Abyssal Awakening

"What's your connection to the Abyss?" Suyin asked, glancing back towards Alice.

She spent her life trying to combat the fact that she couldn't use Abyss energy. Her solution to that was to create machines and fuse it to her own body.

A desperate grasp at some crumb of control over her own life in this f*cked up world.

Naturally, these machines were created with herself in mind. To allow for even a civilian to gain access to what's deemed to be unique to Hunters. It takes outside sources of Abyss Energy to feed itself and activate.

Yet for Alice, this causes everything to short circuit with a single touch.

No matter how dense the Abyssal Energy there was in the surroundings or even within a Hunter, it wouldn't short circuit. She made sure of that by placing safety protocols and limitations.

If Alice could short circuit it with a single touch then. . .

She was essentially a walking reservoir of Abyss Energy or her connection to the Abyss ran far deeper than just Sigils.

"No matter how strong a normal Hunter may be, short circuiting my babies are impossible. I even had an Abyss Lord help me verify this case. But you. You're different. One touch is all it takes.

"You're no ordinary gal. Not even a Lord and you can short circuit my stuff. So spill, what are you?" Suyin asked, jumping onto her chair and swinging herself across the lab.

"And don't give me crap like you're an exception or you're just a little special. Little doesn't cover for this kind of anomaly.

"Now, here's my theory. Because I've figured a way where I can results similar to what you exhibited." Suyin snapped her finger.

From the ceiling, a tube descended with a sample of black liquid in a container. Around it was pieces of her machines.

"Abyss Waters. I'm sure you know what it is right? The most potent kind of liquid the Abyss has to offer. One splash of this stuff is enough to kill a man never mind submerging themselves in it. I had quite a hard time getting my hands on this since there's no use for it anywhere. It's just trash that comes from the Abyss with a sh*t tonne of drawbacks too." Suyin lamented before having her mechanical arms dunk pieces of her machine into the water.

The moment it came into contact, the machine began to spark before short circuiting.

The reaction was less volatile than the one that Alice showed but she was on the right track.

"Now, it's not just a case of my babies not being waterproof since I've already resolved that issue long ago. Instead, it's the 'information' that the waters carry with them. The different amalgamations of Abyss Blood all compressed into one. In a sense, you can call it the water of life. Or death I suppose if you really think about it.

"But the key fact here is that it's this information overload and multiple sources of Abyss energy that f*cks with my stuff. With this added point, please rethink whatever excuse you were going to give me. Because being a little 'special' doesn't make you more potent than the literal water of death extracted from the bowels of the Abyss." Suyin crossed her legs while facing Alice.

Blinking her eye, Alice was rather surprised.

One interaction.

That's all they had.

Yet in this time, Suyin managed to deduct that she had a deeper connection AND the fact that she was more potent than the Abyss Waters.

Honestly, if Alice were to give her more time, she wouldn't be surprised if Suyin managed to deduce everything that was unique about her body.

"Aren't you a smart cookie. Yeah, you're right. My body isn't exactly what you consider normal. I don't want to get into the detail of things but think of it as me beinga walking mass of energy that has deep ties to the Abyss." Alice shrugged.

Just as she was about to sit down on a chair, Suyin hastily moved it away before having some mechanical arms create a 'normal' metal chair for her.

"I don't have the budget to reconstruct my lab if you blow it up." She explained.

Shrugging her shoulders, Alice sat down and leaned back.

"As much as I want to run some tests on you, I don't think my equipment can handle it. I can't believe I have to rely on the outdated crap." She lamented.

After making this place her base of operations, Suyin essentially replaced all of the outdated lab equipment for the stuff that she's made. It makes it easier as they're an extension of herself.

She could control them at will.

But it's also an issue now due to Alice's unique physique.

"Well setting aside the issue of me possibly blowing up everyone, can you fill me in on what's going on? I know this city is on the border but this kind of battle is a bit. . . extreme no?" Alice asked with a frown.

To have both Cultists and Eldritch beasts fighting side by side. . .

Alice understood that she had to deal with it quickly before it spiralled out of control.

Then there was the involvement of the Zenia family.

Thinking about this, Alice subconsciously rubbed her neck. It felt like just yesterday when the cold iron was clamped around her throat, preventing her from escaping their clutches.

"Extreme yes. Though battles aren't exactly rare for these parts. The only thing that's abnormal are these weird things joining them. I got zero data on them.

"Touching them is similar to touching Abyss Water, death if not dealt with quickly." Suyin snapped her finger, creating a hologram of the Eldritch beasts.

"They're using the same kind of energy that we found in Cultists before. But the difference being the Cultists only used a small part of it while these things are entirely composed of it." Suyin folded her arms.

She was already having people compile all the data she found out about them during the fight through recordings and observations.

But despite all that, there was no clear method to fighting them.

The only exception being Alice and the two she brought with her.

Especially Jin.

"Unfortunately, we don't know what they're after. In the past, it was simply to gain access to the rest of this nation. But this attack. . . they were more focused on killing us than breaching the borders. They had plenty of chances to bypass but instead, they circled like vultures, bleeding us out." Suyin sighed.

"I think they're looking for sacrifices." Alice suddenly spoke up.

She recalled what she saw at the ritual back at the Empyrean Dragon sect. They were trying to gather a large amount of people for a Ritual that was both a blend of Eclipse and Eldritch.

With the last one being a failure, they might be trying the same again this time. Or rather, to recuperate their losses.

[The Zenia family Hybrids did mention about retrieval of family assets. I'm guessing they have a higher up with them and they saw you.]

'Mnm. Ideally, I want to cut off information from reaching the main family but that doesn't seem possible. If we stall this, reinforcements will be sent over.' Alice nodded as she couldn't stay for long.

"Sacrifices? Well I suppose that does match their usual movements." Suyin scratched her chin.

She looked at a birds eye view of the current city and the battlefield that was left behind.

Her mind turned, drawing imaginary arrows where attacks had happened and where they defended.

Her finger tapped against the table.

"This won't do. We won't be able to hold out for another attack." Suyin concluded after evaluating their defences.

Even with all of her weapons, defending would simply be suicide.

"Originally, I wanted to find out why my tech was blowing up because of your touch. But it doesn't matter right now. Instead, I want to hire you for your services." Suyin stood up with a grin.

"Hou?"

"What would it take for you to help us in the next battle. I'll be preparing a counterattack since this place can't hold on anymore."

She knew that Alice was powerful. The fact that a bounty was placed on her and she was still alive and kicking was evident of that. In addition, she also dealt with the two new arrivals and the swarm rather easily.

Someone of her calibre was comparable to a one person army. Lords were busy dealing with their own things and it's not like Suyin could hire them to begin with. At most, she could only ask them to partake in one experiment to verify the limits of her tech.

Therefore, having Alice on their side would increase their odds of winning drastically.

"You realise that if you say something like that, people will take advantage of you right?" Alice raised an eyebrow.

Suyin was practically revealing her entire hand with this request.

"Maybe. If you want to take advantage of me then be my guest. There's not much of me that can be taken advantage of anyways." She shrugged, placing one hand over her modest chest.

"But having your cooperation would help us out greatly. So state your price and I'll try my best to match." Suyin offered.

Thinking about it, Alice folded her arms.

There were two choices in front of her.

The first was naturally the money grubbing way.

But it didn't feel right. She recalled the bodies of those who sacrificed their lives, how Suyin was putting herself on the frontline despite being a normal human.

To ask for more money on top of all of this, especially when she's wanting the same goal. . . it didn't sit right with her.

And not only that, but Suyin was upfront about what she needed at this moment.

Since she was being honest, Alice will reply in kind.

"I don't need anything since I want the same result as you. I'll help you wipe them all out. Instead, I want to ask a favour of you." Alice smiled.

"I want you to help me figure out how Eldritch Energy operates."