MAZE - The Endless Quest

Once Ka’mal hung up, the Harmony Guardians looked at each other, but no one said anything. It seemed every one of them needed time to process what the elven spy just asked of the group.

“I’m going to get the menu so we can order something. It’s always better to talk in a full stomach,” Style stood up, already searching for the menu that should be somewhere in this room.

“Why bother, we are going to go,” Flint leaned back on his chair while clicking his tongue.

“What? We still have to talk about it,” Skyler frowned.

The dwarf raised a single eyebrow, “Do we? Roan and Neria will vote for us to go. They want to be in the front lines. I’m voting no, and so is Vash. He is going to say he thinks is too dangerous and would rather be doing something else, and I just don’t want to bother with that kind of thin. I much rather wait until this all blows over and continue improving my power armor. I would say Hera’s vote was also a no. But Helena is the name of her friend, and by the look on her face, she is going there with or without us, so she’s a yes too. This will leave you Skyler, who probably will say something like, ‘I don’t really care either way, I just want to continue helping the Alliance,’” Flint looked around the room, “Did I get anyone wrong?”

“Damn… are we that predictable?” Neria asked.

“Or are we that close already?” Vash winked at Flint, getting an eye roll in response.

“Was he right, Hera?” Roan turned to the Ophidianite.

“Yeah… I need to go help Lena. Do you remember the last wall break? When the Wendigos first appeared? She was there, and she was missing for a while. Back then I was barely level 1, and I already tried to go after her to help. My friends stopped me, and she came back ok. This time, I actually can be there for her. So I really want to go,” she turned to Flint, “But we are a team. If we say no, I won’t go on my own.”

“You are not going to try to help her? You?” Flint squinted at Hera.

“I never said that. If we don’t go, I’m calling everyone I know who is strong or has some pull to send people to protect her. I have an honorary seat in the Alliance council, so if I can’t go, I will be abusing that power,” the Empress replied without missing a beat.

Flint let out a half chuckle, “Great incentive for us not to go. But in the end, your vote is yes?”

“Yes,” Hera nodded.

“Ok, so let’s vote then. Just get it out of the way. Who wants to go?” Skyler raised her hand. Neria, Roan, and Hera followed her right after. But to everyone’s surprise, so did Vash.

Flint stared daggers at the harpy.

Vash stepped back, “What? I don’t like the idea, but we are going because of the children. I have a soft spot for them.”

“Fine. I can make something to help the people there,” Flint groaned and slumped back in his chair, a slight crease forming between his brows.

“So… do we call Ka’mal again, then?” Vash asked, quickly trying to change the subject.

“No, we need to let Milla know,” Roan pulled up his tablet and type the message, but before sending it, he stopped, “Can I?”

Everyone nodded in confirmation, and he sent the text. In less than a minute, Milla replied, letting them know where they should go to. For starters, they would pass by 7 rooms and them meet with a group that was heading the same way. Like Ka’mal explained, they had to leave today, but not right now. As long as they were on the road before 9 P.M. they should get there in time.

Once they confirmed their destination, Skyler got up, “Well. Since we are about to head out, let’s go get some supplies, shall we?”

“Yeah, we need some rations and I would love an actually pillow for camping,” Neria stretched as she got up.

“Can you do that first part without me?” Hera asked.

“Is everything ok? If this is about your friends, I wanted to say bye too,” Vash turned to the Ophidianite.

“No. Since we are going to a large battle, I have to do a thing with my court. It will likely take some time, and it’s better to do now,” Hera followed the group as they walked out of the room. This wasn’t the hotel she was staying at, and she needed a place to be comfortable.

“You are going to get another power up?” Roan gave her a blank stare.

“I mean… yeah? It shouldn’t be a big one, but maybe it will be.”

With the exception of Hera, all Harmony Guardians groaned.

“The world really isn’t fair sometimes,” Skyler shook her head.

“What? This is about the legacy. It’s not my fault it does that kind of thing. Besides, it’s not like I-“ before she could finish the sentence, a notification appeared in front of her.

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You have leveled up

Current level 57

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Everyone stopped in front of the elevator and stared at Hera.

“You were going to say leveled up, weren’t you?” Vash asked.

“Yes…”

“And you just did. Almost as if you asked for it,” Skyler added.

“…Yes…” Hera stared back at the group.

“Yep. The world really isn’t fair,” Roan shook his head as the group entered the elevator.

A couple of minutes later, Hera was in the hotel room she was staying at. She had already told Skyler and the others the list of supplies she might need. And also asked them to call her if they found anything interesting. The Empress wants to use the [Bestow Gift] skill on her entire court. The only current members that already had the effects of that skill were Nimbus and Lurize.

The reason why she waited so much to do that was the rarity. The more her court members did for her, the better the rarity of the gift would be. In an ideal scenario, she would always wait for a legendary option. But right now, since she was about to go to a war zone, every little bit helped.

But first, she had to level up.

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Hera Quetzaveth -- Role: Explorer Level: 57

Legacy: Court of Blades [Blades]

Title: Mana Touched, Wardbearer, Ophidianite Progenitor

Total Stats: 858

Strength: 143 Endurance: 143

Agility: 143 Charisma: 143

Intelligence: 143 Luck: 143

Mana: 9 001 654/ 9 001 654

Empress Core: 173 648 /48 359 130

Passive Mana Regeneration: 12 152/s (21 874/s with items)

Active Mana Regeneration: 23 254/s (41 858/s with items)

Empress Core Regeneration: 12/s (22/s with items)

Remaining attribute points: 199

Skills:

Legacy:

Court Ruler, Courtship, Bestow Title, Army of One, Revocation of Nobility,

Royal Quest, Bestow Gift, Royal Seal, Venomous Arsenal, Blade Graveyard, Empress Core

Bladed Weapon Combat 3

Passive:

Exponential Growth (30)

Observe: Red sight 3

Treasure Map

Wire Trap Style 3, Subtle Strike 4, Dorohla style 4

Throwing 1, Cutting 1, Blocking 1,

Battle Dancer 3, Attack Pathing 2, Synchronized Battle 3

Dodge 4, Run 4, Improved Stamina 5, Flee 2, Jump 2, Climbing 1, Acrobatics 1

Mana Recovery 5, Mana sensitivity 4, Shaper of Mana 2, Mana Vessel, Reinforced Mana 2

Improved Regeneration 3

Ailment Mastery 3, Poison Mastery 2, Allergy Mastery 1, Chain Mastery 1, Regeneration Mastery 1,

Earth Mastery 1, Lightning Mastery 1, Sound Mastery 1, Frost Mastery 1, Lava Mastery 1, Steel Mastery 1

Elemental Mana Mastery

Earth resistance 2, Wind resistance 2, Water resistance 2, Sturdy Body 4,

Magic Armor Proficiency 3

Nature connection 1

Silver Lining 2

Ancient language 5

Pathfinder 1, Awareness 2, Lockpicking 1

Dancing 3

Cooking 1, Cleaning 1, Polishing 1, Sewing 1,

Ophidianite Skills:

Ophidianite Scales 4 (+1), Ophidianite Poison 6, Ophidianite Vigor 2, Ophidianite Sight 1, Ophidianite Mana Sense 2 (+1), Ophidianite Resistance 1, Ophidianite Regeneration 1, Ophidianite Adaptation 1

Active:

All in 2

Inspect 2

Hide 4, Sneak Attack 3

Weapon Maintenance 4, Weapons Rebalance 3, Weapon break 3 (+1)

Etching 4

Medical Reference 3, Identify Ailment 1

Green Thumb 2

Chain of Command 5

Poison Coating 3

Toxic Mist

Grasshopper Stab 2, Grasshopper Slash 2, Grasshopper Draw 1, Grasshopper Throw 1 (+1)

Role Skills:

Local Guide

Private Room, Meeting Room

Explorer’s Assassinate

Explorer’s Map

Hunter’s Catalogue, Explorer’s Hunt

Explorer’s Research

Explorer’s Blueprint

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Hera had forgotten that she gained a rank in her [Ophidianite Scales] which made her damage resistance go up to 20% or 60% with her current armor. The [Ophidianite Mana Sense] was also a nice addition that was helping her recover and store more mana between her mana pool and her Empress Core. She was also a single point away from having 200 attribute points to distribute. Although that decision wasn’t something she had to worry about. She increased her all her attributes six times, spending 177 attribute points in the process. It sounded like a lot, but if she was increasing each attribute manually, it would take 90 points per attribute, and 540 in total.

The Empress already understood that she would never have the highest attribute of any group she was a part of. Skyler, Roan, and Vash, the ones who focused more on a single attribute, were closing in on 200 with their primary stat. While the secondary would be closer to what Hera had right now. Neria and Flint, who went for a more balanced build, only had a few points more than the Ophidianite in a couple of attributes, while the rest was lower. If there was ever any doubt, this confirmed how strong [Exponential Growth] actually was.

With that out of the way, Hera had to call her court to start using the skill, but first, she called Daskka by herself.

“Hey, how are you?” the Ophidianite had the herald on her lap who slowly looked up at her owner.

“Hey, mum. Thanks for that, I really needed the rest. Sorry, I didn’t help in the vampire dungeon. Was it fun?” Daskka spent a large portion of the trip here constantly using her mist to hide the group and heal Marco. Even when the group was sleeping, the snake was working nonstop. Because of all that, she asked Hera to rest inside the necklace for a while. If something happened, she was still there to help, but if it wasn’t urgent, she needed the break.

“Don’t worry,” Hera patted Daskka’s head, “It was fun. Viper and Crimson went a bit wild with their awakening. And I demolished a building. In hindsight, that was a really bad idea.”

“How did you do that?!” Daskka gasped, any sleepiness in her voice completely gone.

“A legendary venomous spear, the weapon break skill and a new skill called Grasshopper Throw. I don’t think a wrecking ball would be as effective,” Hera chuckled.

“But why it was a bad idea,” Daskka moved a bit, still staying close enough to receive head pats, but now on the bed, stretching her silvery-white body.

Hera quickly explained what happened during the meeting with Ka’mal, including about how Helena was going to that battle, “And the problem is, it takes almost a month to fully heal the Empress Core. So I won’t be able to replicate that.”

“Well… that might be a good thing. If you used something that big in the battle, you might get a target on your back,” Daskka replied.

“That’s true. But now we also have a different thing to deal with.”

“What’s that?”

“I want to use the Bestow Gift skill on everyone. We don’t know what’s going to happen, and I want to be able to use all tools in my belt,” Hera explained.

yeah,“Oh… yeah that’s a good idea,” Daskka nodded and slithered towards Hera’s neck. The snake was large enough to go from one the Empress’ arms to the other and still be able to move her head, “Call everyone. Let’s see what they got!”