Chapter 600 - Preparation (Patreon)

##### Author's Note #####

Hey everyone, I tried a new thing with the status screen this time. Now I'll mark the changes as (+ number), indicating how much that skill changed from the previous time that the screen showed up. let me know if you like that change in the comments!

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According to Shane, going to Abyssia would be dangerous, and using Yarnball, Hera was able to ask how strong they should be to be safe down there. The first few questions she made didn't work, but eventually, she narrowed it down enough to the point where it told her that if the entire party was level 32, they should be ok, even if that particular question took not just her entire mana pool but the combined use of all mana crystals they had on hand.

During the past months, everyone focused on getting stronger, be it by training or by leveling up. The first trick they figured out was about the Crystal Fisher dungeon. In there, there would be endless waves of monsters that did not grow stronger with time. However, they would come in ever-increasing numbers. And, at any point, someone could just run away from the dungeon. The only problem would be that doing so locked them out of it for a day. Hera spent most of her time in this dungeon, either fighting with her friends against the monsters or coming alone to practice some spells and skills without being fearful of breaking anything important in the raft or in Sky. As a result, she managed to reach level 33. She also made a minor change in her status window. Now instead of having to open a skill to check her mana regeneration, it would be right there.

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Hera Kingsley -- Role: Explorer Level: 33
Legacy: Court of Blades [Blades]
Title: Mana Touched

Strength:  93 Endurance: 93
Agility:  93 Charisma:  93
Intelligence:  93 Luck:  93
Mana:   2 398 154/2 398 154
Passive Mana Regeneration: 3 357/s
Active Mana Regeneration: 5 596/s
Remaining attribute points: 13

Skills:
Legacy:
Court Ruler, Courtship, Bestow Title, Army of One, Revocation of Nobility,
Royal Quest, Bestow Gift, Royal Seal

Passive:
Exponential Growth
Observe: Red sight 3
Treasure Map
Handaxe Combat 3, Chakram Combat 3(+1), Glaive Combat 3(+1), Sword Combat 3(+2),
Two-handed Sword Combat 2, Dagger Combat 3(+1), Scimitar combat 1,
Axe combat 1, War Axe Combat 1, Knife Combat 2(+1), Tonfa Combat 2, Rapier Combat 1
Wire Trap Style 3, Subtle Strike 3, Dorohla style 3
Battle Dancer 2(+1), Attack Pathing 2(+1), Synchronized Battle 2 (+1)
Dodge 2, Run 3, Improved Stamina 4, Flee 2, Jump 2
Mana Recovery 5, Mana sensitivity 2, Shaper of Mana, Reinforced Mana
Improved Regeneration 3
Ailment Mastery 3, Poison Mastery 2, Allergy Mastery 1,  Chain Mastery 1 (+1), Regeneration Mastery 1(+1),
Earth Mastery 1, Lightning Mastery 1 (+1), Sound Mastery (+1),
Frost Mastery 1 (+1), Lava Mastery 1 (+1), Steel Mastery 1 (+1)
Elemental Mana Mastery (+1)
Earth resistance 2, Wind resistance 2, Water resistance 2(+1), Sturdy Body 2(+1),
Magic Armor Proficiency 3(+1)
Naga poison 5 (+1)
Nature connection 1
Silver Lining 2
Ancient language 5
Pathfinder 1

Active:
All in 2
Inspect 2
Hide 4, Sneak Attack 3
Weapon Maintenance 3(+1), Weapons Rebalance 3(+1), Weapon break
Etching 4(+1)
Medical Reference 3(+1), Identify Ailment 1
Green Thumb 2
Chain of Command 5(+1)

Role Skills:
Local Guide
Private Room, Meeting Room
Explorer's Assassinate
Explorer's Map
Hunter's Catalogue, Explorer's Hunt
Explorer's Research
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She managed to upgrade several skills and even get a new one. Elemental Mana Mastery.

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Elemental Mana Mastery

Increases the effect and the strength of any spells and skills from elements that you do not possess a Mastery skill.
This increase is relative to your weakest Elemental Mastery skill
Also increases the effects of Mastery skills by 10%
Current weakest Elemental Mastery Skill: Allergy Mastery 1,  Chain Mastery 1, Regeneration Mastery 1,
Earth Mastery 1, Lightning Mastery 1, Sound Mastery, Frost Mastery 1, Lava Mastery 1, Steel Mastery 1
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She also made sure to give the Royal Seal to each of her court members that had yet to receive one, with the exception of Nimbus. Frost and Core got simple elemental seals that would increase their elemental power. Armory received one that increased the skill she had, from a 20% increase to the lowest stat of another blade to 40%. Using a seal that had a debuff applied to it, Hera managed to give another effect to Scythe, making it so that all the attacks would have a 1% chance to reduce the target's attributes by 1% for 1 minute. So far, even in the best-case scenario, Hera only saw that effect being triggered five times in the span of 60 seconds, but still. The more blades she had, the better that would be. Ooze gained a rallying cry skill that would increase the attributes of anyone who heard it by 10%, and this effect could stack with Armory's. Lastly, but certainly not least, was Edge. Since he was already someone who could help people heal, Hera decided to double down and give him a seal with a healing spell. The result was very similar to what would happen when Hera used the Elemental Strength spell. Whoever was holding it would have their natural recovery accelerated. But unlike what would happen with the spell, this wouldn't be just about wounds, but even deeper things like bone fractures, fevers, and such would be affected by it.

Despite all those upgrades, Hera still felt like it was a shame. She only got three level-ups from the five months of work. That probably was due to the fact that they would come with the entire party to challenge the dungeon and that they weren't able to find the hard mode for either of them. There was another thing she could have done to increase her overall power, but it wasn't up to her. Giving the gifts to her court could prove to be a decent buff, but all of them passed on the chance of getting an uncommon gift. Lurize also had the option for a common one, but he refused as well, and Nimbus still needed more time to increase the rarity of the one he got.

Everyone else was also considerably stronger than they were when they arrived, but the biggest change was, without a doubt, Bonnie. During the first couple of months, she was really bored not being able to help with anything. As a way to have her do something else, she asked the party to capture a slime so she could study it. Her plan was to learn more about the creatures and eventually identify their weaknesses. At first, no one liked that idea. Even Alex was against it, but after a week of hearing Bonnie complain non-stop about not doing anything, they gave in. Dealing with a single slime that would cry for help every night was better than dealing with the researcher's constant nagging.

The next time the group headed to the raft, they looked for a slime that seemed weak enough to let Bonnie study. Eventually, they caught a red one that was smaller than average and seemed unable to change its colors even when it changed shapes. In fact, all the red slimes behaved like that, but they also could become much more solid than most, who always kept a somewhat squishy consistency.

Bonnie was very happy about that and started studying it right away, even naming the slime Ruby for its color. What no one expected was that this would eventually lead to her discovering some taming skills and having Ruby, the slime, be her first-ever tamed beast. Ruby proved to be quite useful, especially since she could use her abilities to make herself immune to damage or fire and take the shape of a tool or other objects they might need, even if the color was always red. It took a while before she learned how to control the creature properly, but once she did, it became a valuable member of the team. Hera felt a little upset, now she wouldn't be the only one who had an animal companion in the group, but at the same time, it was nice to have someone else who understood her.

Aside from that, the entire party focused on training and improving their skills, and Lurize helped a lot with that. He assisted everyone, even Bonnie, in getting some combat skills to use in emergencies. This was also some training for him, and thanks to that, he was able to increase his Exoarmor skill.

What they were going to do now was head down to Abyssia. They already knew where the slime fish transports were and how to activate them. The only thing missing was a way to breathe underwater, and that was found by blue a couple of days ago. She was exploring an area close to the edge of the raft and found a shack with several chokers inside a box. When she used the [Inspect]skill on them, she realized that this was what they were searching forl. Each of them could help someone breathe underwater for up to 24 hours. The only issue was that people still had to breathe water. That made the item extremely uncomfortable, but it wasn't like they had a choice.

It was the morning after Lurize's punishment, and Shane saw the Empress come down the stairs from their house.

"Hey, ready for the big day?" Shane smiled.

"You say as if I'm the one responsible," Hera rolled her eyes.

"Well… we are technically here because of you. But I won't complain about that. With everything we discovered in the temple, it will give me enough to work for a few months," Shane continued as she pulled her small book and began writing something on it.

"Tell me you are not making notes about me right now. That is really rude," Hera crossed her arms.

"No, no. I was writing about the Naga."

"Oh… Ok. Sorry," Hera looked around, "Where is everyone?"

"I think they went to Bonnie to see what Ruby could do," Shane replied.

"Oh, how long will it take for them to come back?"

"I don't know. Maybe like half an hour, maybe more. Why? Are you that excited about going to Abyssia?"

"I wouldn't say excited exactly. I just want to see something new. It's kind of… boring to do the same thing over and over and over again."

Shane chuckled, "Can't say I blame you there. I've been getting kind of nuts lately."

"Yeah, and we still don't know how long it will take to rain. I really wish I could," Hera stopped before finishing the sentence, "Do that thing again."

"You are preaching to the choir, sister. I've wanted that ever since I first got that skill. Speaking of which. It's been five months since you got a legacy skill. What happened? Did you run out already, or are you saving for a big one?"

"Saving for a big one. I already know the one I want, and I asked Daskka to tell me when I can get it."

"Ohh, nice. Is that the graveyard one?" Shane asked.

"That's the plan," Hera replied, but she wasn't all there. She was feeling something weird with her shoulders. As if the blood that passed there was either too cold or too hot and that had captured her focus.

"Are you ok?" Shane noticed Hera's expression and started to get worried.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I think I just slept in the wrong position."

"Are you sure? If you are not feeling well, we should wait a few days before going to Abyssia."

"I appreciate the offer, but I'm fine. Really. Do you know where everyone is? I want to gather them so we can go," Hera tried to change the subject.

"I believe they are all in warehouse B. You know, the one in front of where the dungeon is located."

"I think I do. Do you want to come with me, or should we meet at the hangar?"

"I'll go with," Shane closed her book and got up, "It's not like I'm doing anything," placing the small journal on the desk by Hera's tablet, the two of them left to talk to their friends. Today they wanted to check the underwater city of Abyssia and see if they could uncover its secrets and what actually happened in this room.