MAZE - The Endless Quest

Hera ended up spending several hours inside the private room. She did got a couple of messages from Helena or the Harmony Guardians, but she made sure to tell them everything was fine and she just needed time. Part of the reason it took so long for her to leave was her court. She couldn’t watch them while outside her private room. That was a special function of the wall screen there. But more importantly, the guides gave her some ideas about the spell she was trying to make. And Tara was able to create the Ophidianite rune. In the end they came up with a version of it that could be quickly deployed because of a mixture of the Empress’ role skills. She mixed [Explorer’s Blueprint] to created the actual spell circle drawn by the mana palace, with [Treasure Map] to control the placement, and a fringe use of [Explorer’s Research] which allowed her to update information on real time.

With that combination, Hera should be able to cast two versions of that spell. First in an area around her and have the spell move around with her. Alternatively, she could spend less mana to make a static version of it. Strangely enough, adding the option to limit those who would be attacked by the spell didn’t reduce its effectiveness or changed the mana cost by that much. Which was a pleasant surprise. By the end, the Empress was able to create her first ever expert rank spell.

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Shroud of Tartarus

Expert Spell

Creates a localized layer of poison mist, imbued with an assort of elements that match the affinity of the caster, the area, nearby magic, or those affected by the spell. Your enemies in the area of effect will receive damage and be afflicted by various ailments. You can target a specific group to make them immune to the effects of this spell.

Ophidianite Variant

This spell was created with Ophidianite Poison. The strength of the poison is increased by 80%, the amount of mana used is decreased by 40% and the odds of inflicting the target with an ailment is increased by 20%.

Someone who has the Ophidianite Poison skill will receive a 5% increase in their attributes while in the area of effect of this spell. The buff will increase by another 5% with each rank of the Ophidianite Poison skill.

Someone who has the Ophidianite Poison skill at rank 5 will also receive a 10% increase in their damage dealt while under the effects of this spell. The buff increases by another 10% with each rank of the Ophidianite Poison skill beyond 5.

Base Radius: 15 meters

Base Mana cost: 150 000 mana/s

Empress Palace:

The mana cost can be split between the titled court members.

All members of the court receive the same benefits that the Empress receives.

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Hera decided to call it ‘Shroud of Tartarus’ she was already leaning into Greek mythology with Pool of Styx anyways. And it somehow fit. Tartarus was a prison made to torment those sent there, and there were stories about it being an actual being. She felt like it was a fitting name.

While the Empress continued working on the spell, Livy tested what would happen if they damaged the palace. She wasn’t able to attack the walls directly. It was almost as if she was attacking Hera herself. But if she tried sparring with someone, Lurize, in this case, they wouldn’t have any issues fighting and collateral damage would still happen. Or try to happen. Their attacks scraped against the walls, and the ground outside harmlessly. Hera couldn’t even tell they were fighting inside her. So much so that she only realized they were practicing once Daskka showed them on the screen.

There was one more thing she double checked before’ leaving, and that was Vulcan’s Daemonic Influence. While inside the Palace, they tested some things and realized that the influence could still increase. But if it reached 99%, Forge would be shunted to his bedroom and sleep entering the equivalent of a stasis. This meant he would never lash out while inside the palace, but also that this wasn’t a way to circumvent that issue.

With all that out of the way, the Ophidianite thanked the guides for all the help but she had to leave. There was a lot of people outside that knew she was in her private room. Sure, not everyone should be aware of her excuse, but being know as someone with stomach problems wasn’t a fun thing.

As soon as she left, Helena was the first to hurry over to Hera, “Are you feeling better, Sweetie?”

“I am, sorry for worrying you.”

“No worries. I was just a bit shocked with your freak out. I mean, I never saw you running away like that,” Helena chuckled.

“Hey! It was an emergency, ok?” Hera huffed, trying not to act overly dramatic. She hated that she was lying to Lena, but it was something she had to do. The whole thing about the guides giving her a quest was a secret, and she had still to come up with a good lie about it. Or at least one that she could tell her friends. Telling Sovereign Stofin about it would be easier.

“That’s ok. We did save you some food. Roan hunted and there is some chicken. We didn’t use any spices aside from a bit of salt but there is still some sauce left if you feel like eating it,” Helena said.

Hera ended up eating a bit with the guides, who made some snacks for them while they talked and she wasn’t particularly hungry, “Maybe later. My stomach still needs to settle a bit. And I have to let Vulcan turn into a Daemon for a little while. His influence is almost at 100%.”

“What happened? He wasn’t that bad before you went there, was he?” Helena turned to the Empress.

“No, I called them out just in case I needed some help. They watched some movies while waiting for me and something triggered him. It was something about a prison and a lot of red lights,” Hera explained.

“That sucks. I hope he feels better soon,” Helena sighed.

Hera just nodded and walked over to the Harmony Guardians tent. She told them quickly that she was doing well and about Vulcan before calling Nimbus and heading a bit deeper into the forest in order to let Forge lash out as a Daemon. Helena went along, worried about her friend.

They were less than 200 meters away from the camp once they climbed down from the griffon. Hera quickly gave Nimbus, Livy, Lurize, and the twins a Royal Quest to protect Helena. The Empress would walk a bit farther away from them so Vulcan wouldn’t be able to reach the mage, “By the way, there is one more thing I want to do. I’m trying a new spell I finished up in my private room.”

“You finished that? But weren’t you on the toiled the whole time?”

Hera scratched the back of her head, “Sort of. You know when you are no longer doing anything, but you still don’t feel confident enough that you can get up from the toilet?”

Helena thought for a moment, “Sure. Those are usually bad.”

“They are, so yeah. During that time I started trying some things to distract myself and the spell is done. I think. I tested there, but it would be nice to test it against a monster.”

“I see. And what is it called?”

“Shroud of Tartarus. Figured I could lean into the theme,” Hera chuckled, “It’s mostly buff spell for me. It focus on the Ophidianite Poison skill. So anyone who has it can get it. I’ve been giving all the Harmony Guardians the essence but so far, none of them got a skill. Aside from the buff it should be triggering various ailments based on the mana nearby. The one thing I wanted was like, a random mana generator to get even more ailments out of it since it all depends on what’s around.”

“That sounds pretty good, and all it takes is the Ophidianite Poison skill?”

“Yeah,” Hera nodded.

“Then I have it too, would it affect me?” Helena asked.

“Since when do you have that skill?” Hera gasped.

“Since before you became an Ophidianite. I got it when we were trying to deal with the curse. Before we even got to Sammy. Remember? It was Naga Poison back then. After you became an Ophidianite and gave me the essence a couple of times the name changed, but the effects remained the same. I thought I told you about that.”

“I don’t remember you telling me that,” Hera frowned.

“Maybe I forgot? It happened when we were in Zaxalam and there was just so much going on that it might have skipped my mind.”

“Could be. Either way, let me just let Vulcan lash out then we can test that,” Hera smiled to her friend and walked far enough away so Vulcan wouldn’t be able to get closer to Helena. She also made sure to not have the titled blades into view so Forge didn’t have a target to chase after.

As she was already used to, the Ophidianite called the Daemon titled blade and told him to use [Daemon Form]. Vulcan’s scars grew, covering his body and red cracks appeared all over his form. The apron now fused to his skin. He jumped and started attacking the ground, punching the air and the nearby trees. All that noise quickly attracted a predator, a large white haired gorilla with an extra pair of limbs and a long tail like that of a monkey. It noticed Hera, first and thought she was invading its territory. The monster roared and rushed towards her, but the Ophidianite barely glanced at it. Despite being in his [Daemon Form] Vulcan still was a titled blade. Any threats to the Empress were a threat to himself. Before the monster could even get close to her, he was body slammed by Vulcan who used the talons on his feet to rip the creature apart. Following that, he started jumping, again and again on the monster’s head. Splashing blood everywhere while Hera just stared at him with a neutral expression. After a couple of minutes, there was nothing left of the creature. It’s body wasn’t even a paste anymore, just smudges on the forest floor. Vulcan fell to his knees and his eyes rolled back on his head before vanishing back to the legacy. Unfortunately, it would take 12 hours for him to return since the [Heart of a Phoenix] skill was in cooldown.

Hera walked back to Helena and the titled blades with a frown, calling Daskka back on the way.

“Mum? Are you ok?” the herald asked, noticing something wrong with the Empress;

“Yeah. I’m fine. I’m just thinking about something.”

“What?”

“Vulcan, and what he did back there. I mean, that was a mess, but I didn’t feel anything. Not bad for the monster, not scared because of the violence. I’m just wondering when did I became so cold.”

“Probably when you stopped being a human,” Daskka smirked.

Hera stopped walking and stared at the snake, “Really? A cold blooded joke? You are better than that.”

“I’m really not,” Daskka replied.

Hera chuckled and walked back to Helena. She explained how the spell worked again and they walked around for a few minutes looking for more monsters. Once they found one, the Empress quickly cast the Shroud of Tartarus. Mist seeped out from her, forming a layer on the florets floor that stopped anyone from seeing the ground. Still it was very thin, not even reaching the top of their toes. The mist itself was a mix of green, purple with strands of gold and on a close inspection, it moved not as if it was wind, or a cloud, but as if it was made out of thousands of snakes. Snakes who would bite anyone who walked inside the field relentlessly.

For the Empress herself, and each of the members of her court, that didn’t happen. Instead, they got a 30% buff to all of their attributes. Hera’s stats went from 177 to 230. Alone, she could keep that effect for about a minute. But if all court members shared the cost, that changed to about 8 minutes. And that was not even considering their cores. Which was a good call since spending the mana from there in a constant effect like this wouldn’t be a good way to go about things.

In addition, [Ailment Mastery] started triggering like crazy, increasing the effects of the various effects covering the monster that was being used as a testing dummy. It seemed like thing were exactly as Hera hoped, down to the fact that she could move around and the shroud followed her along.

Helena also received the buff, a much weaker version of it being only at 5%, but still. When adding the awakening, Hera would likely be able to face against anyone. Her mind also started to wonder. Right now, she was the only Ophidianite that existed. But if her people grew, if they eventually became an army. This spell could turn all of them into an unstoppable force. That was both an exciting and a terrifying idea. As long as good people, kind people, just people had that spell, her people would always be safe. But the moment a tyrant took charge, maybe this could be used to march on yet another war like the one the humans created.

Either way, that was a problem for the future, and now, Hera was just happy to have another ace in her sleeve when facing powerful enemies.