MAZE - The Endless Quest

There were still a couple more vampires unconscious on the ground. Instead of just leaving, Alex made sure to test the mutation removal on them first. Doing the same with a vampire lord wasn’t going to be easy, and the more practice she had, the better. In addition, the now cured vampires could work as bodyguards for the purifiers that were heading back to the headquarters on the bus.

After that, Hera and the others had to move on foot towards the mansion, which wasn’t a problem. One of their possible paths would take them close to another group of purifiers. It was so close that making that small detour would barely delay them. At least when not considering the time it was going to take to clear out the mutated vampires or the vampire hunters, of course.

As they approached this second cluster of enemies, Hera called the Spymasters, ‘Hey, do you want to be awakened for this dungeon? It’s been a while since the two of you got that buff.’

“Yes!” Crimson yelled out loud, making her brother roll his eyes.

‘I suppose I can’t say no now,’ the male half Naga sighed.

“Don’t you dare! I feel awesome when we do that,” Crimson stared Viper down.

“Is everything ok?” Paige turned to Hera, confused about the outburst.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it. It’s just a thing they want to do,” the Empress chuckled and turned to Crimson, “Just wait until we are closer to the vampires. Let’s not waste too much of the duration.”

Livy and Nimbus could stay a few hours in their awakened form. So could Lurize, however, he had an option of going out in a blaze of glory. For the Spymasters, that was a bit different. They could only keep their awakened form for 45 minutes. That should be more than enough time to deal with this next horde of enemies and the vampire lord that was just 10 minutes away. According to Vulcan, this lowered duration happened because the effect was split in two. Or four, depending how one looked at it, since the twin daggers would become four, and each Spymaster would be holding a pair of them.

Just as the group turned a corner, revealing the agglomeration of vampires at the end of the road, the Ophidianite gave Forge the signal to awaken the two. He moved to the half Naga siblings as they raised their weapons to the side. Vulcan gave a gentle tap on both daggers at once, allowing the transformation to start.

Normally, the Spymasters had a face similar to Hera’s, but leaning more towards the snake side. Their features were very similar to that of any of the sentient species in the MAZE, but they didn’t have ears or a nose. Those being replaced by small holes where they should be located. However, once the skill took effect, their entire physique changed. No longer were the twins the half Naga, an in between the ancient species and the Ophidianite. But now they were full Naga. Even more than that. Their faces became truly snake like, and their arms grew like tentacles, becoming almost an extra pair of tails that could move just as well as the rest of their bodies. They also gained an extra set of fangs on their upper jaw that were always sticking out. Both Spymasters were also carrying two daggers. Their own, original body, and a copy of their sibling’s. This was thanks to one of the Awakened skills that made them both have permanent access to each other’s skills while in this state.

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Viper & Crimson - Naga

Twin Daggers - Scryotra

Viper:

Total Stats: 750

Strength: 161 Endurance: 143

Agility: 98 Charisma: 134

Intelligence: 98 Luck: 116

Mana 7 354 984/7 354 984

Weapon Scaling:

Strength x 16.1, Charisma x 13.4, Luck x 11.6, Endurance x 14.3, Agility x 9.8, Intelligence x 9.8

Crimson:

Total Stats: 759

Strength: 98 Endurance: 98

Agility: 170 Charisma: 98

Intelligence: 152 Luck: 143

Mana: 9 397 322/9 397 322

Weapon Scaling:

Agility x 17, Intelligence x 15.2, Luck x 14.3, Strength x 9.8, Endurance x 9.8, Charisma x 9.8

Passive Shared Skills:

Two Fight as One:

When within 10 meters of each other, Viper and Crimson will be affect by each other’s attributes and weapon scaling. In the case where both have the scaling for a specific attribute, only the highest one will apply. This effect can only be applied to Viper and Crimson.

Naga attunement:

All skills and spells that Viper and Crimson have are considered Naga spells or skills.

All skills and spells that do not need to be converted have their effects increased by 50%

Blessing of the Stealth Spirit:

Viper and Crimson were blessed by a Stealth Spirit. This allows them to control how hard is to perceive their presence even without any skills active. When using a stealth based skill or spell, the effects are doubled.

Unparalleled collaboration:

Viper and Crimson work together with a near flawless precision.

Hidden Strike:

Attacks made without warning the target will deal 50% more damage.

Viper’s Passive skills

Enhanced Poison:

When using any poison-related spells or skills Viper increase the poison effect by 30%

Snake’s Cunning:

Viper’s mind gains a greater benefit from intelligence allowing him to process information 20% faster than his intelligence would allow.

Crimson’s Passive skills:

Rending Blade:

Crimson’s attacks can cause the target to receive a grievous wound, reducing any healing that it receives by 20%

Serpent’s Hold:

Crimson’s muscle gains a greater benefit from strength, increasing the force behind her muscles by 20% more than what her strength would allow.

Shared Active skills:

Alluring Presence:

By activating this skill, your target will feel attracted to whoever activates this skill.

Mana Cost: 300 mana per target affected

Hidden Frontal Screen:

When active, this skill will allow the user to hide from almost anything that is in front of it.

Mana Cost: 0.5% total mana per second. 2% if the user is moving.

Viper’s Active skills:

Grasping Strike:

Viper deals a blow that binds the target temporarily. The duration of the bind depends on the strength of the target.

Mana Cost: 500 mana

Acid Spray:

Viper can spray acid from his fangs, the gas released by this chemical can also poison those who come in contact with it. Viper is also able to control the type of acid used for this skill to a certain degree.

Mana cost: 300 000 mana.

Crimson’s Active skills:

Bloody Claw:

Crimson launches a long-range attack made out of blood. Depending on how much mana was spent, the attack can be performed with one, two, or three claws. If exposed blood is nearby it can be used to increase the power of this skill as long as the blood is not inside a living being.

Mana Cost: 300, 600, 1 200 Mana. Distance: 50 meters

Demolisher:

Crimson can turn her body into an unstoppable force. She gains increase damage against any structure and against shielded targets. The more she is able to destroy, the more powerful her attacks will become.

Mana cost: 20% total mana.

Initial damage increase: 20%

Maximum damage increase: 400%

Duration: 10 minutes

Cooldown: 20 minutes

Awakened:

The Scaling and Attributes are doubled.

All skills have their effects doubled, as well as the duration. Their cooldown is reduced by half.

Awakened skill:

Always Together:

While awakened, a copy of their twin’s dagger will appear in their hand. While holding that dagger, Viper and Crimson have access to each other’s skills.

Awakened Guardian’s Form:

Viper and Crimson and can transform individually. In this form, their attributes are added together, and their skills are 100% more effect.

Mana cost: 90% total mana.

Duration: 2 minute.

Cooldown: 48 hours.

Forms available: Scryper, Crimotra

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Crimson let out a hysterical laughter as she rushed ahead of the group, moving extremely quickly towards the vampires, “Bleed for me!” she swung both daggers, the one with a white blade that now had lines of red almost as if it was bleeding, and the one with a red blade that gave off a white glow.

The vampires didn’t even notice her coming, as the [Hidden Frontal Screen] stopped her from being seen, and the noise caused by the crowd drowned out her voice. Crimson’s arms moved like whips, slashing at necks and spines with deadly precision. Every couple of strikes, a pair of large energy blades made out of blood, went flying, carving a path in the swarm of vampires. Viper wasn’t far behind her, but his methods were silent. No one saw him moving, or anything happening for that matter. Not until a few seconds later, when a large chunk of the vampire crowd suddenly fell to the ground, already dead. They were all affected by the [Grasping Strike] skill and died standing up. Only when the Spymaster’s skill was over they were allowed to rest.

Once the rest of the group reached the first group of dead vampires, Viper and Crimson appeared on opposite sides of the golden dome that protected the purifiers. The Spymaster faced away from that light and towards the crowd of mutated creatures that still moved and spat out what looked like a fire hose of an acid towards the monsters. Each droplet was able to melt even bones. To finish things off, the twins created six massive [Bloody Claws] each and sent it flying to the rest of the vampires, clearing this entire swarm before Hera and the others could even reach the battle.

The Harmony Guardians, the humans, the Astral Light, and Elistrae all stopped running and slowly turned to Hera with annoyed expressions.

“In my defense. I had no idea they wanted to go that hard,” the Ophidianite took a step back.

Everyone groaned, and they had another few minutes talking with the purifiers while Viper and Crimson continued being heightened versions of themselves. Crimson became something close to a jock, wanting to test her strength against everyone, while her brother continued being more quiet, but now somewhat brooding and with the intensity of someone who would kill for being disturbed.

Soon after, they rushed to the mansion. The surrounding area was not just empty but showed no signs of battle like the rest of the city. There were no claw marks, dried blood, holes, not even spots of dirt where someone dropped their drink. It seemed like someone was taking very good care of the place, or everyone knew they should stay clear of the area.

Once they crossed the gates, everyone got a feeling of danger. Even the Harmony Guardians with their higher levels. Then again, it wasn’t to the point where they were worried, it was just more dangerous than the hordes of vampires. As they walked along the courtyard, Hera turned her attention to Viper and Crimson.

‘This time, try not to do everything by yourselves. This is supposed to be a way for everyone to relax.’

‘Boooo. This is me relaxing,’ Crimson groaned.

‘Understood, Empress,’ unlike his sister, who didn’t change all that much on the way she spoke, Viper also became more formal for some reason. Hera was sure this was intentional, and not just a side effect of the skill, but she wasn’t going to mention anything about that. If the Spymaster was trying something new, it was up to him.

‘Can we at least use the guardian forms?’ Crimson asked.

‘If you want, just let everyone else fight, too. Besides, we can’t kill the lord,’ Hera replied.

Once the group was getting to the entrance of the mansion, they saw a man with long black hair, and a wide brim white hat with a single black line going across it. He still sported what could only be described as the ‘old rock star look’ and appeared like a typical vampire. With the exception of his hands that were longer and the nails had turned into long claws, almost 10 centimeters long.

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Mutated Vampire Lord - Level 45

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The man turned around, showing his glowing red eyes to the group, and roared. A silent scream that caused blood to pour out of the windows of the mansion, forming waterfalls. From that red liquid that continued to flow without end, armored knights, hell hounds, skeletal horses, and bats made out of blood emerged. Just like Hera, when the vampire lord fought, he was never alone.