while holding a broken flask.

Forcing herself to stand up, Alice stood in front of Garret.

"Can I have my ID back for now… I need to conduct a funeral." Alice held out her hand.

"Ah… Sure. You have my… condolences?" Garret tilted his head, handing back the ID and watched her limp away, cradling the flask in her arms.

Looking at her retreating figure, he finally recalled where he had seen her before.

The recording that Xinbei presented to him.

He had his focus entirely on Ria during the recording and ignored Alice. Even though she demonstrated good combat potential in the recording, it wasn\'t anything special. At least by the standard of the Combat Department.

But the fight he had seen today had proven otherwise.

Her Resonance allowed her to control a strange skill that looked as though it could destroy anything with a single touch. A flame that could melt away Lyra\'s ice and finally, a ritual that could conjure forth a beast he had never seen before.

Recalling the sight of the beast, Garret felt a chill down his spine once more as he couldn\'t help but let out a laugh.

\'I don\'t think Xinbei truly knows what kind of beast that gal is. That last attack… Even with all of my power, can I guarantee I won\'t be hurt by it?\' He asked himself.

But the fact that he needed to ask himself this question had already proven her might. The Department Head of Combat, the Mad Demon Garret found himself unsure of his defensive capabilities before Alice.

However, what he felt upon this realization was not shame, inferiority or anger. No, what he felt was pure unfiltered excitement.

Their powers were similar in certain aspects, especially that last Ritual of hers. If he could understand even a fraction of the foundation behind her powers, it might give him the key he needed to enter the realm of Lords.

Garret\'s laughter rang out through the arena as he stood up and stretched his body. Even though he had a reason not to miss the Exams before, he will now make sure nothing gets in the way of his attendance. Even if the sky was to fall, he will lift it upon his back and make sure he arrives on time!

Meanwhile, Alice made her way back to the Department of Theory and found the highest point where she could make a grave for her flask.

Digging out a hole, she grabbed a rock and carved it into a gravestone before giving her deceased flask a solemn prayer.