Chapter 544- A touch of mana (Patreon)

Hera's Status

Hera felt as if she was floating in space. Weightless and unbound by anything. Every part of her body was brimming with energy and power. She could feel the mana inside her swirling quickly. However, it wasn't like a violent river. It felt like the underwater current that moved the oceans and the world. She pulled some mana for a simple light spell, and the floating luminous sphere that appeared wasn't simply a shapeless construct. No, in front of her was something solid, almost like a basketball. It had some give, but her spell bounced back. It also had a unique feel to it. It felt more than any spell she ever saw, more than any of her court members, more than buildings or mountains, more than people. From this angle it looked like she somehow managed to create something more real than reality.

As she focused on the spell, she felt a pull from the depths. Something massive pulled her down, and her mana started to leak, being devoured by whatever was hidden in the abyss. For a moment, she remembered images of stars being devoured by black holes. How the gas would slowly be pulled by gravity, and suddenly the speed would spike.

Not wanting to let herself be swallowed by that, Hera snapped out of the snake she was currently sensing.

"Hera!" Daskka gasped as the Empress' eyes regained their light.

"Are you ok?" Nimbus was crouched by her side with a worried expression, and the rest of her court was right behind him.

Hera nodded. Her undershirt was soaked in sweat, and even the leather parts of her armor were wet. She was breathing heavily. All the effort she was making to understand what that pool of mana could do took a toll on her body. It wasn't just mental strain, but she constantly had to fight to keep her mana still while seeing through the snakes.

"I'm…. fine…" the Empress replied between breaths.

"I think it's better if you stop, mum," Daskka was in front of Hera, looking at her from the ground.

"No. I'm close to getting something. When I'm there, my spells take a different shape. They are… more. But when I have to pull back, I lose that feeling," Hera sighed.

"How many snakes do you have left?" Nimbus asked.

"Just one. Well, two but I already saw through one of them," Hera gestured to the hole in the wall.

"Don't you want to take a break? You've been doing this for about two hours already. Nimbus even had to go outside to tell everyone you were still alive," Daskka slithered to Hera's lap.

"That's even more reason for me to keep going. Not to mention that if I stop now, I might lose all progress I made so far," Hera shook her head and pulled out her water bottle, taking a big swig before putting it down on the ground again. After taking a moment to steady her breath, Hera sent the last snake towards the lake. She waited a few moments until the sensation from it changed from that alien feeling of not having arms or legs until it became like another piece of her own mana, a body detached from her own.

Hera didn't want to risk using a spell that could damage things around her, not to make the abyss notice her as a threat. Still, she tried something a bit riskier. Weaving her Sensory Net, she tossed it towards the bottom of the well. Just like the light spell, this magic was different. The net wasn't just something made out of energy. It looked like metal wire made with several different strings that would spin around each other to become stronger, but it had a blue color as if it was something otherworldly and it was still emanating light. She watched the net that, by the amount of mana she spent, should cover a 1km² area, go deeper and deeper into the abyss. This wasn't something she could normally do. Even by using all her mana, that spell would, at most, cover 200 meters or so, not to mention it would be nowhere near as thick, and it would be stationary. This happened because the cost would increase exponentially with the size and strength of the net. If she were to try to copy what she just did, it should cost her well over 100 million mana.

She watched the net for a few moments, trying to see if she could find whatever was at the bottom of this well. What was the thing that was eating all her mana and devouring her spells? However, the net suddenly vanished as if a massive mouth had just snapped shut with it inside. At the same time, she felt her mana being pulled away, her energy being sucked to the middle of that black hole and pulled back from the last snake she had available.

"Crap!" Hera gasped as she again lost all the feeling of the magic inside the well.

"It didn't work?" Daskka asked.

"It did, but not entirely. I lost the feeling again," Hera sighed.

"And there are no more snakes?" Nimbus asked.

"No. Not any that I could use for this, at least," Hera sighed, "We can come back here later. Maybe bring everyone too, but I'm worried about them trying to reach that well. I don't think it's a good idea for any of us to get too close to it," Hera was still tired, but she wasn't as exhausted as she was before. The reason was that this time she took a break between attempts. Previously, she was going forwards like a crazed woman, going from one snake to the next without stopping.

"Empress, if you want, I can go there," Ooze suggested.

Hera just turned to the chakram with a confused expression, "Didn't you hear what I just said? We should be careful when messing with that."

"But they are not connected to you the same way we are. Maybe if I go, it will help you figure out what is down there."

"And what do you suppose will happen when you get swallowed by the abyss? Do you think I would be able to dismiss you?" Hera was staring daggers at Ooze.

"I trust you will. And I'm willing to take that risk," Ooze replied solemnly.

"That's nice. I'm not," Hera got up in a huff and started walking out of the cavern, "The snakes are just mana constructs. You are different."

"We are also mana constructs. Even if you don't actually need to spend mana to summon us," Ooze retorted.

"The snakes from the bracelet are expendable! You are not. I'm not risking a single one of you just to try to figure out something. And I don't ever want to hear you talking about putting yourself in danger for a reason as stupid as this. That is an order," Hera rushed out of the cave and stopped just by the ledge. She turned around and said with an angry expression, "Nimbus, take me down," her voice softened, knowing that she shouldn't mistreat any of her court members, "Please."

Nimbus nodded, and they headed to the pagoda once again. Everyone was already there, and they had all discussed their findings with each other. Only Hera's discovery was missing. She told them all about the cave, the carvings, the mana particles, and even the well, but she made sure to be very clear about how dangerous it felt and how, every time she tried to do anything in the water, she would feel her snakes being destroyed. While talking, Hera was feeling weird. Everything looked strange, but she just chalked it off as her being used to the chromatic liquid of the well.

"Are you sure you are ok, sweetie? I can feel something strange coming from you," Helena approached Hera, but Hera unconsciously took a step back, making the mage stop.

"I think so. I didn't get any notifications," Hera nodded and looked toward Daskka and Nimbus, who also seemed fine.

"Is there something different in your status screen? If something happened, it could show up there," Alex asked.

Hera shrugged and opened her status window, but her eyes went wide as soon as she saw it.

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Mana Touched - Title

When someone comes in contact with pure mana, their mana will be permanently removed from their bodies. Those are the lucky ones. Others will be completely swallowed by the pure essence of magic. However, in exceedingly rare situations, someone comes along who is able to escape magic's gravity. Those who do so are forever changed. They become aligned with pure mana itself, allowing them to have a deeper understanding of magic.

All magic-related skills and spells are affected by this title.

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"What the hell is that? Since when does the MAZE give off titles?" Hera gasped.

"You got a title?" Helena, Adriel, Mylo, and Shane gasped at the same time.

Hera took a step back, "Yeah… Is it that rare?"

"Let's put it this way, between the eight of us, we have three legacies, and I believe you are the only one who has a title," Shane replied.

"I mean, that's really not fair. You and I are part of an organization that chases legacies," Hera rolled her eyes.

"True, but the point still stands. Legacies are rare, but titles go even beyond that. No one can create a title by themselves. They have to find something unique, something special that would create the title," Helena explained.

"The annoying part is that, for some reason, people who get one title will almost always get another one at some point," Adriel crossed his arms in annoyance.

"Really?" Alex perked up.

"Yeah. I don't know if titles attract titles or something, but almost every person I know who has a title has multiple. That's so freaking annoying. People are so quick to let things go to their heads," the elf continued, and it was clear that he was still salty about something.

"But how did you find it? Maybe we can get it too," Blue had a spark in her eye.

"That's not a good idea. Here is what the title says," Hera read the title to everyone.

"Yeah, that sounds about right. Titles are bullshit. To get it, you have to do something so stupid that no one should survive, but somehow, you keep going like nothing happened. It's not like people who got them deserved it," Adriel scoffed. Hera frowned and stared at him. Alex also was feeling annoyed by his reaction and slammed her elbow against his ribs, "Ouch. Why did you do that?" he looked around and noticed everyone's expressions.

Hera almost died just by touching that mana. Sure, it never felt that dangerous, but now that she was aware of what could happen inside the cavern, she was scared of even going there again. All the rest of the group also realized the danger she was in, which was clear on their faces.

Realizing why they all looked angry, Adriel quickly apologized, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean you. I just have some bad memories related to people who got titles."

"That still doesn't give you the right to be a jerk," Alex scoffed.

"You are right. Again, I'm sorry, Hera. I'm very happy that you are ok, and you deserve the title."

Hera sighed, "That's fine. I can't say I don't know where you are coming from. People getting very big rewards for apparently nothing feels really bad," Hera turned to Blue, "I got upset with someone for getting a legacy, for instance."

Blue shrugged, "Yeah, and now you have a leg up on me. It's my turn to be jealous," she smirked.

"Ok, but does anyone know what the title actually does? It only says that 'it affects all magic-related skills and effects,'" Hera asked.

"That's the tricky part of titles. They never say what they actually do. It could be a massive boost to everything or make all of your spells smell like cinnamon or some shit," Adriel explained.

"Did anything else change?" Helena asked with a worried expression.

"Yeah. My maximum mana jumped to a bit under a million. It was just 600 thousand before."

"That's a lot. It's almost double," Bonnie gasped, "Where did you say the cave was again?"

"Don't even think about it," Blue slapped the back of the researcher's head.

"Ouch, I was just kidding. I don't want to die just to try to get something. Besides, I think Hera only survived because she sacrificed the snakes in her place. Like she was never directly touching the mana, only using the mana that the snakes had," Bonnie rubbed her head.

"And because the snakes share her mana, the system understood that it was the same as having her touch the mana herself. I mean, it does make sense since they are still connected, even if very loosely," Helena nodded and turned to Hera, "It's a good thing that you didn't send any of your court there. I'm pretty sure you would also be swallowed since your connection with them is stronger."

Hera just stared at Ooze for a moment before Shane spoke up, "Check your skills. Maybe something changed there."

The Empress nodded and opened her status window again. While that was happening, Adriel turned to the group, "By the way, you mentioned three legacies between us. Who is the third? I know of Blue's and Hera's."

Everyone stepped away while Shane started explaining to him about her legacy. Seeing a moment when Alex was alone, Hera stopped checking her status screen and pulled the assassin to the side.

"I noticed your reaction. Do you also have a ti…"

Before she could finish her sentence, Alex cut her off, "Don't! Don't ask me about this. I can't talk about it. Any response I give could be a problem. Including this one."

Understanding that this should be something curse-related, Hera just nodded and looked back at her status screen. Trying to find out if any of her skills had changed.