Chapter 858 - Meet cute (Patreon)

Once they confirmed the mission they would take, Balto destroyed the flash drives using a small vial of acid. It was a very exaggerated safety measure, but one that the agency was happy to do if it lessened the chance of data leaking to someone who shouldn’t know about it. The Harmony Guardians thanked the man and agreed to meet with him early the next morning to leave. Even before the team looked into the mission, Balto confirmed that his task would be in the same direction, and they could do part of the journey together.

Back in their hotel room, Hera and the others opened the files inside the flash drive to check the details of the job. All in all, it was very simple. An operation would happen in a few days. One that targeted a laboratory that researched about the Strength Spirits. According to the intel, it was the one of the firsts facilities that the guild, or the New Dawn, used in that research. That could mean one of two things. Either the place barely had any important information about what the Soldiers of Strength were, or it was still one of the vital pieces of their network of labs. Even the best research facilities would put a lot of care into old documents. Most even had a paper trail and that could be the holy grail the agency was looking for. More to the point, there was one specific thing they hoped to find. An access key for a supercomputer. There was no more information about that supercomputer, or why they needed the access key, but it wouldn’t be hard to imagine the possibilities.

The Harmony Guardians would go to a room called ‘Frostmare Peak,’ like the name suggested, the room was on the top of a mountain range. With the titular Frostmare Peak being the tallest of them all. In there, they would meet the other crew that would be helping them break into the lab. Then they would travel a couple of days to the ‘Verdant Labyrinth.’ That place was perfect to hide a facility like the one they were looking for. There was a mix of hedges, corn fields, canna lilies, and various types of excessively tall plants forming a labyrinth that could put Daedalus to shame.

However, Hera’s team would be the hammer, while this new group was the nail. While the Harmony Guardians dealt with the guards, and the stronger monsters or creatures that were there, the others would sneak inside and grab all the intel they could. If possible, they would also save anyone who was trapped in there. And potentially even let the Spirits loose, even if they were daemons.

All in all, things were somewhat straight forward. The only big issue was to actually find the facility in the Verdant Labyrinth. The Alliance didn’t have a full map of the area, and if someone tried to fly above the plants, the room would create an illusion that covered all the paths for those beyond the vegetation.

When Hera finally went to bed, she lost some sleep, thinking about her hypocrisy. She said she didn’t want to fight against humans, yet here she was ready to be the muscle for a team of people who would go after scientists. Then again, they were experimenting on Spirits. For that reason, she wasn’t feeling bad about her decision. Instead, her feelings were more focused towards her conflicting actions. But after a while, she decided to not let this bother her. When the war was over and she had time to rest, she would talk about all of this with Sammy and try to figure out some things.

Morning came, and they left the Kalandria Empire. The rest of the trip with Balto went on without a hitch. Hera was half expecting to be attacked by monsters, or humans, all the time, but nothing of the sort happened. Even when they had to camp outside. Eventually, they reached a room called. Sands of Mirage, where Balto was supposed to meet some people before splitting off. The sands in that place would constantly create mirages of oasis, cities, forests, and various other things. Illusions happened with such a frequency and covered such large areas that it was even hard to tell they were in an actual sandy desert. Thankfully, Balto knew his way around the place and soon, they arrived in the actual city, hidden in the middle of all mirages.

After reaching the central square, the dwarf who tagged along started saying his goodbyes. However, he was interrupted by a loud shout of someone who dashed through the crowd and tackled the Ophidianite.

“Hera!” a familiar voice range and the Empress felt the impact on her stomach. Using her tail, she stopped herself from falling and hugged the woman, who charged at her. It was a familiar feeling, after all. After she left Boothudurn for the first time, the same thing had happened.

“Alex!” Hera picked her friend up and twirled, “What are you doing here?”

The human assassin laughed, “Last time I tackled you, I managed to drop you and Blue. You got stronger!” she landed back on the ground, “The agency followed your advice and they called me to test if that would work against the tattoos. And it does.”

“Nice! We needed a way to remove them safely. I’m glad that worked,” Hera nodded, understanding they were talking about Alex’s legacy.

“Me too. I barely had the chance to practice that part of the whole thing. So it still takes a while for it to work. But being able to help people is already amazing. The training is just an extra. I’m actually here looking for a dwarf named Balthazar. He’s taking me to a place where my talents are needed.”

“And I would appreciate if you didn’t shout that for everyone to hear,” Balto sighed and turned to Hera, “You were the one who recommended Alex?”

“Yeah,” the Empress replied, not wanting to elaborate.

“Thank you for that. My brother was one of the victims and she was able to help him,” put out his hand to shake Hera’s.

The Ophidianite shook his hand, “Don’t worry. I’m glad to help. But… from what I remember, the only person with a full tattoo we rescued was an elf.”

“Recently we got a few more people. It’s just hard to move them from one room to another,” Balto explained.

“Enter me. The traveling cleanser,” Alex smiled.

“Alex!” a voice called from the back. Bonnie was rushing over, she wore long robes and a large brim witch’s hat with a night sky stamp, “Hera!”

“Bonnie!” the Ophidianite smiled and gave her friend a hug.

“I give up,” Balto threw his arms up, and turned to Alex, “We do need to talk, but we can do that over dinner. Ok? That way, you can catch up with your friend.”

“Thank you, Balto,” Hera said, getting a grunt as a reply. She then turned to the Harmony Guardians, “Do you guys mind if-“

“Go. If we need anything, we’ll call you. Balto mentioned that there is a hotel here that rents out small villas. Get a room there so you can talk,” Skyler suggested.

“Will do,” Hera nodded and turned back to Alex and Bonnie, “Is Lena with you? Or someone else?”

“No, Lena is with a research team working on a tool to locate wendigos in a room. She’s working in some sort of secret weapons lab, since that’s where the equipment she needs is,” Alex explained.

“Everyone else is back on Zaxalam. Your dad and Shane are doing great, by the way. They continue to drink the Naga essence every day. Both have skills on rank 2 already,” Bonnie added as they walked to the hotel, “What about you? How are things going?”

Hera told them the basics. The news about her level, she introduced them to Vulcan, who was only at 12% daemonic influence today. And talked about her non secret missions. Being sure not to mention any sensitive information. Once they actually arrived at the hotel room, the Ophidianite activated the soundproof bubble and told them about Blue.

“Fucking Peter,” Alex snarled, “I should’ve killed him.”

“Could you?” Hera asked.

“Maybe. Together we could.”

“What is done, is done. We can’t actually do anything about that. And I get her, if it was my mom the one being threatened I would also help the guild. Besides, they wouldn’t let a legacy holder away from their grasp.”

“Yeah, that’s why Blue is in trouble,” Hera sighed.

“I wasn’t talking about her,” Bonnie had a shit-eating grin on her face.

“Wait… what? Did you-“ before the Empress could finish, Bonnie jumped to say.

“Find the Astral Witch legacy? Fuck yeah I did! It’s called the Starlight Court,” the researcher opened her hand and a small constellation appeared in her hand. The stars glowed and the outline of a cup formed before an actual cup of water appeared in Bonnie’s hand.

“Did you just… made glass?” Hera asked, knowing that glass was a particularly costly thing to make, even with the blueprint skill.

“Yes, and no. The glass itself is temporary, but the cup will always be full of refreshing water. And if I were to dump it all out, it wouldn’t stop. Not until the spell is over, or I drop it, at least. But here is the kicker. It’s not a continuous mana drain. It’s a onetime pay, and that’s it!”

“That is amazing, Bonnie!” Hera gave her friend a hug, “You have to tell me how you found it later.”

“I will, but let me ask both of you something. Ever since you got the legacy, did you feel this powerful? Like you could do anything?” Bonnie opened and closed her hands, the cup of glass floating in the air.

“Well… My legacy doesn’t have that many skills just yet. And the conditions are a bit finicky for it to truly hit. But when it does. It. Fucking. Hits!” Alex smiled.

“Yeah… Knowing that I always have an army by my side, especially with everything they can do lately, is amazing. Ever since I got the legacy, I lost a lot of the fear of being an explorer I had before. Now I feel almost invincible. Even when I almost get killed.”

“You what?” Alex and Bonnie gasped.

“I’ll tell you later. How long does it last?” Hera gestured to the cup.

“Two hours,” Bonnie passed the cup to the Empress, who took a sip. It was surprisingly refreshing and she could even feel a minor boost to her mana regeneration. It was a very small bump, but still.

“So you use constellations?” Hera asked.

“Yeah, but I can only access a few of them right now. Some are their own skills, others are parts of a bigger one. For instance, the chalice. It’s part of a skill that lets me create objects that have one effect or another. Like Libra, allowing me to weight two different things based on conditions I set. Like if one thing is more valuable than the other, or the amount of sugar on drinks. Another option is this,” Bonnie tapped her wrists and a red slime appeared from her sleeve.

“Hey Ruby!” Hera waved at the creature, who waved back, using a pseudopod from the side.

“Ruby, Lepus,” Bonnie created another constellation in her hand. This time a rabbit. Each of the eleven stars of the constellation flew out and reached Ruby, who stretched herself to have the shape of a hare. Once that was done, the stars glowed, and the slime changed again. Fur appeared around her body, and the limbs became more lifelike. If Hera didn’t watch the entire transformation, she would believe that there was a red rabbit in front of her, and not a slime.

“That is awesome. That skill gives a buff, too?” Hera looked back at her friend.

“It does. It depends on the constellation. Lepus, or Hare, gives some extra agility and increases the power of your legs. I can use a few animals constellations like Canis minor for a dog, Cancer for a crab, Equuleus for a pony, and Dorado for a swordfish. There are a few other that I don’t recognize, and until I can locate them in the night sky, I can’t use their power. Funny enough, some animals have their own skill. I know of Draco and Phoenix, but there seems to be more.”

“And did you figure out the drawbacks? Both of you,” Hera asked.

“I did. Since my legacy is all about purification, my body has to be pure. Meaning that I can’t dye my hair, tattoos won’t stay, and if I eat too much junk food, I’ll get really sick. So my legacy forces me to be healthy. It’s not that bad. Aside from the possibility of it not letting me have children,” Alex explained.

“Why?” Hera tilted her head,

“Because a baby is not that much different from a parasite. Biologically speaking. It’s a foreign object inside your body that is draining the nutrients you consume. I didn’t test that, but it was a possibility that was floated around.”

“I see… well, at least you can still adopt if that’s the case,” Hera tried to change the mood.

“Relax. I was always more keen on adoption. Being pregnant never sounded like fun. But how about you, Bonnie? Did you figure something out?” Alex asked.

“Nothing so far, but I got this just a few weeks ago. I’m sure something will show up,” the researchers stopped to think for a moment, “Actually. I realized that is harder to cast spells normally. If I try, I end up using a skill from the legacy. Maybe that’s it?”

“Could be,” Hera nodded, “But tell me more. What are your skills? I have a few new ones, too.”

The trio smiled and continued talking throughout the night. It’s been a long time that they were together like that, and they wanted to enjoy every second of it.