Chapter 675 - Skills all around (Patreon)

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

Hey everyone! I know you might read this chapter and think, 'Hey, isn't that the same as the last?' and yeah, you are absolutely right. I messed up and skipped a chapter when I posted the last one. So, to keep the order of things, I edited the previous chapter so the contents match the number, and this one will be the same as the one you read on Saturday. I'm very sorry about this but luckily, it wasn't the climax of the fight. that would've been baaaaad x.x

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During the next few hours, everyone woke up. They had a short conversation with Sammy, where the turtle would explain what happened and how they were, in fact, inside a memory and not in the past. What followed was some confusion and a request for time to process things. Then, they would go to the rest area in the back and meet with everyone else. One by one, they arrived, first Shane, then Bonnie and Mylo together, and Adriel being the last. Every single one of them got the same title and a level-up. But each came out of the memory with a different number of skills. It was clear that they were unable to get new skills inside the memory, and now, the system was catching up with their new knowledge.

From the quest, Shane got a skill called [Metal Manipulation], which made it easier for her to create her projectiles and change metal in general. But her efforts inside the memory gave her a pair of skills. [Explosive Knowledge] would just increase anything she made that could explode. It was a bit surprising that she still didn't have something like that since most of her attacks included explosions. [Mana Charge] was something she learned while preparing the traps for the Night River. Now, aside from keeping a spell inside her grenades, she could also create this charge that would attach on contact and siphon the mana out of the target. Transferring a percentage of the current total mana of her victim back to the explorer. Or, she could forgo that effect completely and create something else entirely that would also latch on to her target.

Bonnie's reward was a skill called [Arcane Intellect] that passively increased her intelligence and the power of her spells and allowed her to control her spells better. The increase in raw attributes was minor, being at just 2%, but skills that could do that were extremely hard to come by. The skill she got by herself was called [Analytical Eye], which allowed her to look at something and have a better understanding of what it was and how it got to that point. It was a bit of what one would expect of a detective, helping her to assess a situation just by looking around.

Mylo also got 3 skills in total. A version of the barrier of flowers he created when fighting the ant army called [Floral Barrier] that turned that makeshift blockade into an actual wall of protection. This was still an illusion, but one that could stop physical and magical attacks. The second skill was called [Flower Burst], and funny enough, it was his first skill that created actual flowers. Essentially, it allowed him to make a small field of blooming flowers around him that could stun enemies and make them vulnerable to attacks. The more mana he used, the wider the range was, and it had a surprisingly short cooldown allowing him to attempt the stun over and over again during any of the longer fights. One of the guards in the Vanguard used that skill, and during his time working with the man, Mylo tried to learn how that worked. The last skill he got was part of the reward from the hidden quest. [Earthquake Step] let him create a sensory tremor that acted like an actual earthquake while being an illusion. Any enemy caught on it would have trouble moving around and were likely to fall to the ground.

It was interesting. The actual quest rewards seemed to be related to that final fight in a way. Blue needed quick reflexes to catch all of the ants that were trying to get inside the Vanguard. Shane couldn't attack faster because she took too long to make new projectiles. Bonnie used her elemental motes to change her spells trajectory but not their speed. She had to be careful when firing to not hit anyone in melee range with Reynara. Mylo kept trying to topple the ants since when they fell, they would bring down the ones behind them. Helena used her shadow, and the final move baked them with light. Although Hera had the impression that the mage's skill was more personal. Maybe the shadows were what actually gave the final blow, and that's why she got a more tailor-made reward.

Adriel was the only one who didn't get any exciting skills. He only got one reward, and it was called [Eidetic Memory], and, as the name suggested. It just helped him remember things. That also included combat tactics and the weakness of enemies. The skill also said it could help him predict attacks during a fight, noticing the patterns that he just saw from an enemy. It wasn't bad by any means, but it felt a bit underwhelming.

During the entire conversation, Bonnie was hugging Ruby as if the red slime was going to run away. Since her pet wasn't cursed, and the mind of slime was something alien, Sammy couldn't bring her to the memory, and to make sure Bonnie wouldn't think about her and trigger any issues with the curse, the turtle also made the researcher forget about her pet completely. It felt mean, but it was something they secretly agreed on before going to the curse's memory.

While they were talking, Blue and Shane mentioned to Hera that their new skills had some integration with their legacies. This made her stop to check, and everyone took a moment to level up.

'Daskka?' Hera called.

The herald let out a loud yawn as she came out, 'Hey, mum. That was weird.'

'Tell me about it. Can you remember everything that happened in there?'

'Not everything, but just as much as you,' Daskka replied.

'Oh. Ok. Can you check the skills I got? Maybe there is something that can be added to the legacy. If you are feeling up for it, I mean. If you want to rest, we can do this later.'

'No. No. I'll check. One moment,' she yawned again and stared into the distance, seeing her own version of the system that was related to the legacy, 'Oh? This one is fun. The Poison Coating can get a very big upgrade. You can also get the Blade Graveyard skill if you want.'

'What upgrade? And absolutely, I want that. Seeing everyone again would be great,' Hera smiled.

'The upgrade will turn that skill into something that can actually make weapons. I think it's having some synergy with the Weapon Break skill, even if it's not in the legacy. You keep all the effects of the Poison Coating, being able to coat everyone in poison, but you can also make mana weapons. Those won't be like the rest of the court, just actual weapons, but how much mana you spend will say how strong and how rare those weapons are. The rarity part is why I'm saying it has to do with  Weapon Break.'

'So I could use them to keep triggering a Weapon Break? Even if I don't add that skill to the legacy?'

'Pretty much,' Daskka nodded.

'Well. That sounds great. Not just the breaking part, but the idea of being able to make my own weapons like that,' Hera touched Fang and Claw, who were on her waist now. She lost them while inside the memory, and that wouldn't have happened if they were already in her legacy.

'Ok. Here are your new skills, then!' Daskka said with a smile.

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Venomous Arsenal (Rank 1) - Legacy

Passive. All of your blades will be coated in your Naga Poison when summoned, allowing you to poison your targets with any type of poison you can naturally make. This effect can be deactivated at will.
Active. You can create a weapon made out of poison. Their scaling is based on your own attributes, receiving 10% of your attributes. This can be increased by using more mana to summon the weapon.
The summoned weapon must have a blade.
The summoned weapon will not have any skills, but higher rarities might have additional effects.
Any skills that could affect regular weapons can also affect your conjured weapon, including the passive effects of this skill.
The amount of mana used will determine the % of your attributes that the weapon will receive in each attribute and its perceived rarity.
The conjured weapon will last until dismissed, but during that time, you won't be able to recover the mana spent to create the weapon.

Common Rarity: 1% max mana, 10% attribute scaling.
Uncommon Rarity: 5% max mana, 20% attribute scaling.
Rare: 15% max mana, 30% attribute scaling.
Very Rare: 40% max mana, 40% attribute scaling.
Epic: 90% max mana, 50% attribute scaling.
Unique: 200% max mana, 60% attribute scaling.
Legendary: 500% max mana, 110% attribute scaling.
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Blade Graveyard - Legacy

Those who join your court will be forever bound to you, even when they are no longer in this world.
Using this skill, you can invoke the spirit of the court members that have been left behind to fight again by your side. These spirits still have the memories of the blades they once were, but any new memory will be lost as the duration of this skill is over.
The resummoned court members maintain the same attributes and skills they had when they were dismissed.
Duration: 1 minute for each current court member available.
Current duration: 9 minutes
Cooldown: 168 hours
Blades in the Graveyard: Beam - Brute - Executioner - Swift
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Hera smiled and decided to level up before summoning her venomous weapons. She noticed that the Poison Coating skill was gone, which made sense since its effect was inside the Venomous Arsenal.

'Oh, before I forget. You can also add one more court member,' Daskka glanced at Fang and Claw, 'I think they count as one since it's the same window.'

The Empress nodded, 'Ok. I'll do that later.'

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Hera Kingsley -- Role: Explorer Level: 34

Legacy: Court of Blades

Title: Mana Touched, Wardbearer
Total Stats:   582
Strength:  97 Endurance: 97
Agility:  97 Charisma:  97
Intelligence:  97 Luck:  97

Mana:  3 005 111/3 005 111
Passive Mana Regeneration: 3 937/s
Active Mana Regeneration: 7 162/s
Remaining attribute points: 0

Skills:
Legacy:

Court Ruler, Courtship, Bestow Title, Army of One, Revocation of Nobility,
Royal Quest, Bestow Gift, Royal Seal, Venomous Arsenal(+1), Blade Graveyard (+1)

Passive:
Exponential Growth
Observe Red Sight 3
Treasure Map
Handaxe Combat 3, Chakram Combat 3, Glaive Combat 3, Sword Combat 3, Two-handed Sword Combat 2,
Dagger Combat 3, Scimitar combat 1, Axe combat 1, War Axe Combat 1, Knife Combat 2, Tonfa Combat 2, Rapier Combat 1
Wire Trap Style 3, Subtle Strike 3, Dorohla style 3
Battle Dancer 2, Attack Pathing 2, Synchronized Battle 2
Dodge 2, Run 3, Improved Stamina 4, Flee 2, Jump 2
Mana Recovery 4, Mana sensitivity 2, Shaper of Mana, Mana Vessel (+1), Reinforced Mana
Improved Regeneration 3
Ailment Mastery 3, Poison Mastery 2, Allergy Mastery 1,  Chain Mastery 1, Regeneration Mastery 1,
Earth Mastery 1, Lightning Mastery 1, Sound Mastery 1, Frost Mastery 1, Lava Mastery 1, Steel Mastery 1
Elemental Mana Mastery
Earth resistance 2, Wind resistance 2, Water resistance 2, Sturdy Body 2,Magic Armor Proficiency 3
Naga poison 6(+1), Naga Scales 1 (+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, Weapons Rebalance 3, Weapon break
Etching 4
Medical Reference 3, Identify Ailment 1
Green Thumb 2
Chain of Command 5
Toxic Mist 1 (+1)
Role Skills:
Local Guide
Private Room, Meeting Room
Explorer's Assassinate
Explorer's Map
Hunter's Catalogue, Explorer's Hunt
Explorer's Research
Explorer's Blueprint (+1)
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Hera summoned a simple orange sword in her hand. The orange color was because of her poison, and since she was testing this out, she made a common weapon. It even had a status window, but she was the only one who could see it.

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Venomous Sword - Common

A sword made out of poison
Attribute scaling:
Strength x 0.9 Endurance x 0.9 Agility x 0.9
Charisma x 0.9 Intelligence x 0.9 Luck x 0.9
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It was very straightforward, and like she expected, the weapon wouldn't do much. Even if she replicated Edge using her [Explorer Blueprint], the scaling would be better. Without dismissing that one, she summoned another Venomous Sword, but this time using 90% of her mana to make an epic one. Just by appearance, they were very different. While the first one looked like a training weapon. The second one had a snake in the handle and some engravings along the blade that shifted its shades of orange in the light as if it was made out of bismuth.

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Venomous Sword - Epic

A sword made out of Naga poison, made to be deadly against its target. Impacts with the handle can deliver a concentrated dose of poison
Attribute scaling:
Strength x 5.8 Endurance x 5.8 Agility x 5.8
Charisma x 5.8 Intelligence x 5.8 Luck x 5.8
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"Oh wow. This is a big difference," Hera smiled.

"What is that?" Helena asked.

The Empress explained about her new skills, and everyone continued talking. A few hours passed before a TV screen made out of steam appeared in front of the group. Inside it, they could see Sammy with a soft smile, "Alex woke up. Can you all join me outside?"