Abyssal Awakening-Chapter 1005: Parasite On The World Tree

"I can even tap into power rivalling that of Realm Rulers."

Alice creased her brows.

Power rivalling that of Realm Rulers? Beings like Feris who governed entire realms?

The same beings who are comparable to Gods with the only difference being Divine authority?

Alice found that to be very doubtful as Renna didn’t feel like that strong of a Lord.

Noticing Alice’s doubt, Renna’s smile twitched.

It was the first time she had seen a being below Lord look down on her so much. Without fear for her own safety at that!

If she were a petty Lord, she might’ve even considered attacking Alice here and now.

"You? Can summon powers comparable to Feris?" Alice questioned as Renna grinned.

"I may not look like it but I-" Renna blinked.

Her words slowing down.

"-I can summon... powers like the Lady of the Void... Due to the connection... Hold on. Hang on a f*cking second how the hell do you know the name Feris???" She recoiled in realisation.

There was only one reason she knew about Feris and that was entirely due to the way the World Tree is connected to the three realms. Had her predecessors not told her about the Realm Rulers, their battle in the past, she would’ve never even known about Feris’ name.

All she would’ve know would be the fact that she exists. That’s about it.

Even before the battle between Realm Rulers, Feris was someone who hardly showed herself to anyone.

So how in Gods name does this Hunter know about her name of all things, and even speak with such familiarity!?

"I’ve talked to Feris a few times. Some of my techniques were taught by her. Actually... now that I think about it, I haven’t seen her in a while." Alice shrugged before folding her hands.

She decided to try and summon Feris.

"I consider our relationship to be that of friends."

She glanced around.

Nothing.

"Best of friends?" Alice spoke hesitantly but Feris wasn’t here to correct her.

"Hm... That’s weird. She’ll usually tell me to shut up by now. I guess she’s busy." Alice sighed.

Renna lost strength in her legs and collapsed onto the floor.

To speak so carelessly about Feris...

Even to the point where the Realm Ruler would tell you to shut up... How was she alive?

She even managed to study from Feris?

Impossible.

"There’s no way you learned techniques from her. I refuse to believe that." Renna shook her head.

Feris was notorious for disliking interacting with people. Why would she teach-

Alice stood up and gave her body a stretch. Activating her Sigil, Void energy fluctuated from her body and gathered around her feet.

Void Steps!

In an instant, Alice disappeared from her spot and reappeared behind Renna.

"She owed me a favour before and I cashed it in. It’s a shame though... I thought my relationship with her was bigger than just favours and owing each other." Alice sighed disappointingly.

[The fact that she hasn’t killed you is already a miracle. You kept sending sh*t into her home after all. If it was me, I would’ve kicked your ass ten times over.] Cayla rested her chin on her palm.

’Don’t let the poor alcoholic know otherwise I worry for her mental state.’ Alyss yawned.

If Renna realised the type of crap Alice gets up to with people who can easily kill someone of her calibre, she’ll never recover.

Especially if she finds out that Alice was the reason behind Kazira’s death.

"Th-tha-t-that’s..." Renna stuttered.

Void energy was powerful, volatile but difficult to control. The signs were extremely obvious so anyone trying to use it during a battle would struggle.

They would prepare counters to some degree.

But Alice’s activation of Void Steps was near instantaneous! A trademark of Feris!

Feris was one of if not the greatest users of Void energy.

Instantaneous casts, mastery over control! Movement that made it near impossible to catch her properly in a fight!

She represented the pinnacle of everyone trying to understand Void energy.

Even to this day, there were records of Feris’s powers inscribed and stored in the Sacred Grove.

Records for someone like her to study so that they could efficiently use the power of the Void when activating the authority of the Sacred Grove.

Yet... there stood a girl in front of her that was approaching the level of Feris in pure control.

Renna only had one question on her mind.

What the hell is Alice’s background!?

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Renna suffered from a headache despite not being drunk.

"I don’t think it warrants that level of reaction. I’ve shown it to other people before but they didn’t seem surprised by my use of Void energy." Alice walked while playing with a singularity above her finger.

Aside from her flames, Void energy was the easiest for her to manipulate.

"That’s because they don’t understand how truly difficult it is. Manipulating Void energy takes a special kind of talent to achieve. For one, you have to be specially honed to the sensation of redirecting the flow of Void energy." Renna sighed.

Snapping her finger, energy flowed from her body as she manifested a piece of the Grove by using her body as a conduit. Then, with a flick of her wrist, Void energy started to gather.

Alice immediately noticed the issues.

It was still fast, yes. But this was a Lord who was using it. The deployment of energy should be much faster than this.

"As you can see, it’s quite predictable right? Best used as a distraction as well as traps rather than in direct confrontation. Of course, if I fully manifest the Grove, I can artificially increase my control to reach a level that is usable in combat." Renna explained.

"But that’s not really me using it as I please and rather letting the Void do its own thing. I simply redirect and hope it takes the shape I want it to. But you’re doing it differently."

She turned to Alice.

"The way you’re manipulating the Void... It’s like you can see exactly how it moves. How it flows and how it wants to reject the world around it. Something bordering on the Authority a Realm Ruler holds I suppose."

A deep sigh escaped her lips. Renna had given up trying to understand what Alice was doing. Instead, it was much easier to just accept that Alice was a freak of nature when it comes to talent, disguising herself as a Hunter who’s yet to reach the realm of Lord.

"But since you most definitely aren’t one, I’m going to guess that you probably have a way to specially sense the flow of Void energy right?" She asked.

Alice scratched her cheek.

Renna’s intuition was... surprisingly on point.

Cayla allowed her to see the flow of energy which, if Void energy was as hard as Renna was making it out to be, the source of her proficiency.

There was probably talent mixed into it but Cayla’s influence is undeniable.

[Yes, praise me more.] Cayla smirked.

Alice rolled her eyes.

"Actually..." She turned her attention back to Renna.

Based on her description of the Grove...

"With the Nightmare over Extalia, are you able to dispel it? Or is the Grove already connected?"

Depending on the answer that Renna gives now, it’ll determine how far Nyer has progressed with his plan. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

With the mention of the Nightmare, Renna turned serious and regained her demeanour of a Lord.

Dusting herself, she stood up and walked towards the railings. The sight that overlooked the city.

"The... Nightmare is a bit of an anomaly as you know. Usually, it would’ve dragged you in but it’s different in this city. You can choose whether or not you want to enter." Renna took a deep breath while Alice followed behind her.

While Renna wasn’t sure of Alice’s background, the fact that she has an Underground Lord working with her along with her connection to Feris, three was a good chance that Alice wasn’t happy with the Nightmare realm.

In which case, it wasn’t an issue to give her this information. She would get it sooner or later with her connection to the Underground after all. What’s the harm in letting her know sooner?

"It appeared out of nowhere and took the nation by storm. There’s not a single part of Extalia that hasn’t been tainted and by the time we noticed, it’s already too late." Renna narrowed her eyes.

"Abyss, Void, Surface. These realms are... natural in a sense. They’ve existed for so long that the World Tree is connected to them on a deeper level. But not the Nightmare. This realm is artificial, created through careful consideration rather than letting nature take its course.

"Whoever created this realm did so with a sole purpose in mind. If I had to describe it... The Nightmare feels like an egg. It’s waiting to hatch." Renna clenched her fist as there was a look of anger in her eyes.

"If the three realms are attached to the World Tree through its roots, then the Nightmare realm is a parasite that’s latched onto the trunk. It’s siphoning a portion of the World Tree’s energy to stabilise the realm. Not perfectly, but it’s using the existing information of the other realms as a foundation, I suppose." Renna took a deep breath and leaned back.

"But trying to locate where it’s connected to the world tree is the difficult part. The roots spread far and wide. As the Lord of the Sacred Grove, I have a mission in preserving the Tree. Which means not allowing this parasite of a Realm to manifest." She turned to Alice with a smile.

"So even though I look a little unreliable, I’m working behind the scenes. The elves are already in the process of separating the Nightmare realm from the tree. Once we succeed, the false realm should break apart naturally without anything to anchor itself."