Abyssal Awakening

Gwen eyed up the blue haired girl from head to toe.

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

The more she looked at her, the stranger this seemed.

First, her presence was extremely thin. If she wasn’t on guard after wondering who might’ve been responsible for the beasts, she wouldn’t have even detected her.

If she had to sum it up, forgettable would be the word she’ll use.

Then there was the second problem.

How was she able to reduce her presence to such a degree?

"Little miss, do you always throw weapons first and talk later??? I’m just a passerby who’s curious about what’s going on." The girl paled seeing the spear tip and tried to push it to the side.

However, Gwen smacked her hand aside and aimed the spear at the girl’s head.

"You haven’t answered my question yet. How did you evade my Vision?" Gwen narrowed her gaze as the boundaries of her zone began to shrink rapidly.

The girl’s hair stood on its end as she lost her smile and slammed down with her hand.

Gwen wanted to intercept her movement but found her body frozen in space!

Her pupils constricted as the blue haired girl stood up and gave her body a stretch.

"Iyaa~ I just wanted to check out the situation you know? It’s pretty concerning when the whole city is mobilized and there’s sentinels running all over the place." She giggled while patting Gwen on the shoulder.

"Keep it up miss Cardinal~ It’s not like we’ll see ea-"

*CRACK!!!

The blue haired girl’s eyes snapped back towards Gwen.

A fracture.

Instantly jumping back, she wanted to create some distance but Gwen was faster!

"That still doesn’t answer my question. Unless you want to do this the hard way I suggest you spill it out now." Gwen slashed back, loosening her grip on the spear momentarily to increase the range.

Bending her body back with incredible flexibility, the blue haired girl kicked the spear into the air and summoned a bow.

Sliding back to create some distance, she pulled back in an attempt to shoot but Gwen was way ahead of her.

"Now that I’ve locked onto you, you’re not escaping my Vision!"

Ducking into the blue haired girl’s range, she struck up with a palm strike, shattering the bow in half. Pivoting on her foot, she tried to go for a roundhouse kick but it was blocked by an invisible pillar.

Furrowing her brows, Gwen wanted to follow up with another strike but this time she was on the defensive.

Another boundary expanded, clashing with hers!

’Vision! No, this isn’t on the level of Vision yet.’

Even amongst those within the Church, very few are able to grasp the base concept of Vision never mind achieving it. Yet despite never having seen this blue haired girl before, Gwen was surprised to see that she had a perfect grasp on the foundation of Vision.

Absolute Zone, the base requirement for achieving Vision. Something the people in the east dub as State of Unity.

From her understanding, only a handful at the top managed to grasp this and most of them were at Lord level.

Yet this girl reached the same level?

*BANG!!!

Exchanging several strikes and counters in hand to hand, both of them knew that Gwen was superior when it came to close quarters!

"Tch! Sun girlie, can’t you take a hint? Why you gotta be like this huh?"

Gathering energy into a single orb, she forcefully detonated it as the two of them were sent crashing away from each other.

Quickly adjusting herself, Gwen summoned her spear ready for another throw.

Yet the blue haired girl was no where to be seen.

"Tch! You’re not going anywhere."

Holding her spear out to the side, the golden glow began to turn ominous as it turned into a mix of orange and crimson.

Her eyes lit up with a flaming fury and the veins on the back of her hand bulged.

True Sight!

The boundary of her Vision expanded in an instant, covering the entire city.

Locking onto the blue haired girl’s presence, she could see her zipping through the city.

Weaving through the alleyway, diving across the rooftops and just as she was about to throw her spear, the girl faced the sky and gave a taunting smirk.

Flipping her middle finger, she reached into her pouch and threw it beneath her.

A cloud of smoke expanded in an instant, shielding her body and her presence faded away!

"!!!"

Gwen’s hand faltered.

She couldn’t throw her spear like this.

It was too strange. The girl didn’t have high attacking power but her evasion was top notch. She had several methods to keep herself alive even after being ’caught’ by her.

"A game of cat and mouse huh? Sorry but I don’t have the time to be playing around with you." Gwen narrowed her eyes.

Since she had already locked down on the girl’s presence, even if she was to disappear, it won’t matter.

No matter the distance, her strike will reach her!

Aiming into the sky, she threw her spear!

*RUMBLE!!!

Transforming into a flaming streak, the spear burst apart in mid air!

Flaming arcs transformed into wings as an elemental bird was formed from the flames.

Hovering for a moment, the bird let out a screech and dove towards the belltower.

"Got you!" Gwen grinned, dashing after the bird.

"Hey that’s not fair! Why the hell can you do so many things?!?!" The blue haired girl cried out indignation, summoning her bow.

Pulling back on the bowstring, an azure arrow manifested.

*BANG!!!

Colliding with the bird in mid air, icy mist exploded out, slowing down the bird while Gwen lunged after the girl.

Golden chains erupted from her hand, sealing off the paths of escape.

"Any more tricks in your bag?" Gwen smirked.

Gritting her teeth, the girl let out a frustrated sigh and dismissed her bow.

"Nope, none. Don’t you think it’s a little unfair? Why the hell can you still track me when I’ve evaded your Zone?" She held her hands up in surrender.

"I’m a Cardinal, it’s only natural that I can do this much. But back to you." Gwen chuckled, holding out her arm as the bird landed and transformed back into her spear.

"How did you avoid my Vision?" She aimed the spear tip against her throat.

"Woah woah woah~ Chill girlie. I get it, I’m not gonna run now. It’s not that hard if you have the right powers." She let out an annoyed sigh and leaned against the pillar. "And I’m not exactly avoiding it. I’m making it so that you ignore me. I figured it was the same as the Sect Master’s State of Unity but clearly that’s not the case."

Raising an eyebrow, Gwen eyed the girl from head to toe.

No sign of Eldritch energy, no sign of corruption. No sign of divinity either and her powers aren’t soul based.

It’s very unlikely that she’s the culprit behind the beasts so perhaps it’s as she said, she’s simply watching.

But she couldn’t erase the fact that this girl was able to move freely to avoid detection.

Had she not gotten overly curious and stepped a bit too close, Gwen wouldn’t have discovered her.

"Name." She asked, gesturing for the blue haired girl to introduce herself.

"Kaia. No surname." Kaia introduced herself, letting out a frustrated sigh.

"So what now sun girlie? Are you gonna kill me for being too curious? They do say curiosity killed the cat."

"Yes, curiosity killed the cat but, some would like to say that satisfaction brought it back." Gwen smirked.

Kaia was too useful to be gotten rid of.

Her main value came from the fact that she was able to avoid the detection of her Vision.

If she was able to figure out the inner workings and supplement her technique with her findings, her power will be upgraded by another level.

"What satisfaction is there to be gained from being caught? Tch." Kaia clicked her tongue.

"Since you don’t have a surname, can I assume you don’t have a family? Are you attached to this city at all?" Gwen asked, pulling back her spear and dismissing it.

"Nope. Got tossed into the streets at birth. I’ll be damaged in the head if I had any form of affection for this place. Unfortunately, it’s also the only place that doesn’t ask questions when it comes to random people living here." Kaia shrugged her shoulders.

"Is that so?" Raising her eyebrows, Gwen turned around for a moment before lunged for a strike.

Just as her fist was about to collide with Kaia’s stomach, she managed to parry the strike with a kick and did a backflip to create some distance.

"For someone who asked if I was going to kill you, you certainly don’t want to die."

"No sh*t! Just because I know what might happen doesn’t mean I’m happy about it!" Kaia snapped back.

"Hou? Then how about I give you two options right now? Help me with that stealth skill of yours or die." Gwen chuckled.

Her fists lit up with a radiant fire as she prepared to lunge towards Kaia depending on her answer.

"Is that really an option? Either die or become your tool." Kaia spat out. Deploying her own Zone, she knew it wouldn’t hold up that well but it was still better than nothing.

"Your words not mine. Never said you were going to be my tool. Think of it more so as a. . . helper? Subordinate or sparring partner. Whatever you find more acceptable."

Gwen wanted Kaia’s talents to help her get stronger.

And on the chance that she had bad intentions, what could she possibly do?