MAZE - The Endless Quest

After they finished drinking tea, Master Yu’s friend arrived, and everything progressed very quickly. The man was also an Orc, of course, but he was very cagey about getting close to others. Still, he did introduce himself to the group. Huo Jingyun was his name. Both Yulan and Yuwei were in awe when they heard that, which made Hera understand this man was a much bigger deal than she imagined.

It was truly a shame that he didn’t seem to care about them, and once Master Yu explained the situation, he quickly tested Yulan for something. Leaving barely enough time for the Empress to notice the slender build hidden by a large brown cloak that looked a lot like a sac of potatoes. The Orc’s skin was a bit dull, not in a pale way, but as if had lost its shine through the years, and there were bushy gray sideburns along the side of his face. The test he performed was quite simple. He let out some Qi, which Hera understood it was just mana, and checked to see if Yulan shared the same affinity. Space affinity, or was it Warp? The Ophidianite wasn’t entirely sure. Both elements, at least how Huo Jingyun was using, were very similar. Once that was done, he asked about the others, meaning Hera and Helena.

Master Yu said they only needed a way to get back to where they were supposed to be and the man simply waved his hand, sending them back to the Forest of Lost Souls. Exactly in front of where they had entered the dungeon, in front of a large rock with a carved tunnel directly in the middle of it. All of this happened before they had a chance to protest or ask something else. And to confirm that they had completed the quest, a notification appeared in front of them.

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Dungeon Quest Complete - Protect the princess

You have helped not just Qing Yulan, but also Yu Yuwei, to find the masters they were searching for.

Master Yu’s gift (S)

3 million gold.

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“Crap. No hard mode,” Hera sighed.

“Yeah, but we did find something about it. And we got an S rank reward,” Helena tried to cheer her friend up.

“I know, I know. It just sucks that I didn’t have a chance to to try to look for the hard mode. I didn’t expect to get knocked out like that.”

“Honestly, I’m glad that’s all that happened. Even for you, fighting against someone at level 80 is a lot. And I did my best to search for something, my shadow guys didn’t find any penguins,” Helena replied while walking out of the dungeon.

“Wait… she was what level?” Hera gasped.

“You fought against Master Yu without even checking her level? Yeah, she was 80.”

Hera just stared at Helena, rethinking a few of her life decisions. Maybe next time she saw a bad mother, she shouldn’t start dumping her own trauma on her. After the mage was almost out of the dungeon, the Empress moved along, not wanting to stay behind.

Back in the Dunes of Isolation, the sandstorm raged on, but thankfully the two of them were inside one of the pillars, which was a shelter against the elements.

“Should we check the reward now?” Helena asked once her friend arrived.

“Yeah, let’s do this quickly so we can go back. I’m kind of hungry and we can stop by some of the restaurants in the Moonlit Harbor,” Hera nodded.

“You are right! Those dumplings were amazing!”

“The pork ones or the chicken?”

“Both!” Helena smiled.

“They were, but I think I want the noodles this time. And maybe some of the beef. It looked really good on the table next to us,” Hera nodded as she pulled up her tablet to take the reward. Her pockets were getting full once more. A single dungeon gave her 3 million gold. Before becoming an explorer, it would take a lifetime to get that much. Putting those thoughts away, she clicked on the reward and opened Master Yu’s gift.

In her hand, a large robe mostly dark blue appeared, the parts closer to one’s body looking almost like the undershirt were instead a pastel yellow that reminded her of the sunlight. On the blue parts, there were small snowflakes and a depiction of frost made with gold thread. And on the yellow undershirt, the soft stamp of a reflective cobalt blue formed small flowers. Across the back, there was one larger image that could only be seen by folding the sleeves. A sun with a massive snowflake around it, acting like the rays of sunlight.

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Nexus of Duality (Dual Affinity - None/None)

Unique

Level Requirement: 40

Defense Scaling:

Intelligence X 84 Agility X 74

Passives:

Empowered Opposites:

The Nexus of Duality can receive the mana from two opposite elements. Once that happens, the potency of the two opposite forces is increased based on the last spell cast. Once an affinity is given to the Nexus of Duality, it cannot be changed.

Elements: ——/——

Increased spell power if the last spell was of the opposing element: + 40%

Active:

Balance of Power:

The Nexus of Duality generates a fluctuating field that alternates between the two elements present on the robe. While in the —— element, all damage dealt is increased. While in the —— element, all damage received is reduced.

Increased damage while field is on the —— element: +40%

Reduced damage taken while field is on the —— element: -40%

Mana cost: 1% maximum man℁

Duration: 10 minutes.

Fluctuation duration: 15 seconds.

Harmony Wave:

The Nexus of Duality can harness the twin elemental energies of opposing force to unleash a devastating attack. In addition, allies hit by the attack will have their wounds healed, for destruction also brings life.

Mana cost: 20% maximum mana.

Range: 10 meters.

Cooldown: 5 hours

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After reading the description, Hera couldn’t help but sigh, “Lena. I think I got something amazing for you.”

The mage chuckled, “I was about to say the same thing,” on her hands was a large glaive that seemed to be completely made out of ice. But not the transparent kind that would come in a drink, but the dark ice from the core of a glacier.

Both laughed and swapped rewards. Checking the item before confirming if they were going to make a swap or not. Then again, Hera wasn’t about to get the robe back. It fit too well with her friend and the shadow and light aspect of her skills. Focusing on the glaive, she triggered [Inspect].

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Chillsoul - Permafrost

Glaive - Unique - Bound to Hera Quetzaveth

Scaling:

Agility X 87 Strength X 75 Endurance X 45

Passive Skill:

Chilling Aura:

Chillsoul emanates a constant icy aura that reduces the speed of those struck by it.

Speed reduction: -10%

Duration: 3 seconds.

Active Skill:

Frozen Stasis:

Chillsoul taps into its permafrost nature to freeze enemies solid and shred their defenses.

Freeze duration: 10 seconds.

Target defenses: -35%

Cooldown: 15 minutes.

Frostbit Strike:

A single devastating thrust that focus all the permafrost energy from Chillsoul into a single point. The strike is able to freeze even the target’s mana.

Mana cost: 10% maximum mana.

Base freeze duration: 30 seconds

Cooldown: 5 hours.

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Hera read the description a couple of times. Not only was this one of the weapons with the highest scaling she ever saw, but also, it was the first piece of gear she ever saw that reduced the defenses of others. That kind of effect was extremely rare. Sure, you could find something that said ‘ignore X percent of armor’s defenses’ or things like that, but those affected only the gear, not everything as this glaive seemed to be doing.

Looking towards Helena, her friend had a similar surprised expression looking at the robes. They looked at each other and said at the same time.

“Deal!”

Helena quickly put both Shadow and Light mana on her robe, letting it have the dual affinity that she used. At the same time, Hera called Daskka out.

“Hey, mum! Wow, this is a cool weapon!”

“Yeah, and how is the court looking? Any open slots?”

“Not right now. Even if all Noble Houses got an extra space. But you could increase the number of court members by sacrificing mana from the Empress Core,” Daskka suggested.

“That’s true. How much will it cost?”

“Three times your regular maximum mana. So… you have 13 026 497 mana. And you need three times that, so 39 079 491 mana in the core. The core currently has 49 609 883 mana. It was supposed to be over 60 million, but because of the 20% reduction with the palace, that took a hit. I think we should’ve increased the numbers before getting the skill,” Daskka sighed.

“Yeah, I didn’t think about that either. And it’s my fault. I was the one who asked you to wait until I would have some extra mana in the core after adding the slot. I know I got it recently, but it makes life so much easier that it feels like a waste to drop it back to 0.”

Daskka nodded, “I know, and it’s not like we can stop and wait a few weeks to focus on increasing the mana in the core. You need to stay in the best shape you can as much as possible.”

“Yeah, maybe we can change that after this is all over,” Hera sighed and sat down, “Either way, we can do it, right? It will leave me with around 10 million mana.”

“Sort of. The reduction from the palace applies after it. So you will have around 8 million.”

“Oof. That’s a lot. Still, it’s worth it, let’s do it.”

“Just as a confirmation. Do you want me to increase the number of court members you can have?”

Hera nodded, “I do.”

It was strange, despite spending that much mana, Hera didn’t feel like she was using any of it. Then again, it was all still there, just in a different place.

“All done. Now you can have nine court members in total. Plus the five titled blades. Well, six if we consider the twins two.”

“Thanks, Daskka. There is one more thing I want to do, but for that I need help. Vulcan, care to join me?”

Forge appeared by her side, he was still spooked since ever since Hera was knocked out, no one from her court had been summoned. Then again, they were all watching what was going on from the [Empress Palace]

“Are you ok?” Vulcan asked.

“I’m fine. Really. Sorry for scaring you.”

“It’s ok. I’m just glad Yuwei is safe. Well, fine, she is part of the dungeon, but you know what I mean.”

“I do, don’t worry about it. Now, really quick, before we go see her again. Can you help me make a seal for this weapon? I’m not sure how to carve ice without breaking it.”

Forge looked over the weapon, doing his best to understand the material, “I think I can do something, but what are you thinking?”

Hera quickly pulled up her tablet and found a specific sigil, “This one. What do you think?”

“Oh? That’s a nice idea,” Vulcan smiled, the fire of a crafter burning on his eyes, “Give me a couple of minutes,” using the back of the forging hammer that was his body, Forge started to created the sigil on the glaive’s shaft. He didn’t want to risk messing up the blade, since working with ice in all its forms was extremely complicated.

“What are you going to do?” Helena asked, already wearing the robe. The dark blue and yellow fit her very well. Especially with the cultivator look that it gave off. Then again, Hera couldn’t remember a time when Lena didn’t look great.

“This one,” Hera showed something Ogryn taught her a long time ago, when she was still stuck in Boothudurn.

“Snowstorm?”

“Not quite. It’s a trapped snowstorm. I hope to make the seal affects that Frozen Stasis skill. If I can make it an aoe with the defense reduction, it will be amazing.”

Helena nodded, “True, it’s always good to go through the enemy equipment. Especially in times of war.”

“You didn’t read the skill properly, did you? It’s not equipment defense. It’s just defenses.”

“Really? That’s hard to come by.”

“Yeah, and if it works. Daskka, any chance I can have a new Noble House? Having that skill as an heirloom would be great.”

“I mean… technically you can get one position from either the Marquessates and make a new house below them. After all, you can’t have more on that level. So it would be a County”

“Ok. Let’s hold off on that for now. But I might want to make one.”

“Empress, I’m done,” Vulcan called. The sigil was exactly like what Hera pictured.

But before going forward, she called Glacia out, “I want to ask you a question. This weapon will be ice based too. Are you ok with that? I don’t want you to feel like I’m stepping on your toes or something.”

‘Don’t worry, Hera. They will be a younger sibling that I will be more than happy to help.’

Hera smiled, “Thank you,” not wanting to waste time, she quickly triggered the [Royal Seal] and the [Courtship] skill to add this new weapon to her court.

The results were even better than she expected. Which made her quickly add this new court member, called Eira, it was an old Norse word for snow and a bit of a joke of calling something so chilling simply ‘snow.’ The skill [Frozen Stasis] changed due to the seal, giving an amazing result.

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Permafrost Vortex

Eira taps into her permafrost nature to freeze all enemies around her solid and shred their defenses.

Freeze duration: 5 seconds.

Target defenses: -20%

Range: 15 meters.

Cooldown: 20 minutes.

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It was barely weaker and gained a massive range for the kind of attack it would be. In addition, since Hera liked it so much, she created a new Noble House. The Fiord County. It was a shade of gray that barely tilted to blue, and it gave off the feeling of ice. But the cherry on top of everything was the skill that became attached to the County.

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Shredding Winds

Members of the Fiord County focus on stripping their enemies of their defenses, so their attacks can hit that much harder.

Every two strikes by the same member of the Fiord County reduces the defense of the target by 1%

This effect can stack a number times equal to the number of blades in the Empress’ court.

Current max stack: -14%

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With all that over, Hera and Helena quickly turned around and entered the dungeon once more. Both of them wanted to test their new toys and there was a certain Orc that would be a great test dummy for it.