Chapter 623 - Ascencion (Patreon)

"Ok, Ms. Kingsley… Do you have any suggestions on where you want me to start?" Tara asked.

"I honestly don't know. I don't even know what that all means. So how about you start from the top? Also, you can call me Hera," the Empress smiled.

"Oh, ok. Hera. Let's see… from the top… The MAZE and the system seems upset with the number of sentient species that went extinct inside the MAZE. Things like…" Tara stopped talking, "Sorry. I spoke too much. I can't actually talk about it."

"First day on the job, and you already got the system bugging you. Well done," Peaches smirked, causing Tara to pull her hat down a little bit.

"A-a-anyway. This is not something you have to worry about. The point is, this is what the ascension will do. It will allow you to kickstart the resurrection of a species. Of course, you won't have to do that if you don't want to. I mean, part of what I did to learn about this job was to spend some time as a different being, and it's weird. I understand why someone would hesitate to make such a drastic change," Tara continued.

"I'm glad. I mean, I wasn't expecting it to be, anyway. There are very few things that the system forces on us. Or, like, don't give us a choice on the matter. But… is that all? I mean, this is something big. Will I get something out of it?" Hera asked.

"Are you open to that idea?" Tara perked up.

"Sort of, but not really. I mean, I just don't know enough just yet for it to sound like a good thing. If you tell me something like, 'Doing this will make you immortal,' or 'You will get 100 levels in one go.' Then yeah, I'm down, but for now, I don't actually see what would be the benefit for me," Hera continued.

"Not even looking more like me?" Daskka pouted.

"Why don't you try looking more like me, then? Between the two of us, only one can change shapes at will," Hera rolled her eyes.

Daskka huffed and turned her head, but the Empress could tell that her herald was just playing around.

"Right, your benefits. So you will get some skills, and others you have will change. The Naga skills you have will all get a new name and have some changes. Since you will be the progenitor, you will get all the Naga, or New Naga, or whatever the name of the species will be skills. Then if someone else, who is a part of the species, gets a new species skill, you will automatically get that one at rank 1. I mean that at any moment, not just during the ascension. If in 50 years someone gets a new New Naga skill that you don't have, you will get it," Tara continued.

"Ok… I have questions," Hera said right away.

"And I have answers," Tara tried to sound confident but quickly became flustered and backpedaled, "…. I think. Maybe?"

"First, are the skills going to change for the better or for, the worse?"

"Neither, I think, but it's not a definitive answer. Some skills might become weaker. Others might become stronger or even change completely. That is not something we can control very well since they will have to adapt to your new body. However, we might be able to direct some things," Tara said while looking at the wall. That was a common sight for someone who was reading a system window.

"What do you mean?" Nimbus asked.

Tara looked at him, then at Hera, "Does that count? I mean, is it ok for them to ask questions? I don't know how this works."

Hera nodded, "It does. They are part of me. Any questions they have also are questions that I want to know. We share information, but not our minds, so they might come up with a few ideas I didn't have."

Tara looked at Peaches, "Is that common?"

"Not at all. Hera here is a bit special on that part. I can count on one hand the number of people with legacies that can make several personalities like that one, and I don't actually have fingers," Peaches replied.

"Oh, ok. And to answer the question… Should I introduce myself again to all of you? Is that the polite thing to do?"

"I think they are the ones being rude this time. I mean, you already did your part. You don't have to be the only one with manners," Peaches added.

"That is true. My apologies. I am Nimbus, Hera's Sentinel and first titled blade," the bipedal griffon gave a small bow to Tara.

"And I am Lurize, Hera's first blade and the Empress' Royal Tutor," Lurize glanced at Nimbus, who seemed to be bragging about being the first titled blade.

"And I'm Daskka, Hera's daughter. I came from a mixture of a necklace made by Darni, a doll made by Casks, and Chika, who was happy to see her doll again after I don't even know how long. But mum was the one who put all the pieces together, letting me be born. Also, I'm her herald and have the title of Royal Adviser," Daskka said proudly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. What about the rest?" Tara looked at the flying weapons that were around Hera.

"There are Ooze, Armory, Scythe, Dao, Edge, Frost, and Core. Can you hear them?" the Empress asked.

"Oh, they are talking? No, I can't… is that ok?" Tara turned to Peaches.

"Yeah. Don't worry about it. Like I said, she's special. That conversation she has with them is something not even we can intercept," Peaches replied.

"Right. Thanks, and sorry for all the questions," Tara lowered her head a little.

"No worries. You are new at this and doing a great job," the talking green apple smiled.

"I agree," Hera nodded.

"Me too, but if you don't mind. Can you answer my question? The way you phrased that made it seem like we would have some control over how Hera's skills would change. Is that right?" Nimbus asked.

"Right, right. Sorry," Tara bowed and lowered her hat again, "This is just a lot," she took a deep breath and looked up, "So. If You… I mean, Hera… I mean you… I don't think you would change. So I'm just going to say, Hera, ok? If Hera decides to go through the ascension, and she is the first person to ever do that, she will be able to make some decisions about this new species. Things like if they will have poison glands like the Naga or they will be closer to humans in that aspect. If they have scales, will their eyes be human-like or snake-like? Or will it be a mix? All of those things can be decided by her. And that will have an impact on her skills too."

"And she will get the basic skills of a Naga or this new species you mentioned?" Lurize added.

"Correct, those are…."

Before Tara could finish the sentence, Peaches spoke up, "Careful now. You already got a warning from the system. If you push too much, you might not be able to say something else that you think it's important."

"Right… yeah ok. So the skills are move movement, utility, and one offensive one. But then you might add any skills you have that can be considered Human skills, but I can't say more about that right now."

"Ok… and what would I have to do during the ascension?" Hera asked.

"Well, it's just a ritual. It will take a few days to prepare things, and you will be in a test like this. You can't actually fail, but it will take longer if you don't get some things right. Then you will just start it and go to sleep. When you wake up, your body will have changed," Tara explained.

"And can you do something else? Aside from the whole ascension help thing?" Daskka asked.

"Absolutely. I will be helping you and any other new member of this new species to understand how their bodies work, telling you about precautions and explaining what will happen if you have children with someone from a different species. I can also explain the skills, how they work, and what will happen when they strengthen. That also counts for the Naga skills."

"I have another question then," Nimbus said.

"I have one too, but you can go first," Hera nodded.

"Thank you, Empress. What can you tell us about the skills Hera currently has? The Naga Poison and the Naga Scales?"

"There isn't much I can say about the poison now. After rank 6, there won't be any big changes, just small ones. By that, I mean that unless you reach master rank, but that is a whole different can of worms. The Naga Scales, on the other hand. When you reach rank 6, it will also get an elemental attribute to increase the defense against that type of mana. That will also define the color of the scales that are covering your body."

"Oh? So until then, I won't have visible scales?" Hera asked.

"Not really. If you pay attention to it, you can still see them, but before that point, they won't be too visible," Tara continued.

"I see… Well, about my question. You mentioned babies and increasing the population. Does that mean that more people will be able to do the same after I or someone else ascends?"

Tara nodded and turned to Peaches, "She really catches on to things quickly, like you said," she turned back to Hera, "Yeah. Any newborn from a couple where at least one person is a New Naga will be a New Naga, and if anyone gets a naga skill to rank 3 or above after the first person ascends, they will receive a similar offer. But they won't have all the same benefits as the first one who ascends. That will keep going like that until there are 5 thousand New Naga. Then the system will stop giving people the option to ascend to this new species."

"Why 5 thousand?" Daskka asked.

"According to the system, that's the minimum number of people so a species can thrive without having to worry about lack of genetic diversity. That doesn't take into account the New Naga having children with a different species, although that should probably work just fine. But that is something we will only know after the first person ascends. I don't know why the system didn't consider that. It seems stupid," Tara continued.

Hearing that, Peaches started laughing, "First day on the job, and you are already bashing the system. You are going to do just fine, Tara."

Hera continued to ask a few more questions. Mostly about how her body would work in this new species. Would she still have a belly button? Drink water? Eat anything? Would she have hair, or would she be bald like the Naga? How about babies, would they be eggs or would she get pregnant if she would ever choose to do something like that? Unfortunately, Tara didn't have any of those answers. They would only appear during the ascension process, but the Naga Ancestor did say that Hera had full control over how far she would go. If she decided to stop at any point, even at the final stage of the ascension, she could. But if she completed the ascension, there was no way back. She would become this New Naga forever.

Another thing Tara said was that the species' name was not yet decided. She kept referring to them as New Naga, but that was just a placeholder until the system decided on the final name. Hera could also add her suggestions, and since the Empress had some Naga skills, she could call Tara just like she called any of the other guides.

When Hera finally finished asking everything she could think of, Peaches stepped forward, "Now, kid. You came here to do a test, and I think it's about time to do that. Also, Tara will be here with me to watch how to apply these things. When they show up, she will take over this job for this New Naga species."

"So if I ascend, you won't be here to give me my role tests anymore?" Hera asked, already thinking this was a big con for the whole thing.

"Ha, you wish it would be that easy to get rid of me, kid. No, no. You are part of my job, and no one is taking that away from me."

Hera smiled, "I'm glad."

"Me too, kid. Me too. Now, time for business. This test is a bit different. You can pick the regular test or the hidden one right away. In the regular test, you will have to figure out how to make a few items and make them enough to unlock the blueprint of it," Peaches said.

"And the hidden test?"

"The hidden test will use your relic. You will have to study it again and again. Open it up and rebuild it enough times to learn how to make part of it. Doing that will give you a blueprint for your relic, and you can change it as much as you want going forward."

Hera chuckled, "I mean. Do you even have to ask? Being able to modify the relic is too much of a good thing to pass."

Peaches smirked, "I figured you would go for that one. Remember, I can't help you with getting the skill, but you are free to come here and ask for our opinion on stuff."

"Got it," Hera nodded just as the double doors opened, revealing a large workshop on the other side. She was a bit shell-shocked seeing the number of tools and pieces of equipment that were in front of her.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Go get them, kid."