Chapter 290: Modifying Contracts
Second effect was the red lightning and flames.
As for the third, that'll be the ability to condense the ambient energy around them into a single attack. It was a rather simple ability, but the important fact was that it drew energy from the surroundings rather than Alice herself!
Meaning, so long as the surroundings contain a sufficient level of energy, she could create an attack that rivalled Lords without needing a body to withstand that power.
'I don't know what my other self was trying to do with the Blood Blossom Demon. But if I just rely on Tiamat's power and my second Sigil, it should be sufficient.' Alice thought to herself. This was the first time she heard the name, Blood Blossom Demon.
As for its abilities, unless her other self explained, she wouldn't know what it did and it's too risky to experiment with it mid fight with no knowledge.
However, just using the powers individually wouldn't be good enough either. That kind of thinking was too restrictive.
Instead, she should be thinking outside the box, finding ways of combining her powers to achieve the best result.
It was the first lesson that Allura taught her.
Thinking about this, a smile crept up on Alice's face as she looked at Allura who was slowly approaching her.
"Have you finished thinking about what you need to do?" Allura asked while massaging her shoulders.
"Mnm, I have. Now I can't help but wonder if I can force you to use your sixth Sigil." Alice grinned.
"Don't get too overconfident now kiddo. Making me use my fifth is impressive enough as it is. Making me use my sixth is asking to get an ass whooping." Allura laughed as her figure flickered from her spot and shot towards Alice at full speed!
Invisible blades shot towards her in an attempt to grab her attention while flames concentrated around Allura's body.
White sparks flickered as she prepared her strike once more.
"Gotcha." Alice grinned.
Sucking in a sharp breath of air, she cleaved towards Allura with her blade as all the colour in the world seemed to disappear with the exception of her violet flame dancing on her body and blade!
The energy gathered towards Allura was forcefully pulled away with the violet flames 'cutting' the tether. Once that was cut, Tiamat's ability served to gather the ambient energy into Alice's blade for a slash!
Void Flux – Cleave!
Seeing her flames and invisible blades being extinguished, Allura bent her body back and narrowly dodged Alice's slash.
Beneath her, red lightning converged as Allura slammed her elbow into the ground to push herself to the side, dodging the attack.
Her eyes darted around the area, trying to locate Alice but to no avail. Sliding across the ground, Allura readied her fist as Void Fluxes manifested around her.
Slamming her fist down, she was about to create a wall of flames when a surge of violet flames rushed towards her from behind.
If she were to use her fire, the violet flames would consume her ability and let Alice grow stronger. If she focused on the flames, the Void Fluxes would signify her loss. It would be unfair to Alice if she were to ignore the Void Fluxes just because they did no damage to her.
A proud smile appeared on her face as Allura closed her eyes.
*BANG!!!
Flames exploded forth from Allura's body as it transitioned from the standard orange flame to a sparking white. But that wasn't the end.
From these sparks, a blue fire began to take over.
The existence of this flame began to distort reality as the ground beneath her started to bubble from the heat!
Releasing a punch on either side of her, the space began to rupture as Alice's violet flames and Void Fluxes were forcefully overpowered in an instant!
Before the destruction could expand, Kaden intervened and forcefully suppressed the damage using a veil of shadows.
"These are the strongest flames that I can muster. Congrats." Allura praised with a smile.
"Which is why we'll end things here. If I was to fight you with these, you'll probably die."
Dismissing her flames, Allura disappeared from her spot before appearing behind Alice and grabbing her by the back of her jacket.
"Ah…"
Seeing herself lifted off the ground, Alice glanced down and wiggled her legs a little before sighing in defeat.
"Are the blue flames hard to control?" She asked curiously since Allura wouldn't stop a spar for no reason.
"Control is… a broad term. They only operate on full power. If I use less than full power, it'll revert back to the white flames." Allura shrugged.
Since that was the case, it meant that getting hit by those flames would equal to taking the full brunt of Allura's attack without holding back!
Just thinking of this caused a shiver down Alice's spine as no amount of regeneration would help if there's nothing left to regenerate!
"But you should be proud of the fact that you made me use my blue flames, only peak six Sigil beasts or Lords have ever forced me to this stage you know?" Allura grinned, patting Alice on the head.
Naturally, she was still holding onto Alice from the back of her jacket.
A happy smile appeared on Alice's face as she deactivated her Resonance while a wave of lethargy washed over her, causing her to go limp.
"So how did you even get Tiamat's power? Did you have a spare vial of her blood on you or something?"
"My contract got overwritten temporarily. Instead of my first Sigil that let me create hallucinations and boost my physical power, it got replaced with Tiamat since some of her soul got left over and couldn't be returned. I'm not sure though since it's something my other self did, I don't have control over it." Alice shook her head.
Even now, she was in the dark about how her Core managed to modify the contract temporarily. Just because she saw her Core do this, it didn't mean she could understand the process and recreate it.
"So if you took a part of me with you, you'll be able to replace one of your Sigils with my power?" Allura raised her eyebrow as this was the first time she heard about the possibility of Sigils being replaced.
"I'm not sure. But it's possible." She wanted to ask her Core about this but she was unresponsive. Most likely due to the fact that her enjoyment was cut off thanks to Velouria's chains.
"Speaking of possibilities, do you think maybe you can give me a heads up next time you want to use the blue flames? Would be nice to not have to panic about you destroying this valley." Kaden sighed as he finally finished supressing those flames.
"Ahahah sorry sorry~" Allura apologised while sticking her tongue out.
Shaking his head, he created a portal back to the house.
"It'll be easier to talk over some food. I'm sure both of you are hungry, especially Alice."
Teleporting back to their home, Kaden brought out some cake for the two of them while getting some mead on the side just for Alice.
Once she ate some cake, Allura began discussing the spar.
"First thing I think we need to address is your perception of range and how you should respond. You need to understand what kind of fighter you desire to be. Do you want to be a close ranged fighter? Or do you want to be long ranged?
"Your abilities, skills and Sigils suggest long ranged yet you choose to enter close quarters combat constantly. Knowing what you want to focus on will be your first step."
Leaning back a little, Alice nodded her head as this has been an issue for a while now.
"Of course, there is still the option of being a hybrid fighter but I don't suggest it. Focusing on too many things will only cause it to be half assed. Though… That was before I realise that you can modify your contract." Allura shrugged.
"What do you think is better for me?" Alice asked while playing around with a fork.
"That's something you need to decide. Do you prefer to be a close ranged fighter or long ranged?" Kaden chuckled while Alice furrowed her brows and contemplated her choices.
If it was before, she'd lean towards being long ranged since she didn't have the body to keep up.
But after learning Bloodline Release, she managed to fix that to a certain extent. Now was just a matter of mastering this ability.
In all of her fights, she always defaulted to one style and that was close to mid ranged fighter who would supplement her fighting with casts.
Thinking about it for a moment, Alice opened her mouth and expressed her desire to remain true to this vision.
"Then your next goal is to figure out how you can best achieve that desire. You need more methods that just your standard slash such as stabs, feints, footwork and counters."
Before Allura could continue, they heard a knock on the door as Kaden got up.
He didn't think they would be getting so many guests in one day.
Upon opening the door, he saw a familiar figure and welcomed him in.
Wearing messy clothes and unkempt hair, Nalem yawned.
"It took a while, but I think I got some decent results from the experiments. Practicality is still questionable, but I think it's something you'll like." Nalem smiled as Alice sat up in surprise.
She still remembered the question she had asked the last time they talked.
"Can I blur their outline to make them immune to the effects of the Abyss?"
Clenching her fist, Alice waited with bated breath to hear the results of Nalem's research.