CHAPTER 891: WASTED SKILL

Massaging her eyelids, Alice walked away for a moment. She didn’t want to be entirely negative about the situation but there’s no denying that Adela’s Blood Blade was not the correct choice.

Since Alice didn’t invest into the faith stat whatsoever, it’s barely an upgrade compared to the mana cost she would have to do.

Even if she could enhance them with a 20% boost using the necklace, that 20% wasn’t enough.

20% of 0 was still 0.

While that wasn’t the exact situation, it was close enough.

The boost simply wasn’t there to make this skill worth casting.

The easiest solution would be for Alice to increase her faith stat.

But... Increasing her faith towards an unknown god using unknown means... Alice didn’t like it.

"Tch, no point worrying about it. The base cast should be decent to cleave a bunch of enemies spread out at this level." Alice scratched her hair, cutting her losses.

She’ll use it for now.

The enemies she was currently facing could be dealt with using low level spells.

But as the enemies get stronger, this spell will see less and less use.

If she had chosen the vestments, at least she could make more use of it than this spell.

Hp could’ve been a spare stat she invested in if the situation called for it, thus allowing her to cast more than usual.

Not only that, but it’ll also turn these healing grass into mana pills.

"Stupid stupid stupid..." Alice lectured herself.

She got too excited about the offensive option and didn’t think things through clearly.

If Cayla and Alyss was here...

Pausing for a moment, Alice glanced up at the fog covered sky with a sigh.

Alyss she trusted to stay safe. But this realm was not a friendly one. There’s no telling what kind of dangers awaited them.

And Cayla, she had already died a few times. If she continued at this pace... They’ll need to find a solution for this phenomenon and fast.

Then there was also Elias. He has died the most.

Though with Karina’s help, they were able to reduce that number.

The only issue was... what was Karina’s goal? Was the help truly what it seemed? An act of mercy?

Or one using the disguise of mercy.

Gently slapping her cheeks for a moment, Alice calmed her mind.

’There’s no need to overthink what I can’t do at the moment. For now, I’ll focus on clearing the areas. Even if increasing my insight on this realm will turn more of it ’real’ it’s not a process I can slow down.

’Worst come to pass, I’ll do a quick surgery on myself to erase the insight I’ve gained.’ Alice narrowed her eyes.

With her control over the soul, three powers in harmony, performing such an experiment shouldn’t be an issue.

More than that, with these powers, she should be able to perform the contract removal that she had tried in the past.

So whatever connection this realm tries to tether onto her, she’ll severe it should it become too invasive and dangerous.

"Did you finish despairing?" Rolo asked, yawning slightly.

"Just a tad. Say, are all blood magic Faith focused?" Alice asked curiously.

"Depends on what kind of spell you want to use. It’s like asking if every spell is Blood Magic or Abyssal Magic." He rolled his eyes.

But feeling Alice’s gaze on him, he quickly coughed.

"Most of the time, Blood Magic tend to fall into the category of Faith. But there are a few that have been modified by the scholars to use standard casting techniques rather than through ritual prayer."

"Does Abyss count as Faith too? Or is it scaled off something else?"

If she could figure out what kind of spell best suits simply increasing the Spirituality stat, she’ll be able to plan what kind of fighting style she wanted to adopt later.

"Some do, some don’t. Though it’s a split between Faith and Spirituality, more than Blood Magic."

Tapping her fingers, Alice nodded her head.

"How long is it till sunrise? I should probably explore the new area and increase my stats a little more before I leave."

"Hell would I know. Sometimes it comes faster, sometimes it comes slower. Sometimes the night lasts so long some people might even forget they have to return to reality."

Alice wanted to say something but it didn’t seem like Rolo was hiding information. In fact, he seemed just as lost as she was.

With nothing else, she nodded and made her way back to Adela’s garden.

Sitting by the branch resting in the centre, she closed her eyes and harmonised with the tier 2 Embryos that Adela dropped.

Seeing her stats in front of her, Alice didn’t hesitate to split it into two piles. 5 for Endurance, 5 for Speed.

Power – 30 (E-)

Speed – 35 (E)

Physicality – 30 (E-)

Spiritual – 30 (E-)

Endurance – 35 (E)

Faith – 0 (F-)

Once her stats have been allocated, Alice opened her eyes and hopped on the spot.

This feeling of sudden growth... Definitely intoxicating, especially if the receiver was someone who felt weak for most of their life.

People not chosen by the Abyss, civilians who couldn’t get into the mindset of hunting down beasts.

This realm was perfect for them. They didn’t know about the risk of death.

All they knew was that they couldn’t die in here and whatever power they earn can be taken to reality.

With that kind of knowledge, who wouldn’t do their best to thrive in this place?

Subtle changes to their thoughts, how they process things and ideologies would change without them even knowing.

And before they know it, they become frenzied Hunters seeking to kill their enemy even with the threat of death.

After all, they’ve become ’numb’ to that sensation while inside this realm.

When reality and dream merge as one, how can they even tell?

Standing up, Alice made her way to the second exit.

One that led to the next area.

As she approached the exit, she noticed a gate blocking her way.

There was a single keyhole on the gate and Alice already knew what she must do.

Pulling out the key that Adela dropped, Alice inserted it.

As she did so, she felt a slight prick against her finger.

Furrowing her brows, she let go of the key and saw a small droplet of blood on her finger tip.

A spike had actually appeared on the key, drinking a bit of her blood and started to glow with a hint of crimson.

Veins spread across the door and it opened by itself.

The creaking of its hinges forming a strange creepy... laugh?

"Well that’s not f*cking ominous at all." Alice mumbled, pushing the door open.

Clutching an Embryo, butterflies fluttered into the new zone, guiding her to the next camp.

Past the garden, there seemed to be only a single path that she could take.

Tall foliage and trees blocked the sides with thorns threatening to stab her should she try to force her way through.

Even trying to cut it with her rapier didn’t work as her blade bounced back with a clash of sparks.

Were the thorns metal? Or perhaps they were a different kind of material.

Whatever it was, it’s clear that the dream only wanted her to proceed down this path without any diversions.

Keeping her guard up, Alice ventured forth.

With the Fog blocking her view, it was hard to see if there were any lurking dangers in the fog.

Walking down this path, Alice felt the suffocating silence plague her mind.

Cayla was not here to listen to her rants, Alyss wasn’t here to keep her in check.

Neither of them were here to joke around with her.

Hell, she even missed their teasing and bullying.

Now that she was alone in this silence, the lack of their presence was clearer than ever.

’Just a little longer... Just a little more...’ Alice thought to herself.

Surely the sun should rise soon.

Once it does, she’ll be back in the familiar company of her friends.

Reaching the end of the path, Alice was greeted with a strange elevator.

Similar to the one that she saw when looking for Karina.

A single caged platform waiting to descend.

Circling the cage a few times, Alice made sure there wasn’t any other paths that she could take and stepped in.

With a click, the door shut and the platform started its slow descent.

The first thing Alice noticed was the growing smell.

It wasn’t a putrid smell nor was it fragrant.

Rather... it smelled wet?

Like soaked stone or a forest.

This sense of humidity was present in the air and Alice could see condensation forming on her body.

The walls were soaked with water.

Furrowing her brows, Alice couldn’t help but wonder if the place she was going to was a forest beneath the surface.

If so, with the fog obscuring her view, trying to navigate this place was going to be much harder.

But the deeper she dropped, the colder the temperature became. Water turned to ice and Alice could see her own breath in the air.

It wasn’t a forest that awaited her but rather a land of ice and snow.

Reaching the bottom, a branch awaited her and Alice stepped out.

Like the time she stepped into Adela’s arena, a butterfly landed on her shoulder.

"Welcome, little flame~ To the land beneath the surface. Monsters trapped in ice, shadows starved of food and famine that plagued the land. What you see here, is a splinter of reality. The dream of someone who had experienced such hardships.

"Welcome to the nation of Verona many years in the past."