Hera walked over to the dining tent and quickly found something to eat and drink. People were half-expecting that some of the members of the team wouldn’t be able to sleep properly and kept the kitchen running with a partial crew. In addition, it was good to have some coffee available for the people on the lookout.

In the tent, she came face to face with a few people she never imagined she would see. Wild Born, a large muscular man who was a bit shorter than one might expect, sat there. His red hair was disheveled and still full of grime, and his beard was way too long, clearly something he hadn’t been able to take care of for several months. Sitting in front of him was Iron Heart, someone who was usually always wearing massive metal armor. Yet now, he wore plain clothes. He had long blond hair and blue eyes, but his face was clean-shaven, or more specifically, he couldn’t grow a beard. The Wild Healer and the Unbreakable Wall. Two people who were always on the list of the most famous guild members. Beside them was a man with long black hair, a long beard, and thin skin that had lost some of its luster. Then again, it was understandable, considering they had been trapped for months underground.

"You are Hera, right?" Wild Born asked.

"I am. I assume you were all trapped in that prison?" Hera walked over with a bowl of soup and a glass of juice. Iron Heart moved to the side so she could sit more comfortably.

"We were. But you left before opening our cells. I’m Wild Born, but you can call me Fred. And this is Iron Heart, or Joe," Wild Born replied.

"Hera. And I’m sorry about leaving you like that. A friend of mine was in a really bad state, and there were already some people working on freeing all of you. I didn’t even think if that was the best option. I just didn’t want to lose anyone I care about," Hera admitted.

Wild Born stared at her for a moment, analyzing the Ophidianite. "You don’t have to apologize. I understand why you did what you did, and honestly, I would probably do the same. One way or another, we would not have been freed if it wasn’t for you. Thank you." The man smiled.

It was a bit strange to see Wild Born acting like this. During all of his appearances, he was always very energetic and upbeat. Then again, it would be hard to feel that way after going through months of imprisonment.

During the conversation, Iron Heart kept staring at Hera. She tried to ignore it but eventually reached her breaking point. "Yes, it’s real. I am a half-snake person. Is that what you’re wanting to ask?"

Iron Heart shook his head.

"Then what is it? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Did you kill him? Morgan."

"I did. And if you’re asking me to feel bad about it, that’s not going to happen. He started this war, and I still don’t understand why he did it. It was just pettiness and greed."

Iron Heart nodded with a satisfied smile. "Well done. He didn’t deserve to live. Not after everything he’s done."

Hera paused. She didn’t expect that kind of reaction. "Honestly, it was just in hopes of getting rid of the Soldiers of Strength."

"Soldiers of Strength? What’s that? And what war?" the third man asked. "Sorry. I didn’t introduce myself. Sculptor."

"You don’t know what a Soldier of Strength is? Or that there is a war going on?" Hera asked.

"They didn’t really talk to us while we were there. We were lucky if we could get some solid food. Otherwise, it was everything through IVs," Wild Born explained.

The Empress let out a sigh before giving a quick explanation about everything. She didn’t go too much into detail as she had something else to do, but there was enough information for them to start piecing things together. In addition, she also pointed them toward Blade. The warrior might be able to explain everything better.

The three men were in shock when they heard the details of what was going on. But it wasn’t all bad. She could tell that a fire had been ignited in their eyes, which meant the Alliance might have a few extra powerful combatants for the fights that were still yet to come.

Just as she was leaving the tent, Sirlo approached her. "Hera. I was looking for you."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. I just wanted to tell you one thing. Killing Morgan wasn’t enough to destroy all the Soldiers of Strength, but a good chunk of them lost their powers when he died. However, after whatever Neria did with your friend, what was left of the Soldiers of Strength all perished. That was the last thing I saw before coming to help. So basically, well done. I don’t know everything that’s going to happen now, but this was a considerable blow to the guild," the Triton replied.

Hera nodded. "I’m glad. But even if nothing had changed, we saved a bunch of people. That’s more than enough for me."

Sirlo chuckled. "Spoken like a true hero."

The Empress just rolled her eyes and returned to Blue’s side. Unfortunately, her friend was still unconscious. Calling her court again, she turned to Daskka.

'Ok. What about the tattoo legacy then? What does it have?'

"I’m going to keep the main skills for later, because I was thinking about something, and we might be able to do something different with them. The minor ones are Inkward Bond, which lets you connect with someone else who also has a tattoo. The connection lets you talk with them and sense their emotions, which is quite literally what we already do without any skills. I kept trying to make it work, but there’s nothing that would fit."

'It sounds very redundant,' Lurize added.

"Exactly. There are a few others that wouldn’t work, so I’m just going to comment on them and move on. Tattooed Memory would let you share memories with other people who have tattoos. We already can do that kind of thing without any extra skills. Mum just has to give the command, so it can’t be added. Inked Path would help a group of people to work together, basically making them able to communicate without speaking by sensing each other’s presence. More specifically, the presence of their tattoos. Again, we already do that. The next one is called Woven Will. I don’t know why it’s called woven; it’s just the name of the skill. Either way, the skill makes it so you and your allies are calmer and less affected by intense emotions while the skill is active."

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'Wouldn’t that fix the issue of me being too influenced by the emotions of the blades?' Hera asked.

"Probably. And that’s why we can’t get it. It’s a skill that goes directly against the drawback of the Court of Blades. There’s something that just stops us completely from getting it. That doesn’t mean you couldn’t get a skill that does that by yourself, mum, but it just can’t be part of the legacy," Daskka explained.

Hera nodded. 'I might look into that later.'

"Now we are going for the skills that can actually work in one way or another. Skinwoven Barrier is basically a shield skill. It would turn the tattoos into a layer of protection, kind of like a second armor. This one might be added to the legacy. It would be a new skill, not an addition to an already existing one, but it feels right. Like it’s a good fit. There is also Inked Pulse. It connects people affected by the tattoo with a heartbeat kind of thing. Everyone connected by it would have increased stamina recovery and could share their mana. This one would be added to Army of one, giving increased recovery and reduce the mana cost of skills that are used with someone else's mana."

'Both sound nice. We do need more defensive options,' Sun nodded.

'But the other one is weird. We don’t actually get tired, so what will it do?' Hoop asked.

"We will probably only figure that out once we get the skill," Daskka replied.

'And just to make sure of one thing. All of those skills, from this legacy and the others, it’s a when, not an if, right? We are just picking the order we are getting them?' Twiggy asked.

Daskka nodded. "Pretty much. Unless there’s a skill that mum doesn’t want, she can say no to any of them. Moving on, from the minor ones, there are two more. One is called Shifting Shadows. It creates small illusions around the tattoos to make it look like they’re coming from a different direction. The skill itself doesn’t fit with the legacy all that well, but we could add that one too. Again, as a new skill. The last one would be added to either Royal Seal or Bestow Gift. It’s called Minor Branding. Basically, it’s something that would let the owner of the legacy share the main legacy skills with others. But that shared version would be a minor version of the skill. It would do more or less the same thing, but create smaller versions of skills that are already part of the court. Either to be part of the gifts mum can give you, or to be part of the seal she makes.

"The gift version could give stronger things, but the seal version would let you swap what skills affect each blade. I’m not really sure if there’s even a limit. Maybe you can give your own skills to the court or multiples. That part I’m not entirely sure about," Daskka explained.

'That’s a bit weird. Why can you explain the details of how some skills would work but not the others?' Hera asked.

"Because this one is an addition to an existing skill. I can’t know exactly how a skill would work unless it’s fully assimilated. But changing a skill that already exists is easier," Daskka explained.

'All of those sound nice enough, but I’m more interested in the main dish,' Crimson said with a smile in her voice.

Daskka chuckled. "Ok, ok. We can go there. The tattoo legacy is a weird one. And this comes from a talking snake. Each tattoo represented one singular skill that did not have to be directly connected to tattoos. That’s why those skills don’t really follow a specific pattern like you would expect from a legacy. For instance, the last skill it created, meaning the tattoo that represented Morgan, is called Magnetic Dominion. And it’s exactly what it sounds like. It lets the user control metals in range."

"Then there’s another called Night’s Veil, which lets you see in the dark, and every time you are under the cover of darkness, it’s easier for you to hide and move stealthily."

'And how many are there?' Viper asked.

"I double-checked now. There are fourteen of those main skills. A few didn’t seem to be main skills because they were added from other legacies, or one specific one doesn’t even have an actual shape. I mean that since every single one of them is a tattoo, they all have a tattoo associated with it. This one doesn’t have it, but I’m guessing it’s the skill that Blade had to give up. It’s called Light Blade, and it just gives a flat light-element buff to weapons. Since there’s a lot of them, I’m going to quick-fire the names and what each skill does. Then I’ll tell you the options. Deal?"

'Deal,' Hera nodded.

"I’m going in order from the oldest. Fleet Formation grants a speed buff when moving in coordination with allies. Craftweaver’s Insight helps to craft and maintain tools, weapons, and clothing. It also helps to understand the flaws in various materials or products. Thundering Charge is just a charge attack. Super powerful, it seems, but that’s it. Night’s Veil lets you see in the dark and makes you stealthy when out of the sun. Unity of Strength is a buff that gets bigger the more allies are around you. Will of Ancients is a defense against mental attacks, and it also reduces the effects of fear and confusion."

"Balm of Life is a healing skill but cannot be used during battle. It explicitly says that the skill can only be used if there is not any lingering mana on the target. With Hunter’s Mark, you pick a target and deal more damage with every attack. It’s also a way to track the target. Then, what I think is the last of the centaur skills, is called Earthbreaker Strike. Another straightforward attack."

"Next, we have Blade’s, I think. Light Blade gives a flat light-element buff to weapons. Frostbound Fury also gives an ice buff to weapons, but in addition, it makes enemies slow and can freeze them. This skill even gets stronger if used in cold environments. Now I think the next two skills are things that Morgan absorbed from other legacies. The first is literally called Tattoo of Azure Grasp. That’s the one where the user summons blue chains that strike or snare their enemies."

"Next…" Daskka paused and glanced at Blue.

"...is the Tattoo of Stormshroud. It lets the user create a localized storm in an area. It deals damage, stops projectiles, but the main feature is to increase the potency of other attacks and to allow you to fire spells from any location in the cloud. Then, the last one is Magnetic Dominion, which controls metal around you," Daskka turned to the court. "Any questions?"

'Yeah, and a big one. You said there were options on how we work with those. So what are they? What can we do about that? Because most of what you said wouldn’t really fit the court. Not as a part of the legacy,' Nimbus asked.

Daskka smirked and jumped down from Hera’s lap, standing in the middle of the group. She weaved some mist in rough shapes of shields, swords, and daggers crossing each other, forming emblems. Talking while producing those constructs.

"The first option is what Nimbus said. We see which skills fit, which are barely half of those I mentioned, and then add them into the court either as their own thing or as part of the other skills. The other option is to make a new skill using the keystone skill from that legacy, which was not on the list."

"The Living Tapestry allows you to make skills into something that will be inherited by someone else. One option with it is to add to noble houses, so you can have members inherit skills from the previous ones. But that’s kind of what the heirloom does already. The other option is to create a new skill. One that lets us keep all of those skills, even if they would have to be permanently attached to the noble houses and the titled blades, with one more for Hera herself. Everyone will have their own nobility crest, or at least every house. With Hera having the royal crest, which would be more powerful. I think."

'Could we use those crests to add things from the other legacies?' Lurize asked.

Daskka shook her head. 'Unfortunately, no. Maybe in the future if we get another legacy, but right now, we can’t. The crest would need to be added with the skills as part of it.'

'But that would let us keep all of those skills?' Lurize asked.

"They might have some changes, but yeah. I’m not really sure if it will be possible to change them later or if that’s something that’s going to be a part of the legacy forever. But that’s it. It feels definitive, but I'm not sure. In the end that's the way we can have those skills," Daskka turned to Hera. "What do you think, mum?"

The Empress smiled. 'Do you even have to ask? I think making the crest makes much more sense, especially since we’re already going with noble houses, heirlooms, the palace, and stuff like that. How long would it take for that to be assimilated?'

"Everything would take a week. Just that one, since it’s a bunch of skills, four days. If we put them as the last thing to be added."