Abyssal Awakening

Days passed and they continued to stay in Syrion's house for now. Griselda didn't sleep.

In the time that Alice was resting her body and mind, she mourned his passing.

And when she woke up, their lessons continued while waiting for Gwen to wake up.

Within the barrier, Gwen's body was slowly peeling away. Cracks upon her flesh, flames burning through the gaps.

Alice was worried but there's nothing she could do.

As for the lessons on souls…

It was different.

It seems that through Lumiria's authority, the way that Griselda interacted with souls was different to how Alice had expected.

In fact, she wasn't even aware of the fact that it was possible to 'read' the history of the land.

Alice's sixth Sigil interested her greatly.

Griselda understood that the soul took form in different ways based on the method of interaction.

Beasts interact with souls via Bloodline Release.

Humans who follow the Church of the Moon do so via Lumiria's blessings.

And anything else…

Well, anything else was done through the connection between body and soul. The Spiritual Heart.

Each method granted a different result.

Bloodline Release allowed for the soul to harmonise with the body, to change and gain power through this modification.

Lumiria allowed one to touch the soul directly. To modify it but not the body.

And the Spiritual Heart observed the contracts formed between the soul and the Abyss.

However, these three categories were the most prominent. There are other ways such as through Sigil abilities or certain blessings outside of the moon.

But most fall into one of the three.

Modification, extraction and observation.

"Are you listening to me? When a soul is extracted from the body, there is a certain amount of time it can be away. Too long and even if it's your original body, some form of rejection is bound to occur." Griselda explained through the use of her puppets.

She would create a silhouette of a soul and extract it from the puppet. And to simulate the passing of time, the puppet began to break down while the soul's outer edge became blurred, fusing with the world around it.

"When you use the power of Duality to invert your fifth Sigils, you are performing an act similar to this but at an accelerated rate. Your soul is stuck in a strange state of being outside of your body while still being connected.

"And the reason why Triss didn't want to accept Lumiria's method of healing Arwen is because of the nature of extraction. Lumiria had intended to extract the soul, carve away the rot and supplement it with others." Griselda created another puppet.

This time in the shape of a little girl.

Extracting the soul, she began to butcher it, carving away limbs and piece of the body.

Then, another soul was added into the mix, blended and roughly moulded into the same shape.

"But with this method, there is always the growing risk of rebound. The attached soul may cause large shifts in personality, memories and sometimes it becomes so incompatible that the original body rejects the soul completely." Griselda sighed.

"I had told Triss this and warned him of the dangers. You can imagine how angry Lumiria was. Sometimes I think that gods are no different to people. They're simply born different. But up here?" Griselda pointed at her head.

"It's all the same." She shrugged.

Alice leaned back with a groan.

It made sense why the Will suggested for her to get another power that interacted with the soul.

With her sixth Sigil, Alice now had access to all three methods. Modification was done through Bloodline Release, extraction done through both her sixth Sigil and duality.

As for observation…

It's also because of her sixth Sigil that she was now able to observe the change in souls. The history of their experiences.

Therefore, in theory, if she was to form a link between the three methods, she should be able to gain absolute control over the manipulation of souls.

[And on that note, you really love your resonances huh?] Cayla rested her chin on her palms.

No matter the situation, no matter the technique. So long as it requires the synchronisation of three powers, Alice will no doubt find a way to turn it into a resonance.

Give me freedom, give me fire. Give me Resonance or I retire.

'I haven't even said anything about resonance yet…' Alice pouted.

[You acting like you weren't going down that path?] Cayla raised an eyebrow, causing Alice to cough.

She won't say it out loud, but she was indeed thinking about it…

"It's lesson time, focus and stop talking to the voices in your head." Griselda snapped her finger as a puppet dropped down, landing a chop on Alice's head.

"Ow! Sorry." Alice rubbed her head.

"For now, let's focus on you mastering the second method. You've already have some experience with it but it's largely instinctual. If you can merge it with duality, extraction can become containment. Inverting the walls to become a cage." Griselda tapped her finger on the table.

She contemplated in silence. A question inside her head.

"Alice." She spoke, calmly.

"Hm?"

"Are you aware of the way we cast in the Church of the Moon?" Griselda asked.

"Yeah… Souls right?"

Alice wasn't sure what Griselda was trying to ask.

Why would the way of casting be important right now?

"I'm aware that you managed to take Duality from Esse somehow. With a method you're not entirely sure of correct? But you do know it has something to do with souls, hence the souls attached to your spiritual heart." Griselda gestured to Alice's shadow.

"Now, here's my next question. How does the Moon, or rather, how are souls used as a resource when it comes to casting?" She asked.

Alice furrowed her brows.

Was it a trick question? But Griselda didn't seem like the kind to do that kind of thing.

"I think the souls are… burned right? Based on what I've seen you do." Alice frowned.

"Exactly. Souls are burned, cleansed and stripped of power. Then, when they're used up, they're returned to be recycled. Burned then stripped of power, remember that." Griselda emphasized before creating a puppet with two souls.

"No matter what, the soul is used as a fuel. That's the law. But you… You're not like that. If it was, Duality should've ran out long ago. Especially if you don't meet Esse often. Somehow you usurped a part of her soul but kept her powers. How?" Griselda tapped her finger on the table.

Her puppets demonstrated the usual casting method.

The second soul gradually becoming smaller with each cast.

Then she made one for Alice, who kept using the power but the soul didn't shrink at all.

Alice was stumped.

Indeed. If souls were burned as a resource, the fact that she could keep the ones she stole contained for so long was… questionable.

In fact, how was she able to use their powers if she didn't burn them?

"Here's my theory based on my lacking knowledge." Griselda had a serious expression.

"When you take the soul… Rather than use it for fuel I think you're using it as a reference instead. You're moulding a part of your own soul to match then recreate the power and experiences. Somehow."

Snapping her finger, the puppet's soul began to change its shape to match the second soul before outputting the same power.

This time, neither soul changed as it was now technically her power. No soul was needed to be used as fuel.

"But even so… While there's been cases of people copying or duplicating powers, there are usually limitations to them as changing the base shape of your soul is harmful in the long run. If you repeatedly use the power, it'll run into the same risk as grafting souls."

So why was Alice fine?

Griselda had seen beasts and Hunters who were able to copy a power but can only use it once. More than that and changes start to occur.

In essence, using the power of souls was not so different to drinking Abyss Blood. In little amounts, it was fine so long as you keep to a variety.

But drink too much and the body changes permanently.

Only this time it's the soul.

And if the soul was harmed… The chances of physical rejection, even in your own body, was high.

So how does Alice achieve it?

"Would you… Demonstrate it to me?" Griselda asked.

Alice hesitated.

But she too wanted to know the secret behind her own body and nodded her head.

"Watch closely then." Alice sighed.

Closing her eyes, she switched out two of her Sigils for Duality and Tiamat. Then, she inverted Tiamat's Sigil and began to gather energy from around her.

A demonstration of how her powers worked.

Griselda watched while tapping her finger on the table.

Her brows creased the longer she looked.

Questions flying around in her mind.

But the biggest question that remains on her mind was…

Who the hell created Alice?

The techniques used to create this… anomaly. What are they? How were they able to achieve this kind of result?

There were even signs of power locked behind certain triggers. And not just one sign. Tens, hundreds. Some were open, some were closed. But they were there, waiting.

Was it knowledge?

Griselda didn't know. In fact, she felt like at this point she should just hand over her title to whoever created Alice.

It was far beyond whatever she could achieve.

After all, the secrets to Alice's body was something she never thought possible.

When Alice copies the power, she transforms a part of her soul, separates it and then burns it for power.

But it didn't stop there. Once the power is no longer needed, it is cleansed, purified and fused back to the main body.

The original is not used up and her body suffers no changes. A loop where she is now able to permanently use whatever power she stole.

A persistent cycle and a soul that didn't burn out.

Griselda felt a chill down her spine.

She looked around in confusion and fear. In that split moment, she felt a harrowing smile targeted at her.