Bonnie stayed with Alex in that hospital room for about 4 hours. She left a couple of times to get something to drink and go to the bathroom, but aside from it. She just stood in the back, reading a book about stars in her tablet. Being the newest member of their group to get a legacy felt both exciting and scary at the same time. The reasons for being happy were obvious. She was now the Astral Witch. She had found the court of stars and passed the test created by the legacy. But on the flip side, she was part of a group who was known for being powerful and having legacies. Between Blue, Shane, Hera, Alex, and now her, she had felt the pressure of pulling her weight.
Legacies were powerful and not just because of their abilities. They were symbols of hope in times of despair. They were supposed to represent courage, virtue, and inspire those who gazed upon them. It was an achievement, of course, but it was also a duty, a lineage of honor. Even if someone took a legacy that was used for evil in the past, that still held meaning. Every action of the new holder would be weighted against the actions of the legacy’s past.
And those were extraordinarily large shoes to fit. Especially for a human. Especially during a war. Bonnie knew about the three heroes, like all explorers did, but she also read about the other six. The ones that belonged to the other species. During her research, she realized that the human heroes had one major difference from the rest. Each of them had a legacy. Khan was the wall breaker, and according to history books, his legacy was tailored to destroy barriers and walls. Undine, the Firebringer, had a legacy of the same name, capable of calling fire to her aid. And Cyrus, the golden knight, had the Golden Army. A legacy made to support large groups, empowering them while also boosting his own power. That was proof of the value humans placed on legacies. And despite the argument that people without them were also able to be heroes, it didn’t change the weight a legacy carried. While for the other species, a legacy wasn’t required. Some of the other six heroes didn’t have one, or if they did, it was not part of who made them who they were.
Bonnie didn’t want to be left behind, or to be the reason why people started to doubt the strength of her friends. Having seen Hera reaching level 56 in just a couple of months only made the new Astral Witch to feel even more pressure. Not that there was anyone asking more of her. If anything, once she acquired the legacy, people left her to her own devices. Even Lena acted in ways to give Bonnie more freedom. After a conversation with the mage, the researcher understood what was going on.
She now had a brand new set of powers to master. Something that had its own rules and conditions. If Lena, or anyone else, kept bothering her, the Astral Witch, would never be able to learn about her new abilities. There was also a decent chance that she ended up hurting someone by accident.
‘Hey, B? Are you having trouble with something in the book? I can try to help. If not, and you are done, do you mind going to the next page?’ Ruby’s voice brought Bonnie back to reality.
When she got the legacy, Ruby was by her side. And her herald became the slime that was her partner. Apparently, that couldn’t work with animals or monsters in general. But the malleable nature of a slime was different. They were particularly proficient in adaptation, which meant that becoming a herald that was completely bound to a person was within the realm of possibility. However, that didn’t mean Ruby was now immortal. She still had her own body, and if its core was destroyed, her physical form would vanish, leaving behind only the herald. Or maybe that wasn’t the case. From what Bonnie understood, heralds should only attach themselves to items that couldn’t be used by people who were not the legacy owners. Ruby was still its own being. It had needs and some form of free will. However, it was still a slime. Which was, by all accounts, just a giant single cell organism. That also meant it was very easy to control or trick her. Maybe by using the small lights of stars, the legacy made Ruby move as it wanted for it to pretend to be the herald. Or Maybe because of the [Slime Companion] skill she got, her pet was directly bound to her somehow. The skill also mentioned Ruby by name, which could be another sign that this was really the case.
‘B? Are you ok?’ Ruby called again. Her voice was young, and sounded like a mix of all of Bonnie’s friends, but a bit more girly.
‘Sorry, I’m just thinking about some stuff,’ Bonnie sighed. She could tell that Alex also had a moment of introspection before she started working. Even if their reasons and thoughts were likely wildly different. Every person who the researcher knew that had a legacy said the herald was a being they could trust completely. Ruby should fall in the same category, even if she didn’t understand how the set up actually worked, ‘I think I’m just super bored here.’
‘The book is not helping? Sorry I suggested it,’ Ruby’s pseudopod lowered apologetically.
Bonnie just smiled and patted the slime, ‘Don’t worry. The book helps. Knowing the constellation will be useful, but it is one thing to read about them, or see a picture or a drawing, another is to look at them in the night sky. It’s just…’
‘Not the same,’ Ruby nodded in agreement.
‘Exactly.’
‘But you need to pay attention to things. You can’t just keep staring at the sky, even with that new skill. Alex is already upset you kept ignoring her yesterday. Like, ok, the show she was talking about sounded super boring, but still. You need to be a good friend,’ Ruby continued.
‘I know. I know. It’s just… a new toy for me to play with. She does the same when she founds out something about her legacy. But I’ll be careful. Besides, for now, using the Starlit Eye constantly gives me a headache, even if I can maintain the mana.’
Using that skill, the Astral Witch could watch the night sky even during the day. She couldn’t do anything to look at it through walls or the ceiling, but it was something that the legacy could offer later on. Still, unlike Alex, who was in the process of discovering the drawbacks of her new abilities. After unlocking the complete set of ‘Grand Constellations’ as they were known, Ruby got more knowledge about it, including the basic issues Bonnie would have going forward. For one, she lost the ability to cast spells regularly. That didn’t mean she couldn’t use magic anymore, but all the magic she used had to go through the legacy. When using a spell, she would have to channel the power of a constellation in some way. It could be by following its shape, the idea, or the image it was supposed to create. Thankfully, the legacy was very generous when it came to that. For instance, she could use the constellation of Aquarius or of the Cup to cast her water fists. Since both constellations could have water inside. Or she could cast all the range of elemental fists through Lepus, since a rabbit had fists. But that wasn’t all. If she used a fire spell through the Furnace, or the Phoenix constellation, the power of the spell would increase, since it matched well with the stars she drew power from. On the other hand, using a water spell with those constellations would lower its strength considerably.
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All that Bonnie had to do was to think about the constellation itself before casting the spell. The more she understood about that particular constellation and the more she could connect it with the spell, the stronger it would be. Meaning that the Astral Witch legacy would work better in the hands of someone who was willing to study.
Another drawback was that now, Bonnie was bound to the night sky above her. If she was in a part of the MAZE that didn’t have a specific constellation, any ability attached to that set of stars wouldn’t work. Later on, she would be able to capture a snapshot of a part of the sky and carry it with her through a different ability. But for now, she had to work with what she had. Lastly, there was a considerable mental strain to use any of the legacy skills. The ones that were a fire and forget kind of thing were easy, but buffs, especially self buffs, would quickly drain her mental fortitude.
Even so, when using Starlit Eye, she felt those effects for the first time. All the other buffs she gave to others didn’t strain her as much. This was likely something to do with how the first person who created the legacy behaved. They seemed to be very keen on the support role, or were the type who didn’t want to risk themselves. Bonnie’s reasoning for thinking like that was the legacy trial. She found the legacy in a small room at the top of one of the mountains of Zaxalam. In there were some carvings and a pedestal where the start chart of the previous Astral Witch slept. Once she touched that star chart, she was teleported to the trial proper. In there, she found a group of people, all waiting to receive her blessings. Each of said blessings was connected to a constellation. The entire chamber was one large map, with the ceiling representing the north hemisphere and the floor on the south. Most of the stars were like the ones she saw on Earth, but not all, there were a couple of smaller ones that she couldn’t recognize and it took her a while to understand that. Beyond the chamber were hallways with various murals depicting the stories that surrounded the constellations.
At least there was no time limit for the trial. However, she couldn’t bring anything. Bonnie had tried to prepare herself for the test before going in and took a bag full of supplies, including food, water, and first aid kits. Unfortunately, as she arrived inside the chamber, she realized her bag was gone. Bonnie ended up staying there almost a full day, with no water and no food, but eventually she blessed enough people to be accepted by the legacy. Even if she wasn’t able to do that to all of them. And when she returned, the start chart was gone. Now a part of her very being.
Later on, Ruby explained that the legacy trial had a grading scale. And how many skills were available from the get go would depend on her results. The researcher got above a passing grade, but still far from a perfect score. Still, she already came out of there with more skills than Alex had.
The one thing that still confused her was the connection to courts that were also present in the skill of an Astral Witch. She didn’t have court members like Hera, but she did have positions. The constellations could be given nobility rankings that were a bit of a mixed bag when considering their origin. On the very top was the Maharaja, then came the Pashas, followed by Boilas. But then the nomenclature did a hard pivot to Japanese. Under Boila were the Daimyos, then the Shogun, which Bonnie was pretty sure to be in the wrong order. From what she remembered, a Shogun should be above a Daimyo. Either way, below them were the Dawala, with Squires being the last tier.
Despite knowing all that and already having the skill to assign constellations to those ranks, Bonnie still couldn’t use them. There was a minimum number of constellations she had to unlock in the legacy before starting to place them where she wanted them to be to increase the power of the skills. She always knew that legacies were supposed to be these powerful branches of power that follow their own rules. However, she still expected there to be a set of rules for her to follow. Being the Astral Witch had its limitations, sure, but most of her abilities relied too much on creativity or point of view. In other words, everything was too subjective. And having another skill with a list of ranks that were in the wrong order felt just wrong.
Still, Ruby said that she might be able to change the name of each rank when she was about to add the first constellation to said rank. Meaning that maybe Bonnie could fix that mess. Already had an idea on how to go about it. After all, there were 7 different rankings in her legacy. Coincidently enough, stars also had 7 different classifications.
“Shit… I need to stop here,” Alex said, making Bonnie rush to her side.
“Is the treatment over?” Lady Faunalyn asked.
Alex shook her head, “No. What I do removes anything that is affecting a person. It is supposed to work spells and outside skills. But the constant exposure is also starting to affect her passive skills. Including something that was helping her fight back against what was going on. If I keep pushing, I’m afraid I’ll deactivate her passives. It should only be a temporary thing, but even then, it’s a risk.”
Lady Faunalyn nodded, “If such a thing is possible, it is prudent to let her rest and recover before continuing. Was it within your capabilities to reduce the strain her body is under?”
Alex turned with a big smile, “Oh yeah. I got about 30 to 40% of what was affecting her. You can even see how that black tattoo is not a single thing, but four thin rings now.”
“When do you believe it will be prudent to continue?” Lady Faunalyn asked.
“I don’t know. It’s up to her,” Alex turned back to the elven woman, “I think I should let her rest for the day. We can come back tomorrow and check her condition.”
“Very well. Do you require assistance to find lodgings?” Lady Faunalyn looked at Alex, her eyes warmer despite everything.
“No need. We already have that covered.”
“That is good. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.”
“Actually, there is one thing,” Bonnie said. Alex glanced at her friend but didn’t stop her, she more or less knew what the Astral Witch was going to ask.
“Alex's legacy is somewhat new, and to make it stronger, she needs to practice. We heard about a dungeon filled with vampires in the city, and that might be just the kind of condition to give the kind of experience she needs. But, going in a large group would defeat the point of training and practicing, and going alone would be too dangerous since we might get hurt and become unable to continue the treatment. So the best solution would be to have a strong healer by our side. Do you know anyone who could help with that?” Bonnie tried not show too big of a smile, but if they could get a very powerful healer to bring them to a high level dungeon for a few days, both the Purifying Light and the Astral Witch could improve their legacies quickly. Not to mention their levels.