MAZE - The Endless Quest

The entire court popped out, and they quickly got comfortable around Hera’s bed. This room had a few chairs and even a couch. Perks of not having to worry about money anymore.

“So, since we are going to a war. Like actually a war, I wanted to give you all the gifts you have available with the Bestow Gift skill. We might need all the help we can get,” Hera told everyone.

“We are going where?” Lurize gasped.

“Wait… right, you weren’t there. Sorry, my mind is all over the place,” Hera glanced to Daskka, “I should’ve called all of you before explaining.”

The Empress quickly recounted the events of the last hour again. She talked about Ka’mal’s request, the discussion with the Harmony Guardians, and the fact that Helena was going to be there.

“Did you talk to Lena?” Nimbus asked.

“I sent her a text on the way here. Also called her, but she’s not answering. If she already is with the army, it’s likely that they already went dark, stopping all but the necessary communication,” Hera sighed.

“Ok then,” Livy nodded, her serious expressions showing she wasn’t just thinking about all the fighting that was about to happen. Or at least, wasn’t excited for it as it was usual, “I’ll take the gift.”

‘Same. The more options I have, the better,’ Storm floated closer to Livy, the two sharing a look.

“I was half expecting you two to be a bit more hyped about this,” Daskka admitted.

‘I think I speak for both of us when I say it’s one thing to have a fun fight, another to go to war. That won’t be just a place to joke around,’ Storm explained.

“You are absolutely right, sorry for expecting something different from you,” Daskka nodded with a smile.

“Before anything. I would like to add. I’m not forcing anyone to take the gift. If, for some reason, you really don’t want it. That’s fine. But this is a very dangerous situation. So, here is what we are doing. I’ll start with Livy and Storm since they already agreed to it, then everyone can form a line and I’ll give the gifts one by one. If by the end there is someone who doesn’t want to get it, you just have to say it when it’s your turn.”

The Empress gestured for Livy and Storm, and the longsword was the first to move, but before starting, she turned to Daskka, “One thing real quick. How will this work for Viper and Crimson? Do each get a gift, or does it count them as one member?”

The herald glanced at the Spymasters and after a moment, replied, “It’s a single gift for both of them. I don’t know what that will be. One shared skill, one for each, or even one just for one of them.”

Hera turned to the half Nagas, “Ok then. You two have to decide together. I’ll only give the gift if both are ok with it.”

The twins looked at each other and nodded, already having a discussion in their minds.

“Right then, what level of gift can Storm get?” Hera turned to Daskka.

“An uncommon one,” the herald replied.

Hera asked Storm if she wanted a gift and after a confirmation, triggered the [Bestow Gift] skill. Four spots appeared around the longsword. One in the cross guard, that would give the weapon a dash ability. The second was in the blade, and it would enhance the [Crackling Strike] skill. Then was a smaller one on the hilt that would allow Storm to have her attributes increased to match Hera’s current ones, plus a small buff to agility. Lastly, right at the pommel was the random upgrade. It could be anything, from a flat power up to some attributes to an actual legendary skill that was beyond anything else the weapon could do.

“Which one do you want?” Hera asked Storm.

‘I’ll take the upgrade to the Crackling Strike,’ the longsword replied.

With a nod, the Empress chose that option, and Storm’s blade changed slightly. Now the blade seemed to have even more internal cracks, but they were just the pure lightning that existed inside the blade.

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Crackling Strike - Enhanced

Unleash a swift attack infused with enhanced lightning, dealing increased physical damage and having a higher chance to chain to nearby enemies. Additionally, each chained strike now applies a minor stun for 1 second.

Cooldown: 30 seconds

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“Livy, you’re up,” Daskka called the Leviathan over going on full assistant mode, “You have an… Epic upgrade! Well done.”

“Epic?” Nimbus and Lurize gasped.

“Yeah, I think…, it’s probably due the fight against Delta. The skill takes into consideration how much everyone helped, and since there was a good chance we wouldn’t make it without her, the rarity is higher.”

Hera triggered the skill and saw the four options, explaining them as she went along. The random one was located on the tip of her tail. There was one on the left side of the Leviathan’s hip that would power up her [Ocean’s Might] skill. Another on the center of her chest that would increase her strength. With the last being on her right hand, a new skill called [Tsunami’s Wrath]

“Give me the one on my hip. I already have enough skills that make a wave, making a passive stronger seems a good idea,” Livy explained.

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Ocean’s Might - Enhanced (Rank 1)

70% of the damage dealt by you is water elemental damage.

Your attacks deal 50% extra damage as water elemental damage.

Your water spells deal 120% additional damage.

Attacks aimed at a target bigger than you or your wielder deal an additional 50% extra damage.

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All the effects of the skill were almost doubled. And the skill was still at rank 1, which meant it could become much stronger. But unlike Storm, there was no visual change on the Leviathan.

Robin came next, he only had an uncommon upgrade. The first was on the top of the bow, a new skill called [Mystic Flurry]. On the central grip was the next. It would make the [Seal of Mystic Resonance] stronger. Then came another on the blade that would increase Robin’s intelligent with the random upgrade located on the string. His decision took a while, but eventually, he took the random upgrade. The rarity of his skill was low, and there was a chance of getting something better. The gamble worked, and instead of an uncommon gift, he got a very rare one. This turned the single string of the bow into two, but there was no change in the actual power of the arrows.

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Active skill

Spectral Guardian:

Summons a spectral guardian that follows the wielder, providing additional protection by intercepting attacks. The guardian also fires a weak arcane beam at nearby enemies, dealing minor arcane damage.

Mana Cost: 1 million

Duration: 30 seconds

Cooldown: 10 minutes

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Glacia the ice falchion took the gift located on the tip of her blade, a new skill. This created almost a mace on the tip of the falchion, as a star of ice was now embedded on the blade.

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Active skill

Icicle Barrage:

Launch a volley of icicles from the blade, dealing moderate ice damage to enemies in a straight line. Each icicle has a chance to pierce through enemies, hitting additional targets behind them.

Cooldown: 2 minutes

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Shadow, being Duke Alabaster, was able to get a rare gift due to all the use of his heirloom skills, and he chose an upgrade located on the head of the scythe. Now, instead of being made of pure shadow, there was a single piece made out of obsidian around the crystal.

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Active skill

Shadowstep Strike - Enhanced:

Teleport behind your target and deliver a strike from the shadows. This attack ignores 70% of the target’s armor. After teleporting, Shadow leaves behind a 4m³ lingering shadow at the point of origin for 7 seconds. Allies standing inside the shadow gain increased critical hit damage and attack speed.

Cooldown: (10 seconds) 2 minutes and 30 seconds

Extra critical damage: +30%

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Unfortunately, the upgrade didn’t change what he wanted. The cooldown of the teleport was still 10 seconds, but at least the time it took for him to be able to leave the shadows behind him was shorter, and the extra damaged increased.

When Sun’s turn came, he didn’t like any of the options, all uncommon and decided to go for the random. Unfortunately, the gift became common, but it was still an interesting addition. This added a thin layer of blue to the tip of the spear.

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Passive Skill

Frostfire Infusion:

Adds a frost element to Sun’s attacks, causing enemies hit by Burning Aura to also suffer from a minor slowing effect for 3 seconds.

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This meant that not only the spear could deal extra damage to those around hit but also make it harder for them to escape.

Clay was another surprise, getting a very rare gift. Apparently, since he had a few of the widest attacks, he gained a lot of praise from the skill. And the moment he saw one of the options, he immediately took it, without even hearing the other ones. The chain that connected the blades internals became darker, as if they were made of some kind of ancient stone.

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Active Skill

Earthen Cleave - Enhanced:

Unleash the chain blade in a powerful swing, shattering the ground and dealing earth damage to enemies caught in its path and releasing shortwaves that deal a portion of the damage caused by the shattered ground. Each successful hit creates a small fissure on the ground, slowing enemy movement for a duration.

Mana Cost: 500 thousand mana

Cooldown: 25 seconds

Slow duration: 5 Seconds

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Once Pyro’s turn came along, he admitted to be very nervous since he would most of the time be ‘wielded’ by the Empress. However, that seemed to benefit him as he also got a very rare gift. He chose the one located on the internal plating of his form, where Hera’s tail would be touching him and would give the tail spike a new skill.

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Passive Skill

Dragonfire Mastery:

Increases the duration of the burning effect applied by Inferno Burst by 50%. Additionally, enemies affected by the burning effect now have their movement speed reduced by 20% for the duration.

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It was simple and yet another source of slow. Hera realized that her court was becoming a perfect way to chase after her enemies.

The last member of her blades moved forward. Twiggy, the tiara. She was trying to play around and sound confident, but since she wasn’t participating in the actual fight, and only giving commands, the worry was very much there.

However, that quickly showed to be unnecessary. Just like Livy, the Cerulean Marchioness got an epic gift due to all her contributions. There were two interesting options, a new skill called [Summon Silver Sentinel] and an enhancement to the buff she used the most, [Silvered Strength]. In the end, she decided against getting a new skill. If the summon went to Hera it was one thing, but the tiara knew her attributes would pale in comparison.

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Active skill:

Silvered strength - Enhanced:

Increases strength by 50% for 15 seconds and grants immunity to crowd control effects for the duration.

Cooldown 8 minutes.

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After finishing gifting the skills to the court, Hera turned to the titled blades. First, Nimbus could finally increase the rank of his previous gift to rare. Like Daskka had explained a long time ago, increasing a gifted skill took a lot longer than gaining one.

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Share the Pain - (Rank Rare)

When the Empress or any of the court members are hit, part of the damage that would be inflicted on them is transferred to you. Your next attack will deal extra damage based on the damage that was transferred to you.

Damaged Transferred from the Empress: 80%

Damage Transfered from other court members: 50%

Extra damage to the next attack: 85% of the damage transferred.

Maximum duration of the extra damage storage: 30 seconds

Damage taken reduction: 10%

Mana cost: 3 000 mana/s

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Unfortunately, Lurize still couldn’t increase his skill, then again it wouldn’t make that much of a difference right now. The Royal Tutor’s gift was about learning new combat styles, not something that could help on an active battlefield. Viper and Crimson could take a rare skill. It was hard to tell why they got such a high rarity, unless the skill was giving ‘points’ to both of them individually, but tallying them up together. One of the options was on Viper’s left hand a buff to the [Grasping Strike] skill, while another on Crimson’s tail, an attribute and scaling increase. The random option was located on Crimson’s red dagger, but there was another enhancement. One that showed on both their bodies in the middle of their forehead. An upgrade to the [Two Fight as One] skill.

There was no need for a conversation as the two just nodded and accepted that skill.

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Two Fight as One:

When within 20 meters of each other, Viper and Crimson will be affected 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.

When under the effect of the skill, Viper and Crimson’s agility will be increased by an additional 10%. Additionally, attacks aimed directly at them when they were within 5 meters of each other have a 15% chance to miss.

This effect can only be applied to Viper and Crimson.

When wielding both Viper and Crimson, the bonus to agility and the chance of attacks missing are also applied to the wielder.

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With only Vulcan left, he stepped forward, “Before anything. Once you see the gifts, can you stop the skill?”

Hera shook her head, “No. Well, yes, but if I stop, the gift is gone and can’t be given later.”

“Ok, what is the rarity then?”

Daskka glanced at Forge, “Uncommon. Considering how long you’ve been with us, that’s pretty good. It should be because of all the buffs.”

‘Can you imagine if it’s the awakening that gets improved?’ Glacia said with an excited voice.

“May I not receive the gift now?” Vulcan asked, causing everyone to look at him with surprised expressions.

“That’s fine, but is everything ok?” Hera asked.

“Yeah… I just… What if the options are to improve the Daemonic Form, or the Daemon Bound skill? An uncommon upgrade shouldn’t be able to lessen the effects of the influence. They would likely attenuate that issue.”

Hera paused for a moment before nodding, “Ok. I don’t agree with that, but I understand your fear. I also think that those skills can’t be affected by this. Same with Spirit Bound. Honestly, even Awakened Potential might be too much for this skill, maybe if it was a legendary gift. But if you are worried things might be worse, you don’t have to do this now. We can come back later when you feel more confident.”

“Thank you,” Vulcan smiled at Hera.

They had a brief 10 minutes discussion just to share the new skills amongst everyone and test whatever they could now before the Ophidianite left the room. Neria had sent her a text about the stores they were going and she still needed to get her supplies before heading out. It was time to go to war.