As soon as Hera exited the dungeon, the people who were betting gathered around to see who would've won. However, when they saw her current state, most of them gave up asking about it. A couple of them just wanted to make sure that Hera was ok and ended up getting the information that she did complete the quest. It took her close to 5 hours, and she was completely covered in bruises and wounds even after the constant healing spells that she was casting, but she managed to beat the dungeon on her own.
Despite Daskka excitedly talking about a titled blade, Hera's next stop was the hospital. She needed to make sure that she was healing properly. It didn't take long for a healer to check up on her, and after examining her and performing a few tests, including an x-ray, they concluded that she wasn't in danger. However, she had several minor fractures on several different bones, including some parts of her skull that had cracked, it was not enough to break and the cracks didn't go all the way through the bone, so that was something positive. Still, if it kept going like that, she could've taken some debilitating damage. If a shard of bone ended up inside her brain, there was a big chance that she wouldn't even be able to move, much less get out of the dungeon. Another minor issue was that at some point during the fight, the impact created small cuts on her stomach and liver, and the healing spell had some issues taking care of those parts. Instead of keeping the organs apart, it seemed like it was trying to heal together. Thankfully, this was in the very early stages, so Hera wouldn't even need to go through surgery to fix it. The healer simply cast a few spells so they could tell her body how to properly heal and cut off that small connection that it was trying to make.
She also received some treatment for her bruises and small cuts, but unless she was willing to stay in the hospital for the near future to receive constant care, the greens and black marks around her body couldn't be taken care of in a day.
"Now, Hera. You can take this if you feel any pain and this if you feel anything odd in your digestive system. For the next few days, avoid strenuous activity and foods that can upset your stomach. Mostly, spicy food, but if you are lactose intolerant or anything like that avoid those things. Oh, and alcohol. No alcohol until the treatment is over otherwise the medicine won't have any effect. I suppose this goes without being said but do not, under any circumstances, go to a dungeon again or train in the guild. You have to come back here once per day for the next 5 days for your treatment, and even after that, it should take you two weeks before you can return to normal. And you will be taking these pills for the next week. You should get a glass of water, place the pills inside and wait a few moments for the capsule to dissolve. These are, in essence, concentrated potions that will help you recover from all the fractures," the healer explained. Hera cleared out any doubts and left, returning to the house they were staying in.
While walking, she sent a message to her friends, letting them know that she was out of the dungeon and that they should have dinner together. In the end, she got back to their place before even getting a reply, and she was alone. Hera went to her bedroom and summoned her court, minus Lurize, since he couldn't come out again until the next week. Before even talking to Daskka, she took another look at the Flaming Frostguards.
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Flaming Frostguards
Rarity: Epic
A pair of bladed tonfas that was created during Bonpei's War. The weapon was made with an ice heart to protect the people of the city, but due to the high temperature of the surrounding area, the ice and fire elements merged together in harmony.
Attribute Scaling:
Endurance x 13 Strength x 8 Agility x 8
Passive Skill:
Defender
When you block an attack using this weapon, you are able to reduce the impact of the attack.
Fire and Ice
Attacks with these weapons alternate between dealing an extra 20% fire damage and 20% ice damage.
Cold Burn
Attacks with these weapons can trigger an ailment that will deal constant cold damage to the target, and it will reduce the target's fire resistance by 10%. This effect cannot stack with itself.
Active Skill:
Griffon's call
You can activate the skill to make the griffon heads on the tonfas cry out. Doing so will give the wielder a buff that increases the scaling of this weapon by 20% for 1 minute.
Cooldown 3 hours.
Ash Barrier
You can create a barrier of ash to protect those within a 5-meter radius around you.
Mana cost: 10 000 mana
Cooldown: 30 minutes
Snowcloud Aura
You can create an aura of ice around you. This aura reduces the power of any incoming attacks by 20% while active. If the attack is imbued with the fire element, the reduction increases to 50%.
Mana cost: 500 mana/s
Cooldown: 5 minutes
Bound Weapon
This weapon is bound to the first person to hold it. To pass the weapon to someone else, you must give each tonfa a drop of blood from the new owner. If someone tries to use the weapon without being bound to it, they won't be able to use the weapon's scaling or skills.
Familiarity: 100%
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"Why do I already have 100% familiarity? I never even used tonfas," Hera asked while sitting on her bed. She had already taken off her armor and sent it to be cleaned and repaired. Right now, she had wet hair from her shower and wore casual, comfortable clothes.
"It's because the weapon is bound to you. One of the statistics that familiarity tracks is ownership. Like if the weapons truly are yours, if you made them yours. A bound weapon is, by default yours. So the familiarity goes straight to 100," Daskka explained. She was sitting on the other side of the bed, wagging her tail like a dog.
"I see… it sounds a bit arbitrary, but I'm not going to complain," Hera looked back to Daskka, "But that's not the only thing I need for the titled blade, is it? I still need the spirits, don't I?"
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"That's one option. The other is to find a weapon and a construct that have good synergy. You might not have realized it, but this has an amazing synergy with Nimbus. They are both griffin based and cloud-based. Because of that, you can join both of them to make your first title blade."
"Cool, I didn't consider that," Hera nodded and picked up her griffon whistle from the pack she kept on herself even during dungeons, "Just so I know, does this mean that I'm going to lose my mount?"
"I can't say for sure. Making the titled blade should combine both items. But we can't know what skills or effects will stay."
Hera nodded, "Ok then. What should I do?"
"First, you need to consider the title you would give them. Then you tap the items and tell them the title you are giving them and what will be their role. Do you have any ideas? Keep in mind that since this is not already a blade, it will receive the personality of the construct and its appearance," Daskka asked.
"I think so. Do you guys have any suggestions?" Hera looked around, but her court members refused to say anything. This was the first title the Empress was going to bestow, and it was something she should do on her own. There was also a sense of weight coming from her blades as if what she was doing now was something grand, and they were expecting her to understand that. Understanding their intentions Hera opened up her status and took a look at her court.
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The Court of Blades - Legacy
Empress: Hera Kingsley
Consort:
Spymaster:
Mistress of the Hunt:
Harlequin:
Knight-Captain:
Royal Guard:
Royal Adviser: Daskka - Ego Item
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"Daskka, can you change the Royal Guard title?" Daskka nodded and waited for the ceremony. Hera took a deep breath and looked at the two objects in front of her. The black, red, and blue tonfas and the jade whistle, "Nimbus, you have helped me several times already. You have saved my life and supported me for a long time, and I ask you once again to be by my side," she tapped the whistle and then both tonfas at the same time, "I ask you to take these blades and continue to fight with me. No longer as just a mount, no longer as just a temporary ally, but as my companion. I ask you to receive the title of Sentinel. So you may protect the court as we protect you."
With those last words, the Sky Ruler Whistle and the Flaming Frostguards started to float ever so gently. The whistle slowly turned into a small cloud, and at the same time, the tonfas were also changing. One turned into a dark plume of ash while the other in soft snow. The three particles gathered in the center of the bed and started to spin, almost like in a dance. The agglomeration of fumes started to grow and moved to the side, away from the bed. Slowly, through the course of the next ten minutes, that mixture of ash, cloud, and snow started to take shape. It became a humanoid with two arms and legs but something on its back. The head was still formless as the rest of the body took shape first.
Nimbus still had bird feet, but it was wrapped in some loose gray pants that seemed to allow him to move freely, contrasting against his pitch-black claws. On his waist was a sash with a jade pendant in the form of a whistle holding it in place. Then came his torso, which was covered in a long white halter top with details in black framing the clothing that would stop just a bit above the sash, showing some very defined muscles behind it. Next came the arms, muscular naked arms that turned into bird feet with five fingers. His skin was grayish and had some marks as if he had tattoos or scars. The face started to form, showing the image of a hawk with pure blue eyes and white feathers framing his head. On a closer inspection, Hera could even see that those feathers would turn ever so slightly to green when reaching the ends, and his beak was completely black. Lastly, a pair of massive wings spread out, knocking some of the lamps over since he wasn't in a wide enough space to open his wings. They were the same white feathers, but now the green tint was more visible but only at the edges.
"My Empress. I live to serve you as I have been doing in the past," Nimbus knelt in front of Hera and retracted his wings.
"I'm glad I can talk to you like this," Hera replied with a smile but quickly became overcome with worry, "Hang on. You are not just talking in my mind. Can other people hear you?"
"Yes, he can, mum!" Daskka nodded.
"And… you told me before that you guys share my skills. Does that mean you know all my skills? All of them?" Hera started to panic.
"He does!" Daskka replied with a smile.
"I can answer for myself, you know," Nimbus rolled his eyes while staring at the snake.
Hera quickly tossed her soundproofing spell around them and stared at Nimbus with a worried expression, "I hate to do this, but I have to. This is my first order to you, which goes for every single blade I have and will ever have. You are not allowed to mention anything about the guide skill to anyone. It doesn't matter the situation. It doesn't matter the danger I'm in. You can only talk about the skill with me and preferably not out loud. I don't know if you are like the rest that can read my mind but never speak about that skill to anyone! Actually, unless we are talking through some completely secure channel, never mention that skill period," the last thing she wanted was to get a strike because one of her blades was a blabbermouth.
'Do not worry, Empress. Like your other court members, I am able to speak with you like this,' Nimbus replied inside her mind without moving his beak.
"Oh. Ok, thank you. But feel free to talk to me out loud if you prefer," Hera slumped back, and a loud growl came from her stomach, "I guess I'm hungry."
"I can grab something for you!" Nimbus quickly got up.
"You don't even know where the food is! Stay here. I'll get you something, mum," Daskka gasped.
"It's late, and we're probably going to have dinner soon. But I think there are some snacks on the kitchen counter," Hera replied.
"Great, I'll go get it," Daskka started floating.
"No, I'll get it. I've been with the Empress for longer," Nimbus replied.
"Excuse me? I've been with mum for over a year already!" Daskka scoffed.
"And a full year before you even came into the picture, the Empress already had me, albeit in my griffon form. Hence, I'm with her for longer than you are."
"But you were never out! Mum and I always stay together, and I rarely stay inside the necklace, while you have to get back to your whistle after what? Ten minutes?" Daskka rolled her eyes.
"That may be, but there is something you didn't consider," Nimbus puffed his chest.
"What?"
"I'm much faster than you," the humanoid griffon bolted out of the room, and Daskka followed him right after, shouting that it was unfair.
Hera couldn't even react to all that. She never expected the two of them to have that kind of interaction. A few moments passed while she was still trying to understand what was happening, and she heard a loud thud from the living room. She got up and walked over, stopping in the corridor and crossing her arms while watching that scene.
At the same time, Helena, Alex, Bonnie, and Blue opened the door. They were back from the lab and were ready to order something. However, to their surprise, in the middle of the living room, there was a giant mist snake wrapped around a humanoid bird person on the ground while the two of them seemed to be struggling to reach a bag of chips a few centimeters in front of them. On the corner, they could see Hera just staring at those two with a perplexed expression. When the explorer realized her party members were there, she smiled and said, "Hey guys, I made a new friend."