After accepting being bound to Mr. Beetle, Hera tried changing a few of her spells to venom instead of poison. It took her a few tries, but eventually, she managed to get it working. Even better, when she used a venom needle, Mr. Beetle himself would appear on top of the spell and fly it to the target. Before leaving, he would wave at Hera with his antennae. Every now and then, he would also show up when she used some poison spells, but his form would just appear and not interact with the magic. Not to mention it was much less clear than before. Another weird thing was that no one else seemed to be able to see him aside from her court. Still, having Nimbus and the others seeing him made her less worried about hallucinating again.

Hera spent about one hour or so toying with her spells, then she turned to Lurize and used the Royal Seal to change his mana type to venom. It was somewhat funny how his name was still 'Lurize of Poison,' but now the mana was marked as venom. That meant he got a new skill, but it felt very much in tune with what they were expecting to happen after he got a title. While she was training, Blue and Helena caught her up with what they did during the day. Alex, Helena, and Bonnie found a dungeon using the spyglass, and they also found a water treatment plant of sorts. But instead of machinery, everything was made with mana crystals embedded in devices to be constantly used. According to the mage, this was amazing, especially considering it should be a very old civilization. The people who went back to the raft didn't find anything else, but they arrived when the sun was setting, and as Hera said, there were no monsters in this city.

Only after doing all that Hera went back inside to eat, but even so, she didn't stop checking to make sure everything was ok to give Lurize a title. In reality, she didn't expect that this would happen so fast. Even if Lurize was just 4% away from 100%, she imagined that it would take quite a long time to reach 100. However, just by giving the royal seal, he got a 3% boost, then thanks to his 'Teacher's Spirit' Skill, the final 1% was reached in just one hour of training, with Lurize telling Hera what to do and how she should move while wielding him.

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Lurize of poison - Venom

Zweihander

A two-handed sword that excels in duels thanks to its parrying hooks.

Weapon Scaling:

Empress attributes: 68

Strength: 2.74 [0.7(1.4) + 2.04] Endurance 2.69[0.65(1.3) + 2.04]

Agility: 2.04 Charisma: 2.04 Intelligence: 2.04 Luck: 2.04

Weapon skill

Teacher's spirit:

Your familiarity with this weapon will grow at an accelerated rate.

Venom Edict

When using a Venom spell or skill with this weapon, the effects are increased by 40%

When infused with mana, this weapon deals an additional 30% Venom damage with all its strikes.

Familiarity: 100%

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While eating some reheated fish, Hera was talking with her court to iron out some final details, 'Lurize, do you have a suggestion for your title?' her mouth was full, but she got used to communicating with her court even when she was eating.

'I do have one suggestion, but can I ask something first?' Lurize turned to the Empress.

'Sure.'

'Why me? Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate the offer, but with the Royal Seal, you don't have to wait for a specific weapon to come along. You can just make a new weapon to be the correct element. Maybe even another of your current ones.'

'Ok, first about the current court members. Daskka explained how a royal seal could change their element, but not necessarily to the one I picked. It could be a mix. And about getting a new weapon, why would I when I already have a perfect option in front of me? You might think you don't have enough skills and your attributes are weak, but being able to teach others is something amazing. If you can do that to Nimbus and pretty much all other titled blades, it will be incredible. Also, you might be able to teach more than just us too. If we had a proper teacher for combat styles during the Royal Explorer's training, it would help a lot. But the real reason is something else.'

Hera swallowed the piece of grilled fish that was in her mouth. She didn't want to speak this next part while she was chewing, 'You are my first blade. Sure I got a few others right after you, including Ooze, but you were the one who showed me the moves in the trial, and according to Daskka, everyone in that trial was, once upon a time, a titled blade. If it weren't for you, I would never have the legacy. I talked about dismissing you before, but I won't let that happen again, and the best way to do that is to have you as a titled blade.'

'I… don't know what to say, but you are not expecting me to remember things about the previous holder, are you?'

'Not in the slightest. It will be a good surprise if it happens, but I want you by my side. Who you are right now, not who you were in the past.'

'Thank you, Empress. I will be sure to do my absolute best to assist you. And for the name of my title, I wonder if it could be Royal Tutor. Some of the comics we were reading have people with that title who are not mentors per se but help the nobles overcome some of their shortcomings and fight with them side by side. I feel like it is a fitting name for me, if I may be so presumptuous,' Lurize spoke.

Hera just smiled and nodded, 'It does sound like a great title. Much better than the ones I had in mind.'

'What were them?' Daskka asked.

'Armourer or Weapons Master, but they don't feel noble enough for someone who is supposed to be like, the upper echelon of a court,' Hera sighed, 'Before we ask Mr. Beetle, who can still say no and put a halt on all our plans. Does anyone have anything else to say about Lurize becoming a titled blade?'

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

None of the blades protested, but she felt some uneasiness coming from Nimbus. Seeing as everyone's focus turned to the Sentinel, he spoke, 'I am worried, but not for any valid reasons. My feelings come from a selfish place, and I know I shouldn't have them.'

'You are afraid that you will be replaced? Like, not actually, but you know what I mean,' Hera asked point blank.

'I… am.'

Hera reached out and touched his face, 'You don't have to be. You are still my first titled blade, and you are still the Sentinel, the one who is supposed to watch over all of us and make sure we are safe. There is just one more person to protect now and one more person to watch your back.'

'I would never dream of taking your place, Nimbus. Each of us has a unique job inside a court. We all work together, not work to do more than each other,' Lurize added.

'Trust me, if I had a way to get rid of your ugly bird mug, I would. Sadly, we are stuck together forever,' Daskka shrugged and continued eating her fish.

'Thank you all, even you, Daskka. I apologize for this. I don't want to get in your way,' he turned to Lurize.

'You wouldn't be doing so. Fret not.'

'Ok, Anyone else?' getting a no in response, Hera turned to Daskka again, 'How do I get Mr. Beetle's approval? Is it just starting the process?'

'It could be, but it might be good to talk to him first. Use a spell that would bring him here and explain what you want to do,' Daskka suggested.

Hera pulled Fang and used a Venom mana enchantment, making the small golden beetle appear on the dagger. She talked with it for a few moments, explaining what she wanted to do and asking if the spirit would be ok with that while getting some weird looks from the rest of the party. To them, she was just talking to her own sword, which was more or less common, but in this case, it was a weapon that wasn't part of her court yet. After finishing her explanation, she asked if Mr. Beetle wanted to become part of her court. In response, a notification appeared in front of her.

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The Venom Spirit Mr. Beetle accepted to become part of your legacy temporarily.

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"Mum, don't say anything right now. Everything you say will count as part of the skill. Think about what you want and then say. I can help you with it if you want."

Hera nodded, and the two of them had an odd communication, with Hera speaking only with feelings before the Empress was satisfied with the speech she would have to make. Picking up the Zweihander, she covered the weapon with a mana reinforcement, and Mr. Beetle appeared again, now already resting in the weapon that he would be bound to.

"Lurize, my first blade. You have been teaching me since the beginning. To complete the trial, I needed your help. To learn how to use the legacy, I had your aid. Even when I was training to learn how to use new weapons, you were the one guiding me and pointing out the flaws in my posture," she paused and turned to the small golden Beetle that was on top of the blade, "Mr. Beetle. Even if our time together was short, you helped me more than you can imagine. I was in a strange place, alone and scared. In a forest where everything seemed to want to kill me, and yet, you came as a friend. As a simple companion for my travel, one that I protected at times but that was willing to challenge even the strongest of beings in that place just because of me. You even tried to stay with me when you could live. I might be here, alive and well now, but neither of us knew if that would truly be the case. For that, I will be forever grateful. And I ask both of you to join my court and become my Royal Tutor."

With those last words, Hera made a gesture with the blade of the weapon as if she was knighting someone. She was doing this in the middle of the kitchen, which led straight to the living room where the rest of the party was, so everyone was watching the birth of a new titled blade and a new party member. Hera didn't notice, but everyone else could see a crown and a cloak of mist forming behind her. However, this wasn't coming from Daskka, who would usually be the one pulling that kind of prank. It seemed like it was coming from the Empress herself. Hera felt the Zweihander pull out of her hand, standing with the tip of the blade on the ground. The mist from her cloak surrounded the handle, and from it, a heavily armored gauntlet with pointy fingers appeared. When reaching the wrists, there was a larger bracer with an amber gem. More armor covered the biceps and the elbow until it reached the segmented dark iron shoulder guard with a piece of brown cloth attached to it with a golden antennae pattern framing the fabric.

The chest was a metallic piece of armor, with a small tuft of fur going from the indentation between the pecs to the right shoulder. He had a barbarian-style cloth piece on the waist that was made out of gold metal instead of fabric, with some small pieces of fur dangling on the sides. The pants also followed the dark metal motif, but one could see a bit of fabric underneath everything. His shoes were large and made out of dull cooper with some studs on the sides, including four sharper ones. Two close to the heel and two close to the tip of the boots. Finally, his helmet had a round top with a single horn in the front going up and splitting into two spikes that would turn into four, just like Mr. Beetle's horn. There was only a tiny gap for his eyes where Hera could see a pair of golden irises looking at her.

The form was kneeling down in front of her and slowly got up, becoming even taller than Mylo, who was the tallest member of the group "E…Empress?" a voice came through, but it was changing rapidly, almost as if they were trying to figure out what would be their actual tone of voice. Lurize coughed, "Excuze me. Emprezz," his voice was very deep, deeper than Nimbus', but he also turned all the 'S' sounds into 'Z.' Aside from that, he sounded like a noble, with a calm and collected tone.

"Hello Lurize, or should I say, my Royal Tutor," Hera smiled.

"Can we call him RT for short?" Blue asked from the living room, making Hera realize that she did all that in front of everyone.

"You are free to do zo, Blue. Calling me RT won't be an izzue," Lurize bowed to her slightly.

"How are you feeling?" Hera turned to the tutor.

"I'm… ok. Zome memoriez are ztill confuzing and… I will attempt not to employ any idiom that require the letter Z… I mean Z… Z… Z…," Lurize let out a long sigh and drew an S with his finger against his bracers, "Thi…. That letter."

Hera chuckled, "You really don't have to worry about it. Does that happen even if you are talking in my head?"

"Let me try it," Lurize stared at Hera for a moment, 'Is this working fine? Can I say the letter S here? I can!'

"Ok, that's good then. If we have any problems communicating, we still have that option. But again, you don't have to worry about it. "

"Thank you, Emp… Hera. I will try my harder…zt to make this work," RT sighed again.

"Lurize, how is your body feeling?" Nimbus walked closer to the newly titled blade.

"A little ztiff. Why?"

"Let's go outside. That feeling won't get away unless you move around. We can go for a spar," Nimbus smiled.

"Nimbus!" Hera gasped.

"No, no. I think I will enjoy that. I need to move around. And that might help with the memory problem," Lurize smiled.

"Wait!" Mylo yelled. Everyone stopped to watch him go to the kitchen, grab a couple of bowls and some glasses and saying, "We need drinks and snacks if we are watching a match."

With that, he walked outside along with everyone. Hera knew there wasn't much she could do to stop this, so she walked out to be the referee. If they were going through with that, she would make sure no one would get hurt.