Abyssal Awakening

"I want you to use everything you know to try and beat me. In return, I'll use the new form that I've modified. No zone, no Sigils, just pure martial arts." Alyss instructed as she stood opposite him with chain blades in hand.

She had modified them to be a little longer than the blades that Jin had to suit the new fighting style.

Hearing her instructions, Jin understood that Alyss wanted to demonstrate it rather than just teach it through words.

Without any questions, he entered an offensive stance while Alyss did the same.

There wasn't any killing intent or threat of death. Instead, Jin could feel a looming presence. A shadow in the back of the mind, always present yet never in sight. A constricting aura that coiled around the arena, slowly encroaching with him in the centre.

'Unshackled, Unpredictable, Unstoppable.' Jin chanted the mantra of the Chaos Fang stance as he lunged forward.

Hooking the blades into the ground, he tossed a chunk of the earth towards Alyss, blocking her sight before entering Blade Tempest.

Twisting his body, a maelstrom of blades and chains rushed towards Alyss but she was unphased.

Coiling Serpent!

The blood chains connected to Alyss's chain blades whipped to life as they wrapped around the pieces of earth, breaking it apart in an instant.

Lashing out at Jin, the chains breached his stance and wrapped around his limbs!

Devouring Lock!

Pulling Jin towards her, Alyss stabbed toward his stomach as he gritted his teeth and twisted his body to the side with the help of the Skybound Swallow.

However, to his shock, the stab was not the real attack.

A net of chains appeared in the sky, blocking out his path of retreat as Alyss jumped back and tugged on her chains.

*SNAP!!!

All of the chains collapsed at once, wrapping around Jin and holding him in place.

"First form of the modified Eclipse Reaver. Focuses on control through chains and deception for the final strike. It may seem like the complete opposite to your Eclipse Reaver but it actually uses a lot of the movements from Chaos Fang." Alyss flicked her wrist as the chains loosened up and freed Jin.

Massaging his arms, Jin stood up.

"Now attack again." Alyss instructed.

Taking a deep breath, Jin nodded as he stomped down.

Ember Steps!

Rushing towards Alyss, he adjusted his grip on the Chain Blades.

Guillotine!

*CLANG!!!

Instead of hitting Alyss, the blades missed their target, causing it to clash against the chains!

Flicker Strike!

*KSH!!!!

Sparks flew as Alyss's blades clashed against Jin's chains, breaking his guard.

False Fangs!

Stabbing one of the blades into the ground with a step, Alyss used it as a pivot point to swing herself behind Jin, with a blade aiming for his neck.

After all his training, even if he doesn't have a Zone, he could still dodge something like this!

Phantom Swallow Steps – Veil!

Flicking forward momentarily, Jin went in for the counter but saw a smile on Alyss's face.

Falling Shadow! Experience exclusive tales on My Virtual Library Empire

*BANG!!!!

Inches away from his face, a blade crashed down from the sky, breaking his chains in half as cold sweat filled his back.

Had Alyss waited even a moment, his life would've been forfeit!

"Flicker Strike, a merge between the Ember Step and 'Swift' from the Phantom Swallow Steps. Focuses on speed and sudden changes by using a blade as an anchor. If done right, you'll look as though you're flickering through reality by exploiting blind spots.

"False Fangs, focuses on misdirection. By drawing their attention entirely on yourself, your second blade is allowed to do whatever you want. In this case, I linked it up to Falling Shadow.

"Similar to Guillotine, it's an attack from above. However, unlike Guillotine, this includes the principle of power and speed from other martial arts. Taking advantage of the space and momentum generated for one quick silent strike from above." Alyss explained the second form before repairing the chains that she broke with some metal.

For the modified Eclipse Reaver, there were four forms to choose from in battle.

First form, as explained, was one that focused on control and deception.

Second form focused on speed and assassination.

Third form was used if the second failed. A form based on power and momentum, taking advantage of their reach thanks to the chains and generating power from rotation.

Fourth was aimed at ending a fight. Of course, that's not to say the others didn't aim for the same thing. But rather, the fourth was one that locked you into that decision.

A self destructive form that focuses everything to kill your enemy at the expense of yourself.

A form that ensures absolute destruction by using the wielder as fuel.

No escape, no surrender, no retreat. A dance of life and death at the precipice.

Mutually assured destruction.

This form was actually a coincidence. Alyss only intended to make three forms with branching stances. But as she continued to develop this martial art, movements began to link up and she realised a potential fourth form.

Ironically, despite wanting to step away from the Eclipse Reaver, this fourth form might be the most similar.

The final desperate struggle of a cornered beast.

Therefore, Alyss didn't explain this fourth form. If Jin was talented and fully mastered the other three, he may discover this on his own. But before that moment, she'll only show him three forms.

###

Walking through the desert, a duo could be seen with tattered robes fluttering in the wind.

Neither of them looked like they were from the east but none dared to approach.

Their gaze sent shivers down the spines of those who made eye contact as they scrambled to hide from the duo.

"Why do they keep running…" One of them sighed, sitting down on an empty bench to get a break.

"Maybe because we've been lost for about a week now. Unfortunately, all of my tools are fried by this heat." The other shielded his eyes while glancing up at the sky.

Despite the temperature, they had to cover themselves with a tattered cloak.

If it was the normal sun, they wouldn't have to worry.

But the Sun in this region was one that's been… 'tampered' with by the Sun God himself.

Well, tampered wasn't the right word. Instead, it's better to call it a consequence of the past.

Regardless, thanks to that incident, if one were to walk exposed under the sun for a prolonged period of time, their bodies would begin slowly mummifying under the intense heat and concentrated rays.

"I don't look that scary do I??? I'm a charming pretty girl dammit." Ria complained, sprawling herself out on the table before sitting up in annoyance.

After being exposed to the sun, this table was not a comfortable place to rest on. In fact, it felt like she was lying down on a frying pan.

"Usually yes. But we don't exactly look healthy right now do we?" Luke forced a smile.

The Sun wasn't the only 'curse' on this place. The 'Moon' or rather shade, was also dangerous.

Hiding in the shade for too long causes phantoms to manifest, 'haunting' you and sucking away your life force, making one look haggard and withered. These 'phantoms' couldn't exactly be killed as they were more akin to spiritual parasites.

As it stands, neither Ria nor Luke had a way to deal with them.

The best they could do was alternate between exposing themselves to the Sun or hiding in the shade to keep themselves safe. A region of constant flux between Sun and Moon.

But the worst part of all, this region didn't have to suffer this kind of torment if the Gods decided to make a move.

According to Rosalyn, the creation of these curses was indeed an accident. But when the Gods found out that this could be turned into a different form of Myth or Legend to further enhance their powers, they left it be.

And now, this region was no different to a 'farm', maintained for the sake of their power.

Most found it difficult to escape and subjected themselves to this torment as death was the only other option.

Having gotten used to this form of living, they do the best they can to get through daily life.

Just thinking about it annoyed Ria as the Gods were all the same. All of them only doing things that benefit their agenda or greed without a care.

"And to think the Eclipse is worshipped in this f*cking place because both the Sun and Moon are assholes." Ria groaned in annoyance.

"It can't be helped. Only when the Eclipse appears in the sky are both curses balanced out, giving the people a well deserved break. It's only natural that they worship the Cult." Luke shook his head helplessly.

"Apparently the next Eclipse cycle is only two weeks from now. Rather than walking around aimlessly and… getting lost again, why don't we stay here for a bit?" He suggested.

Ever since arriving in this place, they've gotten lost for the entire week, unable to find a way out of this place.

Despite feeling as though they were walking in a straight line, they would always appear back where they began.

Therefore, Luke wanted to take his chances with the date of Eclipse.

Even if Ria's directional sense was bad, it didn't make sense for them to return where they began despite walking in a straight line.

"Fine…"

While Ria and Luke were suffering, Rosalyn was actually not far away from them and relaxing in the shade. She had a pair of sunglasses on and wearing a bikini while pinching the phantoms with her fingers.

To someone like her, these phantoms were no different from snacks.

Compared to Ria and Luke's suffering, she was practically on holiday.