After the meeting with the leaders of the species was over, Hera stayed in the Aerie for a couple of days with Rutigan. The King asked her to stick around while he was there. Typhera also became a common presence in their group. At first, the Ophidianite assumed the harpy Queen was just being kind and trying to keep a good relationship with her neighbors. But, there were a couple of moments where Hera and whoever else was in the group felt more like they were intruding on something more personal.

Either way, Hera eventually returned to Zaxalam and was eager to explore the place for the first time. Ever since she arrived here, there was too much to do, and aside from walking around in the city for a bit, she didn't have any chance to explore. But first, the Empress arrived back in the house where her dad and Shane were staying.

"Hera! How did things go?" Eridan asked.

"Well… they went. It was just a lot," Hera smiled. She was about to continue when she noticed Blue coming out of the bathroom, "I'll tell you later."

"Hera! Are you back?" Blue closed the door behind her. That bathroom was one of the new additions made by the dwarves.

The Naga didn't have a sewage system, so they used a communal latrine. They also had communal baths, which were the only option they had for a shower right now. However, after coming here, the Royal Explores realized this flaw and warned Rutigan about it. Thanks to that, he also asked Ogryn and the architects to prepare a large number of self-cleaning toilets and water-generating faucets to construct makeshift bathrooms for the temporary houses.

The plan was to eventually improve the infrastructure of the place. They already had a few ideas about how to make a power generator using the water stream coming out of the snake's mouth outside the city and adding some actual sewers and treatment plants to take care of all the water. One large benefit of this place was that it was mostly inside a mountain, which meant the dwarves were very familiar with the kinds of changes they could make without worrying.

"Yeah. I'm back. Lena and Alex will be here soon. They just went to grab some food for everyone," Hera nodded.

"I'm glad. Like staying here with Shane yapping all the time wasn't that fun."

"Yapping?" Hera raised one eyebrow.

"I have to agree with her. Shane has been kind of annoying since you got here," Renette sighed as she came from a room in the back.

"Really?"

"Yeah, she keeps talking about wanting to explore Deakoshara. And now that you opened the way, she can't seem to wait," Blue shook her head.

"Oh… she really isn't going to be happy with me then," Hera chuckled.

"Why is that, honey?" Eridan was still by his daughter's side, holding her hand.

"I don't think we should go there just yet."

"Why not?" Eridan asked.

"Well… Did I ever tell you about the vision I had? When I was bound to Mr. Beetle?"

"You glanced over it. You mentioned how that happened but never got into detail."

Hera nodded and started recounting her vision. She added as many details as possible, including the monsters and the path she took to get there. Lena, Alex, Bonnie, Shane, and Mylo arrived with some food in the middle of her tale. Quinn had already set up a salon and was working late today. That was a simple way of bringing some normalcy to the lives of those who had to give up their home. They ate while Hera talked about her vision, and by the end of it, she added, "And that's why I want to explore more about this place before going to Deakoshara."

"What!?" Shane jumped to her feet, "You are kidding me!"

"I'm not."

"Why?" Shane crossed her arms.

"You were listening to the vision, right? Remember the city I saw? I'm pretty sure that's Zaxalam. Or a version of it. I mean, the city's entrance is only missing the giant stone slabs, but they look very close to the doors blocking Deakoshara. Also, the monster. We still don't know what that giant monster was. What if it is still around here? It wouldn't be the first time we found a monster that could live for very long while still getting stronger than the monsters in the room. So I want to be sure that the people who are living here are safe before going there. And there is one more thing, one that I kind of expected you to realize, Shane."

Shane tilted her head and thought for a second, "We don't know who closed the doors to Deakoshara."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Renette asked.

Hera turned to Bonnie's mom, "If they all left and closed the place, intending to return later is one thing. But if they were still inside when the doors were locked, something inside wiped out all of the Naga. And the room is way too big. I'm not sure about this place, but Deakoshara has an area of around 200 square kilometers. Including some beaches, mountains, forests, a swamp, and a small piece of a desert. Like a rocky desert, not sandy. Think Arizona, not Egypt."

Renette gasped, "The room is really that big? It's like an entire country."

"Yep, that's why I want to be sure this place is safe before going there. When we start exploring that room, I'm sure it will take time to come back. Not that I want to see everything in a single go, but we need to be careful," Hera finished.

Shane was still frowning, but she rubbed the back of her head in frustration, "Fuck. Fine. I agree with you. I still have a lot to learn from here. By the way, can you give me more essence? I already took all of mine. It only lasted five days."

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"Sure. Did you get a skill or an upgrade? You should only need one to reach rank five to become an Ophidianite," Hera made a few extra vials of essence while drinking one herself. Only then did something click, "Hang on, why did it only last five days? I left nine vials."

Shane didn't say anything but glanced at Eridan. Hera's dad puffed his chest and took one of the vials, "I left you alone for too long. This time, wherever you go, I'm following. Be it in the MAZE or being an Ophidianite. If things go well, you will be calling me Eridan Quetzaveth soon. As long as you have me, of course."

Hera smiled, "Dad," she bumped his shoulder, "If you want to follow me you can. I can't promise we will be safe, but it will be fun."

"I'm 50% sure he is also very interested in having a tail," Renette chuckled.

"Well… I'm not against it. I always wondered what it was like," Eridan scratched his cheek.

"The extra life span won't hurt either," Blue laughed along.

"Extra life span?" Shane asked, making Hera pause.

"Didn't I tell you guys about it?"

"Not about living longer," Mylo shook his head.

"Oh… Sooooo… I can live to three hundred now."

"What?!" there was a chorus of gasps.

"Now I really want to be a Naga!" Shane smiled, downing her own vial, "Shit! Nothing!"

"It's Ophidianite, not Naga. And did you get any increases?" Hera corrected

"Only one. My Naga Scales went to rank 3 and changed to Ophidianite Scales. The skill seems a bit better, too."

Hera nodded, "Yeah. It is. The problem is that there are more skills now. Well, I say that, but I don't actually know how many skills the Naga had in total."

"And you know how many skills the Ophidianites have?" Renette asked.

"I do. I didn't tell you guys this, too? Oh… I actually have all of them. All the skills, I mean, and because of the Primogenitor title, any 'Ophidianite Skills' another Ophidianite gets, I will get it too. Like not a skill I already have, but if someone gets a new skill somehow, I will too," Hera explained.

"So the more people that become Ophidianite, the better it is for you, right?" Eridan asked with a smile.

"Yeah, but I think that was intentional. I think the system wants this species to thrive, so it's making the idea of spreading more appealing to me. I mean, I even have a permanent buff that says that any children I have will be Ophidianites, no matter who the father is. That's another thing that you need to keep in mind if you are changing species. If you have any children they will be one of us."

"That is true… I suppose if I become an Ophidianite, I would be young again… right? I mean, if you can reach 300 years old, 41 should still be young. Even if not, the worry about getting old before having more children would be very different. Actually… do you lay eggs?" Renette asked while ignoring the side eye Bonnie gave her when she mentioned her age.

"That was something I had the option to choose. And I decided against laying eggs. I don't know. The idea just sounds very weird. Not that it's weird to do that, but it's such a fundamental change that I couldn't think about going through. About the age, I'm… not sure. Hang on," Hera pulled up her tablet and sent a text to Tara asking about that age difference. The reply came right away, "OK, so apparently, you can keep your age. So if you are 41, you still will be 41 years old as an Ophidianite. Thinking in dwarf terms, since they have the same lifespan, that means you are a young adult. Like a human in his late 20s. Dad, you would be in your early 30s. Since 51 would translate to that. According to them, this should also be a way for the system to give an incentive for people to join. But I'm not sure I want this to be widespread. I think it would attract the wrong kind of attention to the idea of being part of the species."

"But that wouldn't affect anyone. Elves and dwarves wouldn't see any difference. Neither would some variations of beastman. Triton lives to 150, so that's maybe. I'm just not sure about the Children of the Sky," Helena cut a piece of her stuffed potato while thinking.

"They might be interested. They have the shortest lifespan of all. Around 75 years on average," Alex replied, getting an odd stare from Bonnie, "What?"

"I just never expected you to be knowledgeable about the Children of the Sky," Bonnie replied.

"I'm not. I just talked a lot with people in the Aerie. They were curious about humans, and I was about them. Anyway, the increase in lifespan might be a good thing for them. A lot of the harpies seem… not exactly jealous, but they see how they end up in an uphill battle."

"Yeah. I mean, elves have centuries to learn about a topic and branch out to whatever they want, while they get not even a tenth of it? It just sucks," Alex sighed.

"You know… I know that there is a possibility of mutations when someone is born naturally as an Ophidianite. Maybe someday, they can get a mutation that will increase their lifespan. I'm pretty sure some people are working on bio-engineering like that," Hera tried to cheer everyone up.

They ate in silence for a moment after that, but Shane didn't take long to return to the previous topic, "So, Hera, what do you want to explore in this room?"

"I was thinking about searching for the cave where I 'Died' in the vision. I think that might be a good place to start looking for signals of that monster. Ideally, we would find his corpse or a dungeon that shows how it died somewhere. Do you feel like joining?"

"I want to say yes, but that is a bit of a wild goose chase. I think I'll stay here until you find something interesting," Shane sighed.

"I think you should wait a day or two before going," Blue added.

"Why?"

"Fethy was helping set up a place for a long-distance internet tower. Apparently, they were developed from the ground up after taking apart the ones the New Dawn made that have that absurd range. We don't know the size of the room, but from the size of the tower, it should cover a large area," Blue explained.

"Well… I do like the idea of being able to warn people if things go south. I guess I'll stay around for a little bit," Hera said with a smile, "Maybe we can get a new house by then. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind staying in a place with many people, but it's hard to call my court out here."

They looked around. There were 9 people here in this house, not to mention Quinn, who should be arriving soon. They were not extremely cramped, but it wasn't exactly roomy either. If they were to add a griffon with large winds, a large suit of armor, and a 3-meter-tall dragon, that would change very quickly.

"Well, you can help me clear out some rooms tomorrow. If we cover enough ground, we might be able to split off into smaller groups," Shane suggested.

"You know what… that's a good idea. Especially since I count as four," Hera smiled.

"You count as four?" Shane paused, "Of course you do. Your court can understand the same languages you do, don't they?"

"Yep," Hera replied with a big smile.

"Sometimes I wonder if I got the right legacy," Shane sighed.

"Could you live without enchanting the bed?" Mylo asked.

"You enchant your bed?" Blue turned to the enchanter.

"Yeah, I make it softer, more comfy, and just the right temperature," when Shane finished speaking, she realized how everyone's eyes were shining, "Oh no… Fine, I'll do that to your beds, too."

With a cheer, they continued their meal, talking and having fun. In her mind, Hera thanked her friends. Despite the changes in her body, no one was treating her differently, and that was just what she hoped for.