After killing all the Naga outside, there was a moment of silence where nothing happened. Hera just watched the giant monster moving and looked around to confirm there were no more threats in the area. One odd thing the Empress noticed was that the Naga it killed were still there. Or at least, their bodies were. Before she had a chance to check why that was going on, Scryotra started moving again. This time, it used its claws to dig large holes in the ground before pushing the dead inside it. Then, it covered the holes with the loose dirt. The monster turned one more time and reached out for a large tree, ripping it from the ground and placing it on top of the hole it had just filled up.
With a frown, Hera turned to the Captor's Bane, "Are you… burying them?"
The mantis' eyes focused on her for a moment before it nodded.
'It has the concept of burials?' Ember asked in a surprised voice.
'I guess…' Dao was just as shocked as everyone else.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dungeon quest complete
Rewards:
Due to the presence of Scryotra's Resentment, you will receive no rewards.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Aw, man. Really?" Hera gasped. She was getting some rewards from the normal mode. Still, it was some small amounts of gold, only reaching a couple thousand for each completion or one random material that she ended up passing along to dwarves to see if anyone could do something with it. She expected to have something similar to it here but clearly wasn't the case. Taking a look around, she realized that the entrance to Zaxalam was gone. In its place was the wooden door that would be her exit. The Empress started walking towards it, holding back the urge to see if the resentment had changed in any way. She wasn't sure if seeing the item would trigger something in Scryotra, but it was very likely for it to be the case. Maybe she would even have to come back here and do the dungeon again. After all, there was no notification about completing the quest so far.
"Mum, since we are here. Why don't you try asking Scryotra what it would want?" Daskka suggested.
"What?" Hera stopped and looked to the side. Daskka was back on her shoulders, looking at her.
"Yeah. I mean, it is worth a shot," the Ophieianite shrugged and turned back to Scryotra, who was still staring at her. Unsure what to ask, she decided to just go for it, "Say, what would you want to happen if you were dead?"
Scryotra stared at her for a moment before anger started to flare up on its face.
"Wow, wow. I don't mean I want to kill you! Calm down. I'm asking what about when you die. When you are gone, in the future. You know," Hera stepped back, ready to bolt if the creature tried to attack her.
Scryotra calmed down, but it still had a confused expression. Not that Hera could read the face of the mantis, but it was just a feeling she got when looking at it. After a while, the creature looked around; in thought, it turned to its children.
"I get that," Hera nodded, "Being worried about your kids is very noble. But what if you didn't have them? If you died before they were around?"
There was another long pause until Scryotra made a motion very close to a shrug. Telling the Empress that it couldn't think about anything.
Hera sighed, "Ok. I get it. It was a weird question. Sorry about that."
Seeing her frustrated expression, the monster felt bad. It didn't want to be unable to help the person who saved its children. Just to not leave her question unanswered, it gestured to the grave it built for the Naga.
"A grave? Really?"
Scryotra nodded.
"Why?"
The Captor's Bane made a few clicking noises as if it was trying to tell a story, but unlike the feelings, Hera couldn't understand anything. Either way, at least now she had an idea of what she could do. Even if the idea of a grave for Scryotra didn't feel like something the guardian beast really wanted. She thanked him and started walking to the door. Its children still were just watching her from the back of the monster.
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Leaving the dungeon, Hera called Nimbus right away and flew to the city before anything else. Only when she was safely back in her house did she open the bag where she was carrying Scryotra's Resentment. Right now, in the middle of the afternoon, there was no one else here. Meaning that she wouldn't be able to ask for any ideas from the rest of the group. Not that any of them had suggested anything. She asked, but everyone was drawing a blank.
When grabbing the small rock in her pouch, the first thing the Empress noticed was the change in texture. It was smoother, and it felt much softer than just a rock. It was slit solid, but now it had that slight push that one would find in plastic objects. Another big difference was the color. It was no longer black. Now, it had a shade of gray leaning more towards the white. The red symbol still kept the familiar two sets of claws going around each other, but in the middle, instead of a maw filled with teeth, it was just a single line with two large fangs coming out from the upper jaw. Hera could replicate that sight with her own mouth if she wanted, even if it would be a bit unconformable. That drawing was no longer blood red but a dark orange, almost reaching brown.
Despite the big change, the information given by the system was still the same. Still, the Ophidianite couldn't help but believe that she was on the right track. After all, the resentment was visibly more pleasant to look at now. While its darker version gave off an eerie feeling every time she looked at it. Hera stared at the resentment for a long time. Not having any idea of what to do next. After a while, she remembered how it felt to create her own spell, and that was when a light bulb turned on inside her mind. Scryotra had asked for a grave, and the creature was supposed to be a guardian beast. She could go a step further and make an actual altar, with the resentment as its centerpiece. Looking at her tablet, she realized that in 2 days, her new party would arrive in the Aerie of the First Flight. Typhera had even sent her a text confirming they were coming. Still, considering the dwarves, there was a good chance that she could make it work in just two days. And there was nothing about the quest telling her that she had to do it on her own.
Rushing out, she first looked for her dad. She didn't need weapons or defenses but people who were able to make pretty things. Eridan was with the architects and other crafters, trying to understand the properties of the wood and other materials they found in this place. Seeing Hera, that group took a break to greet her. After all, she was still a celebrity, even more so now that she had become a different species. The Ophidianite took advantage of the situation and explained her quest and her idea. The architects felt extremely interested in the idea. Ever since they arrived here, they were all on repair duty, fixing the broken parts of the city and adapting the houses to their size. The idea of being able to actually create something tingled their creativity, and soon, they were already creating blueprints for the altar. They wanted to make a large temple, especially after hearing Scryotra's story. However, the Empress was on a deadline, and she couldn't wait for weeks for them to finish. In the end, they decided to make just an altar on top of the grave, as she suggested. But that wasn't all. They made it in a way that allowed for expansion in the future. That place could eventually be their mausoleum, and Scryotra could become a ghost guardian beast that protected those who were gone.
While they worked on that, Hera prepared the actual tomb, the 'coffin' where she thought about leaving Scryotra's body. That came with another problem. The legs that were spread around were too big, and so far, they weren't able to take pieces out of it. There was also a chance that the stealth spirits wouldn't allow her to mess with the guardian's remains. Then came an idea. She could place the actual resentment as the representation of Scryotra. The idea felt odd. After all, she would not only be giving away the item related to her quest but there was also a chance that she would put people in danger with this. If the resentment started to attract monsters or make surrounding monsters hostile again, people who got close to it could get hurt. In the end, this still felt like a better idea than the alternative. After all, they weren't going to build that altar in the city. It would be outside, at the top of the mountain, where she first saw that creature in her vision. This was suggested by some of the architects, and she quite liked the idea.
They also added that the temple could be a landmark for people moving around and maybe even a defensive position if needed. That was more of a way to convince Naka to let some guards go along to protect them while they worked than anything else, but still. Hera and Eridan worked together to make the 'coffin' and a small wooden sculpture of Scryotra itself to be inside that grave. At the same time, she was telling the other crafters about details and decorations that could fit the guardian beast. It didn't take long for her to understand that this was just a way to kill time for most of the people working on the project. But she didn't care. It would be hard for anyone to feel attached to a creature like that just by hearing a story, and they weren't the type to go run a dungeon just to know more about it.
It took them the rest of the day, but the group of builders was able to make a prototype of the altar and grave. It was a small piece about the size of a chair and made out of wood. The actual version would be made out of stone and reinforced with magic and runes to make it whist and the elements. Monster or other attacks would still be able to damage it, but small cracks could be fixed by those spells.
When they finished the first part of the work, Hera went to Rutigan to explain her quest and ask for permission to take some of the architects to build that altar. It didn't take long to convince him, especially when Fethy walked in. The Dutches of Culture felt extremely excited about the prospect of creating something with such a cultural value. She asked Hera to tell her everything about the dungeon and even went as far as to ask if she would be able to do it. Unfortunately, since this room was in a deeper layer, the Empress was against that idea. The Guardian Rage wasn't a good place to test things out. From the initial attack to the powerful monsters, she had to hunt to the fight against Scryotra itself. Everything was hard, even if the levels would start on the low end of the layer. The alternative was to have the Royal Explorers run the dungeon a few times and record their attempts. This should be enough to satiate Fethy's curiosity.
With that out of the way, Hera went back home to rest and prepare for tomorrow. One way or another, this would be over the next day. The plan of making an altar would either work and complete the quest, or she would have to toss the resentment inside a dungeon so no one would get hurt by it.