Abyssal Awakening-Chapter 908: Portal Through Realms

Massaging her eyes, Alice let out a deep sigh.

Since they couldn’t compress how big this machine is, they’ll have to choose an different method.

Though...

So far, she had only tested this idea in a small confined area such as Caelan’s Library.

If they wanted this to work a little better...

"Suyin, how likely is it for you to transport this contraption through the Vault? I know you brought all the materials here but it’s clear we can’t walk around with that... thing." Alice asked with a helpless smile.

She knew how hard Suyin had to work in order to build this within a day and have everything ready. And yet, she was now telling her to dismantle it all.

"You got an idea?" Suyin asked curiously.

"You could call it that. It’s just theory right now but if I can make a few small adjustments, I should be able to punch a hole straight to your lab. As for how much energy it requires... Euff... I don’t even want to think about it." Alice rubbed her temples.

The little trick she used when Cayla manifested in reality was just a gimmick she thought up of on the spot.

Trying to improve it would be the next step if they want to use Suyin’s invention as it is.

Suyin hopped onto the table.

"So we’re leaving the state of my invention up to chance? Disassembling it is fine but... reassembling will take a while. Unless we can guarantee something..." Suyin was hesitant.

She didn’t want to destroy her baby over speculation.

Alice folded her arms.

"That’s true... Let’s give this a try first then." Alice had an idea.

Closing her eyes, she told Cayla about it and after a brief moment, she agreed.

Holding out her hand, strands of energy gathered together to form a new body roughly the same size as Suyin’s doll.

Watching this happen, Suyin had to blink her eyes in order to double check she wasn’t going crazy.

Elias was silent, watching as a living body was created in front of him.

Well... it was more of a construct considering the fact that it’s entirely made from energy. But its resemblance to a living body was uncanny.

Once the body was created, Cayla slowly opened her eyes and gave her body a stretch.

Lifting the edges of her skirt slightly and going into an elegant bow, Cayla introduced herself.

"Cayla, it is a pleasure to meet the two of you. I am one of the voices in Alice’s head."

"Her original form is obviously bigger, but this is the best we can do for now. She has access to a data bank of everything we’ve discovered so she might be able to help you either shrink down this machine or figure out a way to maintain the portal." Alice smiled.

Suyin folded her arms and nodded her head.

"With her size, fitting through the vault over to the East shouldn’t be an issue. We can also test the energy drain. Keep the portal small since we only need to hook you up to the machine through a small opening." Suyin suggested.

It’s not like they need full visibility of the machine. The only problem was its size. Too big to store in her vault. So the options were what Alice suggested or simply carrying it with them.

And...

Walking around with a two floor tall metal box certainly wasn’t stealthy at all. If anything, it was screaming for people to come investigate.

Alice clasped her hands together, created a portal behind Cayla.

"This should follow you around, I’ll make a mental note of the drain so you can use it as reference. In the meantime, I believe I’ll be helping Elias with some experiments with the blood."

With the plan confirmed, Suyin opened the vault as Cayla climbed in.

Alice maintained the portal. So far, the drainage was still largely negligible. But the further Cayla travelled, the faster the drain becomes.

Closing the vault door, Alice immediately stumbled a little, not expecting the distance to increase so drastically.

However, this portal was one that breached through the realms after all.

"Are you okay?" Cayla was worried seeing Alice stumble.

Before she could climb through the portal, Alice shook her head and smiled.

"It’s fine, I just wasn’t expecting the jump. Hmm... I’ll need way to replenish my energy but the drain isn’t too bad. I think I can handle it for 30 minutes give or take. But if we can replenish my energy, it’ll last longer." Alice clenched her fist a few times and estimated how long she could maintain this state.

But the issue was...

This portal only linked to the Void. It has yet to cross the distance to the east.

"Try this then. Might help." Suyin jumped through the portal and tossed over a small contraption. It had a single Eldritch crystal attached to it and Alice could see energy coursing through the device.

"A small ’battery’. It’s a prototype I’ve made for my babies. But if you can extract the energy like my machine, it might be suitable for you as well." Suyin explained as Alice thought about it for a moment.

Extracting the energy wasn’t too difficult. It simply needed her to link her strands up with that of the device.

The only questionable part was the nature of said energy.

However...

Suyin had dealt with this through the device. Part of the energy was funnelled into a separate container thus creating a second more corruptive Eldritch Crystal.

What little energy is extracted is converted to ’blank’ power that can be used.

Closing her eyes, Alice linked herself to the device and felt the energy flow into her body.

"Hmm... mostly neutral but the crystal is draining pretty fast. What are we going to do about the waste produced? This corruptive crystal is not exactly good." Alice pointed at the secondary crystal that was slowly being dyed with an ominous black energy.

"That’s why I said it’s a prototype." Suyin stuck out her tongue.

’Should I give it a try? I deal with Eldritch energy anyways.’ Alyss suggested.

Raising an eyebrow, Alice allowed Alyss to take over.

With the crystal now in her hands, Alyss held it against the light before clenching her fist around it. Black energy started to fill her veins while the golden chains seared against her skin.

Alice wanted to say something but Alyss shook her head.

After a moment, the energy was absorbed and Alice took over again.

’I’ll need to recuperate a little bit to ’digest’ the energy. But other than that, no negative effects.

’You can probably set up an array for you to use the energy while I absorb the Eldritch stuff.’ Alyss suggested.

’Are you sure? This...’ Alice frowned.

’I mean how else are we supposed to use the memory device? Don’t worry it’s just for the moment. The moment we figure out a better way do things, we can change. But time is important right now, isn’t it?’

Alice hesitated but sighed and nodded her head.

’Alright.’

Setting up a relay with the Eldritch energy funnelling into Alyss, Alice maintained the power to the portal.

"Alright, you can exit into Suyin’s lab now." Alice gave Suyin the thumbs up while Cayla had a face of worry.

As the vault opened, Alice winced a little from the drain but it wasn’t as bad as before.

If anything the drain only decreased after Cayla stepped out and the Void was taken out of the equation.

’Seems like crossing realms are the main thing when it comes to draining.’ Alyss smiled.

’To be fair, I am using Void Powers to cross through the Void twice. Once with my portal, second with the vault floating in the Void. If it’s just on the opposite side of the world, I only need to cross the Void once.’ Alice theorised.

’Perhaps. This does mean you don’t need to use Eldritch energy as often since the drain is fine. Only the occasional recharge is needed.’

Nodding her head, Alice relayed everything to Suyin who set aside a bunch of energy crystals for Alice to use.

###

"How do you suppose we should transport everyone? Moving this many people, including the injured isn’t realistic. Especially with the beasts running rampant. And... We don’t know when her Majesty might fall into a slumber again." Sigurd leaned against the wall.

Now that they know Caera can do things without the need of the contract, a new problem has appeared.

Transport.

"We should be fine for an extended trip. We have several Lords with us." Caera shrugged.

How they get there isn’t exactly her problem.

"Even with several Lords at our disposal, we’re still in Terminus. What can we do if a Sealed Lord appears?" Frida reminded.

It’s been mostly six star beasts attacking hence why they’ve been holding up just fine. But if a Lord was to attack, casualties will no doubt appear.

With the mention of the potential dangers of a Sealed Lord appearing, the group fell silent.

Rosalyn was confident in her own survival but she can only save a handful of people. Sigurd seemed restricted with his power while Frida wanted to save as many as they can.

Same with Verona.

Caera was the outlier but it seems like her power has some major draw backs.

"What if we take multiple trips?" Rosalyn suggested after some thought.

"But that’s only if we can use the method of transport multiple times. You mentioned its an old device, can we guarantee it won’t break after one use?" Frida turned to Caera who shrugged.

"I’m confident that it’ll work but time wears down all things. It’s durability I can’t guarantee."

"And what if I can maintain its condition?" Selen spoke up.

If she can use the power of time to halt the degeneration of the materials while it’s in use, they might be able to increase the odds of success.

Hearing this, Caera folded her arms.

To perform a feat such as this... an advancement is needed.

Selen won’t have the energy to maintain such a task if she wants to help. Thus, the answer was simple

"Selen, how do you feel about becoming a Lord?"