Photon could only sigh out loud, his shoulders falling in defeat, as he continued following his big (in age only) sister as they continued walking. If that was all they did it would be understandable yet what was beginning to drain his endless energy was the interesting “route” they were taking. Straight lines being a major issue as they would constantly weave in seemingly random ways to the point they sometimes ended up seeing the same roadmark several dozens of times.

On top of that they would also purposely back track; doing so at random while sometimes also walking backwards when they were going forwards & forwards when they were going backwards. At this point he didn’t even know where they were nor where they were going. He had an inkling that his sister had gotten lost however seeing the big grin on her face (in addition to her confidence) he could say nothing.

Meanwhile, the girl who he was carrying, Alice had already fully dried from her dip into the sea which by itself was not too weird to him. They had been walking around for a long time by now. What certainly caught him off guard was the fact she was no longer a little girl but a blooming teenager!

She also was in no way small despite her prior appearance; although her height could not be considered larger when compared to his own. In fact it was quite awkward since, due to carrying her on his back with his hands back there to support her, he found her mature body pressed against him. While this would be considered a “fortunate” situation for any other man… Photon simply did not feel anything but weary with how this trip was going.

Probably not helped by the fact that he was not interested in women to begin with but that is another matter altogether.

“What are you even doing…?”

Finally one of them had enough of the situation and spoke up. In response Chesire’s ears twitched cutely while turning toward the two of them - soon tilting backwards so she could look up at the two of them while continuing walking. Certainly not the usual way someone would seek to do such a thing however neither lion or amphibian wished to possibly cause the silence to return.

“I am making sure that any friends who want to find us will struggle to do so nyaha~!”

“... Could you not just cover our tracks then?”

He could not help speaking cautiously in case he was saying something stupid… Fortunately he did not need to worry about anything as Cheshire soon nodded along happily while letting out another laugh.

“Chehehehihihi~ indeed so that is why this is so funny; just imagine them wandering all over trying to find the right path only to discover I erased the right track part of the way through. In fact, maybe they will never discover it, leading to them constantly going down different paths all in hope that they can find the way we went with no end in sight~!”

Both could only look at the cat with a blank stare.

“Now that we have done that…”

Without explaining anything more, she began to summon some abyssal energy to her finger tip, writing some arcane symbols that made Alice tilt her head in confusion. She could not understand what the cat was doing but she at least knew that each of the runes she wrote help an incomparable depth. Even to the swordsmanship of her father. A confusion realisation since she was talking about the creation of one of the oldest primordial gods not being able to compare to something a random cat she ran into did.

Little did the little goddess know that she was just very unlucky; so happened to surface right in front of the wrong opponent. Then ran into the only person who could compare to her “unci” in terms of wisdom. It truly was a series of unfortunate events that completely ruined the girl's confidence in her own strength.

In contrast to the depressed dragoness - Photon instantly grew relieved upon seeing the arcane circle slowly forming in real time.

The energy used in creation was malformed & an amalgamation that made the energy-based goddess cringe in visible disgust. That energy seemingly wanted to lash out - with the intention of consuming everything within existence - yet it never had the chance. Instead the abyssal blackness quivered and calmed as Cheshire’s hand danced across it’s surface whenever it was getting uppish.

Regardless it was the nature of that synthesised energy concoction which brought naught but repugnance to the deep sea salamander. Not that surprising when one considers her origin. There is no way that the heir of Gaia would be overly pleased with the nature that Cheshire had brazenly shown.

Still, she didn’t let that be known, believing that she was currently powerless to do anything about the broken world that took her mother from her. It made her well aware that what she needed was more allies that could help her along the way. More than that; she needed information on everything and everything as her lack of information had already proven deadly to her.

“Now let us get going~!”

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Before Alice could figure out what was happening - the energy from the circle exploded out which made the dragonnes instinctively jump from the lions back. She had no weapon on her but she at least had her hands so she formed claws with those. When she landed on the ground she was even more confused.

Although she was new to the world after the waves… She was absolutely certain she wasn’t located within some kind of training field previously - in fact she had not even seen a training field on the surface until it suddenly just appeared around her. Or rather, until she appeared in the training field, she didn’t care about the little details of this matter but also did not let her guard down.

“At least you aren’t a total idiot chehehehihihi~.”

Sure enough; both the feline siblings were still in front of her. The supposed oldest one looked at her with that same inhumanely large grin on her face while the second (and far too tall) one looked at her with something akin to… Pity.

Photon stepped back while Cheshire placed her cane against one of the shredded dummies.

“I told you earlier that real strength can only come from suffering… You want to be strong so how about we have you suffer a little bit~!”

With that the cat hunched over, her left foot drawing a circle in the dirt as she swung it behind herself, both her hands forming terrifying claws with those metal nails of hers, That malignant energy began to coat her fingers then hands - making them look like the night sky with all the impurities that filled the energy - the nature of it confusing the young Alice. Especially when it solidified into an obsidian-like matter.

None of those questions were destined to be answered just yet as the Cheshire seemingly vanished - a shocking sight that got Alice to open her eyes wide. Suddenly she felt a warmth trickle down her cheek causing her to lift her hand. Looking toward her hand showed a trail of golden blood that shimmered ominously with those same night-like impurities.

Slowly she turned her head to look behind here where she was greeted with the cat licking those obsidian claws of hers; cleaning them from the golden blood. Wearing that same massive grin on her face. A sight which caused a shiver to overcome the goddess, especially when the blood didn’t stop leaking, but she did not retreat.

Instead she lashed out at her surroundings. Her infinite exploding into the surroundings with the intention to crush everything - including Cheshire - into nothing but mulch at her feet.

Cheshire herself did not seem too intimidated, shaking her head with a mocking tut, beginning to do some strange dance which the goddess couldn’t see as any more than insanity. Her feet gracefully glided across the ground in an usual pattern that had two strange tear-like shapes that perfectly melded together into a single circle. As the energy approached she made that same weird circular pattern with her hands which actually seemed to capture the energy.

“[Revolution of Heaven & World]~.”

With that - enhanced by the cat's own understanding & capabilities - that energy came flying back towards the goddess with one final palm strike from the one who managed to capture it. Alice was obviously caught off guard yet at the same time could not help but stare in awe. From the motions she felt a deep comprehension that not even her unci could claim to have on the realms that existed.

Seeing someone utilise such a deep understanding in such a unique fashion…

Unfortunately for the girl; her attack was essentially only a simple wave with all its energy at the forefront which meant that the concentrated counter strike easily broke through. A beam of vibrant green & abyssal black slamming right into the solar plexus. Grabbing it with her bare hands just before it made a hole through her flesh but that also sent her flying through the air.

Skidding across the ground with no sign of stopping until, with a yell worthy of titans, threw that orb into the air where it would explode with great power.

Although she did not wish to admit it… She also had begun to understand what exactly the cat said about the “needing to suffer for strength” philosophy she seemed to spew at every chance. Through suffering came experience and through experience came an enhanced ability to adapt to any situation. There was so much she could have done better in that brief bout that she did not know where to begin with criticising herself.

It was also then that she felt something stepping on her shoulders; finding herself meeting eye to eye with the crazy kitty.

“You should review after you have finished; not during~!”

A line that was followed by two clawed fingers that brutally darted forward to rob the goddess of her sight,

Needless to be said…

Alice, indeed, suffered a lot.