Abyssal Awakening

"What do you think about inheriting my title of Lord?" Sigurd asked with a grin as he folded his arms.

"Hah?" Alice blinked her eyes.

"My title as Lord of the Forge. Do you want it? Become my student and I'll pass everything to you. My techniques, my knowledge, my blueprints. Everything, I'll give it to you." Sigurd clarified.

'With such an offer given to her, it'll take her a moment to fully digest everything.' He mused to himself.

But that was fine. After all, Alice is the first one to show such promise of inheriting his technique.

"Nah, I'll pass." Alice yawned, waving her hand dismissively as she turned to Selen.

"That's right, who would pass on this opport- What?" Sigurd blinked his eyes.

"I'll pass. I'm not interested in becoming a Lord of the Forge." Alice scratched her head, wondering if Sigurd heard her wrong. Which shouldn't be the case since the physicality of Lords, even for those that aren't focused on the body, should transcend human limits.

There was no chance of him mishearing her.

"I'm offering the status of Lord! Do you even know what that entails?" Sigurd questioned, catching up to Alice.

He didn't think anyone in the world could reject the offer of becoming a Lord.

After all, this was the apex of humanity they're talking about! The strongest beneath those that are blessed by divinity!

"Of course I do. But I don't see why I would want to become the Lord of the Forge. It's not like I'm a blacksmith or have an interest in making weapons and equipment. It'll just be wasted on me." Alice shrugged her shoulder.

Making weapons out of blood was never her main focus. If anything, it's more of a temporary measure put in place by her due to Void Fang being sealed. She still needed a weapon to fight with and this was the easiest option rather than continuously buying weapons.

Doing so would waste far too much money when she could be using it for something ACTUALLY important like mead.

Blinking his eyes in disbelief, Sigurd was speechless while watching Alice walk up to Selen who slowly opened her eyes.

The ring had completely attuned to her now and a new source of energy could be sensed flowing through her body.

"How you feelin'?" Alice asked, scanning Selen from head to toe.

"A little tired but pretty good in general." Selen chuckled, holding up her hand and showing off the ring.

"That's good. So how does it feel to have proper equipment of your own?"

All this time, Selen had been conjuring a staff to act as a medium for her abilities or a sword similar to what Alice would do.

But the difference between them was the fact that Alice was mainly a caster to begin with. She didn't need the weapons while Selen did.

If Alice is a caster, Selen could be better classified as a spell warrior. Someone who fights using their body while weaving spells between each attack.

'Going off by that logic, wouldn't you be classed as a spell warrior too twinnie?' Alyss questioned.

After all, Alice liked jumping in and throwing jabs at people. One of her main attacks was even a physical enhancement on a sword strike!

'That's just personal preference.' Alice stuck out her tongue.

'Plus, Selen has always been a monster with her body control. It's just that she never really got the chance to use it aside from the time she's been fighting against us. Now that I think about it, aside from being a spell warrior, Selen is probably an Anti Hunter focused fighter right?

She's been struggling hard with fighting beasts.' Alice paused as she recalled the three classifications of Hunters.

Anti Beast, Anti Hunter and Anti Army.

Alice thought that these classifications are mainly limited to the Sigils they've obtained but that wasn't the case at all.

Depending on how you utilise your abilities and your experience, you could be a 'Anti Hunter' type Hunter that is specialized as Anti Beast. In Alice's case, she was a strange fusion of the two due to the skills that she's copied from her mentors.

The destructive power to take out large beasts with high defence and the Sigil abilities to counter the power of Hunters.

The only thing she lacked now was Anti Army.

Thinking back, with all of her experiences, Alice figured she could probably organise the three into a rock paper scissors format.

Anti Hunter beat Anti Beast as they are able to release devastating attacks that focus on taking the life of an individual.

Anti Army beat Anti Hunter as they release large scale abilities that is hard to avoid, especially with some abilities being airborne.

Anti Beast beats Anti Army as they are proficient with defending against large scale attacks and may even take charge against opponents focused on Anti Army.

Of course, there were probably better ways to categorise these with more context behind their strengths and weaknesses. But this worked as a relatively accurate representation of the general power dynamic between these three skill sets.

Setting aside her own thoughts for now, Alice focused on Selen.

"It feels… A bit weird? Not quite uncomfortable but also not exactly comfortable either." Selen scratched her hair, lifting her hand.

"I'm not sure what this ring does either. It just feels like another reservoir of energy."

Recovering from the shock of having Alice reject one of the most sought after statuses in the world, Sigurd walked over with a deep sigh.

"Number 247 – Aeternum Vow is Legendary grade and its specifically designed on enhancing your time based abilities." Sigurd grumbled.

Pulling out a sheet of parchment, he grabbed a pen and began to write down the abilities.

[Aeternum Vow – Legendary Grade]

Upon intaking time attributed energy, will significantly reduce the energy needed to cast.

Upon intaking time attributed energy, increases potency of acceleration or deceleration of time.

Upon intaking time attributed energy, will enhance time based Sigil abilities.

Enhances range and targeting of time based abilities.

Reduces enemy resistance to time based abilities.

Grants skill – [Truth Seeker], twice per day.

[Truth Seeker]

Makes a prediction of enemy movements based on the actions, habits and abilities shown thus far. This state lasts for 10 seconds.

Superior Durability.

"Give it a try at your own time." Sigurd waved his hand, gesturing for the two to leave him be.

"Ah before we go, didn't you say you were going to fix my glove if I replicated that skill of yours?" Alice grinned, pulling out the damaged gloves from her pouch.

Seeing this, Sigurd's smile twitched as a vein bulged on his neck.

'You come into my home, demand my equipment, copy my technique then reject me when I offer my status and NOW you're wanting more from me???' Sigurd screamed in his mind but didn't vocalise it. After all, he is still an Abyss Lord respected by all.

Losing his temper to some youngsters would be unbefitting of him.

"Tsk, pass it here, I'll sort it out." Sigurd clicked his tongue.

Grabbing the glove, he examined it for a moment before furrowing his brows.

While the use of this glove was rather simple overall, the contraptions needed to pull this off was rather ingenious. On top of that, the crafter was even able to fit it all into a small inconspicuous glove.

Depending on the skill of the user, the glove could either become something extremely deadly or a something useless. A high skill weapon for a high skill user.

This only annoyed him more as the damage done to this has made it pretty much irreparable. At least for him.

He wasn't suited for this kind of delicate work.

"Yeah I don't think I can-" Before he could finish his sentence, he saw the smug provocative grin on Alice's face.

It practically screamed "Yeah I thought so. I didn't think he could repair it.".

Just this thought alone caused his blood pressure to rise.

"I don't think I can leave it as it is. You're a high level warrior now so using a glove that isn't enhanced by Abyss abilities wouldn't be good." Sigurd adjusted his words.

"Come back in a day or so. I'll have it sorted by then. Now shoo!" He rushed them out.

Once that he was left alone, Sigurd let out a huff in annoyance.

"Come out now. They're gone." He glanced to the side and watched Frida step out of the shadows.

"For a reward, didn't think you'd go out of your way to give her a Legendary equipment." Frida folded her arms.

"Can't blame a craftsman on giving his best when inspiration hits. If I miss this, then I'd regret it later." Sigurd shrugged.

"Plus, how often do you see time manipulation?"

"And how about the split haired girl then? Any particular reason for you to try and give up your status as a Lord?" Frida raised an eyebrow.

His offer to Alice took her by surprise. Had Alice accepted, it would mean this nation could've potentially lost a Lord level being, putting them at a big disadvantage.

"I just felt like it. She's got even more talent than I do to the point it makes me wonder if she's able to create Holy grade equipment with enough time, practice and tutoring. Don't you find the thought exhilarating? A mortal creating weapons on par with that of Gods." Sigurd grinned as killing intent began to seep out from his body.

Hearing this, Frida sighed.

There was only one goal that Sigurd had when it came to creating equipment.

God Slayer!

To create a weapon capable of killing a God!