CHAPTER 783: BASTARDISED TECHNIQUE

"Where is he even trying to go?" Alice frowned, looking at the map dotted with the locations that Syrion had visited.

Sometimes he looped in a circle within a given area, sometimes he made a beeline through the forests.

Sometimes he’d even try to cut through a village with people trying to stop him. But unless they struck first, Syrion was a beast that kept wandering.

No goal in sight.

"No clue. But if they didn’t give us a marker, I don’t think we would be able to track him at all." Gwen sighed in relief.

Looking at the compass in her hands, she could see a blood arrow pointing them towards the direction they need to go. Although...

The arrow was currently spinning in circles since they weren’t in the right realm.

Syrion had been wandering in the Abyss.

"True..."

In preparation, Gwen had gone out of her way to buy some Abyss Blood to assist with the Hunt. Of course, at this level, this rarely changes the outcome but having defensive measures was always good.

First, Ironhide Basilisk Blood. Drinking this toughened their skin enough to deflect bladed attacks. It didn’t make the drinker impenetrable though. Rather, this was an option in case they couldn’t dodge in time, to dampen the blow.

Next, the Black Veil Ray blood. An aquatic beast with the power to help severe unseen tethers. To separate a user from their weapon.

And in Syrion’s case, the floating blades that he can conjure.

Healing wise, Gwen can handle that as they doubt Syrion would give them a chance to heal mid fight. The blood had to be taken before the fight began.

Next was weapons.

Alice essentially crafted her own bow so she didn’t need any upgrades. But what could do with a bit of help was her arrows. In this aspect, Gwen had blacksmiths prepare a set of arrows that she could ’enchant’ in a sense, infusing them with the energy of the fragment she received from Solaris.

Alice, being the bundle of corruption that she is, had to force a smile while pretending that holding these arrows didn’t sting like a motherf*cker.

Other preparation included some additional armour and padding, some traps to disrupt Syrion if needed. To create a diversion for them to regroup and plan out emergency plans.

All that’s left now was to find the beast and hunt it down.

###

Alice sat on the carriage, lost in thought. She wasn’t thinking about the hunt nor was she trying to figure out the vision right now.

All that’s on her mind was the sudden news that she saw.

The collapse of the Verona Queendom.

A sudden shock to the world with the nation capital being wiped from the map, leaving nothing but a corrupted mess behind.

All travel to the nation was now blocked with both members of the Sun and Moon being tasked to investigate the matter.

A matter so dire that they even gave up the barricade they put around the East.

Alice wanted to check things out but it wasn’t going to be easy. In fact, it’s hard to believe that Caera would allow things to progress to such a stage.

So whatever happened must’ve been beyond their control.

Egil, Selen...

Alice was worried. They were both strong, strong enough to even fight a Lord if they make use of Selen’s powers.

But this didn’t feel like the work of a Lord.

No, this was far worse.

’An Outer God?’

Gwen could see the worry on Alice’s face and she already tried to reassure her before. But with Alice having friends in the north, it was hard to be optimistic.

In the end, she could only promise that she’ll tell her any news she gets from the north once the investigation comes back.

*Sigh...

Alice massaged her eyes.

"Tired?"

"A little." Alice nodded, her brows still creased with worry.

She hadn’t been able to sleep properly ever since finding out the news.

Gwen wanted to say that they were going to be fine. But with the entire nation disappearing...

There was one piece of good news.

"My dad and aunt are checking out the place. If they’re there, the investigation should run smoothly."

Understanding that Gwen was trying her best to cheer her up, Alice let out a sigh and nodded.

"Yea you’re right. It’s not like I can do anything all the way here anyways. It’s out of my hands." She laid down on her side of the carriage.

This was a harsh remainder.

A remainder that she couldn’t stay here for too long. Couldn’t let herself get too attached to Gwen considering what she has to do later.

All she needed to do was to learn Vision then leave, nothing more nothing less.

There was no need to make it a complicated issue.

"Gwen..." Alice called out, surprising the girl.

"What’s up?"

"Are there really no hints you can give me for Vision? I’ve been trying for a while now but again, the best I can do is an isolated instance of Zone." Alice asked.

She’ll figure out Vision by the time they face Syrion. Once that’s happened, she’ll leave and regroup with Rosalyn and the others.

Gwen folded her arms.

She could guess that Alice was probably feeling a little rushed with the knowledge that a nation disappeared.

But even with Vision, this wasn’t something she could just rush into.

"Vision is... complicated. When I asked aunty for some hints back then, she simply told me that doing so would be detrimental to my growth instead. To give me bad habits rather than discovering my own ’version’ of Vision.

"But I guess... If I were to describe mine, it’ll be similar to harmonising myself with my surroundings. But that’s just for me okay? It might be something completely different for you." Gwen explained before hastily correcting herself.

She knew how frustrating it was to not make any progress so she wanted to help Alice. Just a slight nudge in the right direction.

"Harmonising huh?" Alice muttered.

Her current understanding of Vision was significantly lacking, even with this hint. The core issue that she was facing, the part that stumped her the most, was how Gwen and Shiera was able to apply this Vision without energy.

Alice dwelled on her words.

It was in times like this where perhaps Yvael’s inspirations would be of a great help but there’s nothing.

No a single spark.

She had to break down everything that Gwen said, salvage as many hints as possible.

Correct her approach if it was wrong.

First, the reason why she didn’t want to say much was because of bad habits.

Shiera was afraid of Gwen developing bad habits if she gives hints.

Meaning...

[Vision is probably something that varies from person to person. Vision for someone else might be entirely based on sound for example. At least that’s my understanding of it.] Cayla spoke up as Alice nodded her head.

Indeed, not wanting to give hints was simply because Shiera wanted Gwen to be the one to establish the ’shape’ of her Vision. How it functioned.

Which can further be implied that there was no specific blueprint for this technique. It simply boils down to knowledge and execution.

Shiera and Gwen projected a vision from something ’above’, Alice didn’t necessarily have to do the same.

She didn’t need to make her vision a one to one copy.

Perhaps this was her mistake from the start. Due to her own sight through Cayla, she had already unknowingly formed a bad habit.

’I need to reset to zero. To build it from the ground up.’

Alice wanted to guess that perhaps ’Vision’ was simply an end result. The process didn’t matter. In that regard, it was similar to working backwards.

An inverted process as compared to the Zone.

If the Zone was to project your senses out to the world, the inverted would be to accept and absorb the information projected by the things in the world.

To become a receptacle for information.

Alice had an idea.

This thought process... It reminded her of the marker.

During the break while they were waiting, Alice had decided to bite the bullet and dismantle the marker.

She had to admit, the technology they involved were quite impressive.

Rituals and contracts housed within a single object that tethers itself to the strands of energy that should be imperceivable.

But just like how you can’t see air but know it’s there, the device latches onto the signature and traces itself through the countless threads, the countless weaves before reaching the source.

It was both receiving and discharging energy down this line to form the connection.

And the key was empty crystal.

When the market is placed, the empty crystal stores and houses the unique signature for that being specifically. Whether that be their energy, their lifeforce or even the unique blend of both Holy and Abyssal, the capsule stores and creates a unique ’code’ used to track down the target.

Alice closed her eyes.

To harmonize, to receive. To find her own way to become a receptacle of information. It doesn’t necessarily have to be devoid of energy like Gwen and Shiera. In fact, that should’ve never been the main goal to begin with.

There wasn’t a sudden spark of inspiration or a eureka moment. No.

For Alice, she simply remembered one thing.

Her most trusty technique, her favourite attack, was one that she haphazardly copied without knowing the process.

She simply saw the results and did everything she could to recreate it using her own tools.

The Void Flux.

She didn’t need Yvael’s inspiration, she simply needed to do what she’s been doing all this time.

And with that, Alice could see a potential path towards mastering the Vision.

A path unique to her, her constitution and her experiences.

Perhaps it was a new technique but most likely, it was a bastardised version of the Vision.

But Alice didn’t care.

Now, she needed to experiment.