Chapter 504 - A group of Naga (Patreon)

Hera's Status

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You have completed the hidden quest
By killing all the spiders in the nest, you have opened the path for the Naga to inhabit the room.

Rewards: Access to the Eternal Bond Hard mode
Sacred Naga Relic - Replica
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The system detected that the reward is to be given to a Naga, and this is the first time the hidden quest was ever completed.
Due to the lack of members of the Naga race in the MAZE, the rewards will be upgraded.

Rewards: Sacred Naga Relic - Lost
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Just as the notifications appeared, the relic appeared in Hera's hands. It was a bracelet that seemed to be made out of wood. It was just three fingers wide, but it was made to look as if the entire piece was created by having dozens of snakes moving on top of each other. The piece had amazing detail, and she could even see the nostrils and some of the snake's tongues, not to mention that each of them had a unique pattern on the scales.

"What happened?" Darni rushed to Hera's side, which only caused Casks to cross her arms and stare at the two with an annoyed expression.

"The system! It's giving me a special reward because it says I'm a Naga," Hera almost forgot what the system said, but as soon as she remembered, she felt somewhat insulted.

"I mean, you are a Naga, aren't you?" Rris asked with a confused expression.

"No… now that I look at her. She's not… Why did we ever think that she was?" Asher had a concerned expression on his face.

"And why was she the only one who got a reward? We also have a quest about this, don't we?" Naph asked.

Casks approached Hera with a serious expression, "Can I ask you not to move for a moment?" Hera nodded. Even if the Naga was jealous of Darni's actions, the explorer trusted her. It was more than just meeting them, but she could tell if they had bad intentions, "Oh… I see… Casks gave her a sad smile. I feel so silly now."

"My love…" Darni approached, and Casks jumped into his arms, holding her husband tightly.

Seeing that scene, Asher connected the dots, "We… We are in a dungeon, aren't we?"

Hera nodded, and the mood turned somber. She didn't say anything and just let the Naga take a moment to process that. They all had seen dungeons with people inside. Yet, no one had ever discovered what would happen with those beings who were nothing more than constructs. Would they live on? Lose their memories and return to the beginning? Be destroyed and replaced by a new batch? The theories were numerous, but the answer was nonexistent.

Feeling uncomfortable with that situation, Hera took a moment to look at the relic.

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Snake Pit - Bracelet
Rarity: Unique - Lost

A bracelet created by one of the emperors of the Naga. It was used to command large armies, as well as to perform different rituals. It was lost during an expedition to a new land, where the emperor lost his life, and the bracelet fell into a pool of acid created by the monster who killed its creator.

50% increased effectiveness when using Naga skills.
40% increase in mana growth.
30% increase in mana regeneration.
20% reduction in damage taken.
10% increased Naga skill growth rate.

After performing a sacred ritual, these effects will double for up to 2 days. The better the ceremony is performed, the longer the duration will be.

Skills:
Rattle:
By shaking the bracelet, you can trigger a sound like a snake rattle. This sound can affect allies or enemies depending on the effect chosen.

- Warning Rattle: Can only be heard by those the user considers allies.
Cost: 2 000 mana     Range: 1 km

- Battle Rattle: All allies who hear this sound will have their strongest attribute increased by 20% for 10 minutes.
Cost: 50 000 mana   Range: 200 m

- Threatening Rattle: All enemies who hear this sound will have their weakest attribute reduced by 30% for the next 5 minutes
Cost: 50 000 mana    Range 100 m

- Death Rattle: All those who hear this sound, aside from the user, will receive 50% extra damage from all sources for 1 minute.
Cost: 300 000 mana   Range: 50 m    Cooldown: 24 hours

Only a single Rattle may be active at a time.

Pit of Snakes:
You can store mana inside this bracelet to create a number of snakes that will emerge from it when called. The number of snakes is proportional to the amount of mana in the bracelet, and their strength is proportional to the wearer. The bracelet cannot have more mana than its current wearer.

The snakes can perform simple tasks and listen to basic commands. They can also be used to create a makeshift altar or ritual circle as long as the wearer presents the image to them.

The wearer can also ask one of the snakes to share their senses with them. That can be done with a single snake at a time, and said snake will become unable to share their senses again unless they are resummoned.

Maximum number of snakes summoned: 30
Current Mana: 0 / 612 597

??????? (Skill locked)

As per the will of its creator, the bracelet cannot be destroyed by acid.

If someone who is not a Naga wears this bracelet, its skills will be locked.
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You have found a Hidden Quest.

The Snake Pit Bracelet is not in its complete state. Unveil its secret to reveal its remaining attributes.
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"Oh wow," Hera couldn't help but gasp after reading through all the details.

"I have to say, you are really leaning into the snake theme," Nimbus snickered.

"Of course she is! Snakes are the best. We are small, soft, cuddly, can take care of ourselves, and don't leave feathers everywhere we go," Daskka said with a smug expression.

"You also shed your skin, and that's gross," Nimbus huffed.

"Excuse me! I'll have you know that I never shed my skin," Daskka was staring daggers at the Sentinel.

"That's fine, but you should at least wash it. You are smelling so much that I can see lines coming from you," Nimbus plugged his beak to show that he was smelling something awful.

"That's my mist, you overgrown chicken!" Daskka lunged at him, and the two started to run around while throwing 'playful' insults at each other. The rest of the court was really quiet during that exchange. The last time one of them tried to intervene, Nimbus and Daskka turned the tables on them. They were already good at bickering with one another, but when they teamed up together, they became a force that only the Empress could stop.

Hera just glanced at them and sighed before looking back to the Naga to make sure they weren't disturbed by her court antics. To her surprise, the rest of the Naga was just watching Hera's court members with smiles on their faces, "Are you guys ok?"

The Naga looked at each other, and Casks replied, "Yeah, we're fine. I think this might be something that the dungeon does. We can't dwell on subjects like mortality for too long."

"Yeah. Also, if we're part of a dungeon, that means we did something right. I mean don't just want to show up when something really bad or really good happens. So, I'm going to guess we got the really good one," Naph nodded with a cheery expression.

"You really did. The temple ends up being amazing. And I'm pretty sure a bunch of kids will come here later and give some drawings and knick-knacks for you guys," Hera remembered the number of poorly made handcrafted things in the temple's central chamber. Despite the quality, it was clear that the people who made that did it with all their hearts.

"Oh? I'm glad people respected our wishes, and the nobles didn't put a bunch of expensive stuff there," Darni nodded.

"Well...There was a bunch of expensive-looking stuff, but they were to the sides and not in the main hall," Hera corrected.

Darni sighed, "I'll take what I can get, I guess."

"Also, I put your Journal in Lantra's tomb. That's even how I got the Naga Poison skill," Hera looked Darni in the eye, unsure if he was from a time when the forgotten emperor was already forgotten.

The Naga hero smiled, "Thank you. I had a feeling that no one would honor this particular wish. It's funny. He was the one who was supposed to have this Legacy. Our Master trained us to pass the previous holder test. At the time, my brother was already set to become the emperor. Everyone said I was greedy and this power should be his. Still, our Master said that since we were training long before the previous emperor passed away, it was only right that we both were given a chance," Darni stopped for a moment, "As usual, Lantra was better than me. So he was the one who could challenge the trial first," when the Naga Hero spoke his brother's name, the rest of the Naga turned to him with surprised expressions, "But he failed. He had three attempts and failed all of them. I never told this to anyone, not even you, Casks, but after his third attempt, my brother explained to me what the test was and what I should do to pass. He had to do that in a very complicated way, but he still managed to figure something out. In the end, I only became the Hero because my brother gave me this power."

Casks reached out and placed Darni's face on her hands, "But you have proven to be worthy of it time and time again."

"Thank you," Darni smiled, "But do you know what the funniest part is? Some years later, I asked why he had given me a legacy, why did he give up this power? He said that being an Emperor was already too much work, and if he was a hero on top of that, he wouldn't have time to spend with his family," the rest of the Naga laughed as if they had heard a joke that Hera missed. Darni realized she was left out and explained, "I was the only family he had. He gave me the Legacy because he wanted both of us to have the same standing among our people. Thanks to that, anytime we wanted to just see each other, one could walk into the other's office and say that it was an urgent matter for the Emperor and the Hero to deal with and off we went."

Asher chuckled, "Nine times out of ten this was just their excuse to run from the city and swim in the lake by the waterfall."

"No, no. That's five out of ten, three they were in the jungle basking in the sun and the last one they were with Casks trying to learn how to glide," Rris added.

Hera was smiling with the rest as they reminisced, "Your brother seems like a great guy."

"He really was," Darni nodded and waited for the question he knew would come next, but Hera simply looked back to the bracelet, "Aren't you going to ask what he did? I don't believe there are any records of it."

Hera shrugged, "Not right now. I don't want to spoil the mood. Maybe I'll ask you next time."

"Next time, we won't remember this conversation," Darni replied.

"Yep. And Casks won't be looking at me like she wants to rip my head off," Hera chuckled.

"In my defense, you two were really chummy, and I had no idea what was going on."

"I'm sorry, my love," Darni kissed Cask's cheek.

"Right. We're not going to remember anything next time, right?" Naph asked.

"Correct," Asher nodded.

"Ok then," Naph turned to Rris," YOU! I know you're dating my sister."

"I-I… Who told you?!" Rris gasped.

"She did! Every night she keeps talking about how amazing you are and how you're funny and strong and yada yada yada, and she goes into way too much detail about what you two do at night. Including when you forget to let her have her turn or end things before a candle can even start to melt," Naph got closer to Rris.

"That happened one time, and your sister spent almost an hour…." Rris tried to defend himself. Hera couldn't believe that she was seeing a Naga getting flushed.

"I don't want to know. But there is one thing I must know. Listen to me very carefully," Naph grabbed Rris's head with both hands, and after a pause, she planted a kiss where humans had lips before letting go and dropping the green Naga on the ground, "I don't get it. She said you were the best kisser in the empire, but honestly, that was just a 5/10, too little tongue, and you didn't do anything with your hands. My poor naive sister," Naph shrugged and moved away from Rris.

"Hang on! I was caught by surprise. I mean, you just did that out of the blue! Let me try again, and I'll show you how good of a kisser I am," Rris quickly got up.

"What? No, you are dating my sister. Why are you asking me to kiss you?" Naph scoffed at the idea.

"She's right, you know. You already have Val. Cheating on her with her sister is a high level of wrong," Darni nodded.

"I agree. That would make you the worst type of scum," Casks added.

"But.. She was the one… Then I…" Rris kept looking at his friends, that were all acting like he was the one to blame for what just happened. Even when looking at Hera, the explorer could only shake her head and join in.

"If it helps. They won't remember how you just hit on your girlfriend's sister," Hera stared into Rris' eyes and gave him a devilish smile, "But I will."

Everyone started laughing while the green Naga just sat there exasperated. He started chasing after Naph cursing her and forbidding her to say anything to his girlfriend when a noise came from the side, and Hera saw a familiar tunnel that should lead her to the exit.

"I guess I don't have to wait for the temple thing," she turned to the Naga, "It was an absolute pleasure spending these past few days with you."

"The pleasure was all ours, Naga, who is not a Naga," Casks smiled.

"I hope you can visit us again," Darni nodded, with Chika still around his neck.

"Definitely, but I'm taking this ending. The other one is just too sad," Hera called Nimbus and Daskka over with the Sentinel returning to his weapon form since they would be leaving the dungeon.

"Why is that?" Asher had a serious expression.

"Don't worry about it. It's not worth knowing," Hera waved the group off as Naph jumped away from Rris's grasp and waved at her. The green Naga was the only one who was too preoccupied to notice the explorer leaving.