Chapter 739 - The last Royal Explorer (Patreon)

"OK, just one last time. What's our mission?" Hera asked the Royal Explorers. All of them were in front of the city entrance, making it a show that they were about to head out.

"Make sure the room is safe!" they all replied the rehearsed answer.

"And what are we looking for?" Hera asked.

Legan, the youngest member of the Royal Explorers who just gained his role, stepped forward, "We are searching for anything that can be useful for the city. As well as making sure no monsters are around that could pose a danger to our city! If we find anything that seems dangerous, we scout it and reconvene before engaging. We do the same with any dungeons we come across!"

He had deep-set black eyes that were like two onyxes. His fine charcoal-colored hair was worn in a style that reminded people of a cascading waterfall, contrasting with his pale skill and pronounced cheekbones. When he was younger, he used to be compared to a skeleton by his friends as a joke, and now that he was an explorer, he leaned heavily into that aesthetic. Even if that comparison was only true to his face. Legan had a large frame, and it was all muscle. Now, he joked people should call him 'Powerlifting Skeleton.' He wore leather armor supported by exposed bones and griffon skulls on his shoulders. Another unique quirk of his was that he decided to focus on fighting with a spear and summoning the undead. He also understood that he shouldn't be using that type of magic near the city. Despite the knowledge that necromancy was only about controlling dead bodies, people still held a stigma towards it.

"Well, that covers my next question. Everyone ready?"

"Yes, Duchess!" they all yelled, with cheers coming from the people watching.

"Then, Royal Explorers, Let's explore!" Hera shouted and started walking away, but no one seemed to follow, "What's wrong?"

"Let's explore? Really?" Trillian asked.

"I mean… it's not a good battle cry," Rayna scratched the back of her head.

"Yeah," some people in the crowd agreed.

"Does anyone have a better idea?" Hera huffed.

"Can I try?" Livy asked.

"Sure," Hera sighed, feeling like the moment was gone.

Livy stepped a bit forward, not that she had to since the 3-meter-tall dragon towered over everything. She took a deep breath and yelled, her voice almost turning into a roar, "Royal Explorers! Let's fucking loot this place!"

"YEAH!" the royal explorers yelled and started running off.

Hera, on the other hand, smacked Livy's arm, "There are children watching! Why the fuck are you cursing!"

"You just did!" Livy protested.

Hera smacked her arm again, "I'm scolding you. I get a pass!" she turned back to the families, watching them leave, and made a gesture to apologize. There children were laughing while their parents just shrugged and moved along, with a few staring Hera down, but that didn't last long.

This whole presentation was Rutigan's idea. The people who came from Boothudurn were sad about having to leave their homes, which was understandable, to say the least. Because of that, the King was trying to come up with ideas to show his subjects that they were in a better place. It was already helpful that the surrounding jungle was vibrant and full of life. Unfortunately, there were a couple of situations that made people weary about their surroundings. One of the children got trapped by some vines when they were looking around the outside of the city. It wasn't a monster vine, just a natural formation of the forest, but since they were in a layer much deeper than Boothudurn, the vines were stronger, and his parents weren't able to cut the vines on their own since they were still low-level. Another issue came from a couple who found a small squirrel near the entrance of the city. It had yellow fur with a single red streak of red coming from its forehead all the way to the tip of its tail. They tried to play with it, but that angered the monster, who spat fire at them. Thankfully, they were a bit higher level, and the attack only gave them some light burns. Risli wasn't even called to help take care of them, but two events in the same week took their toll on morale.

Since Hera already wanted to look around the room, Rutigan suggested she take the Royal Explorers out, too. They had turned into celebrities for the people of Boothudurn. Not only were they brave enough to explore the MAZE and go to dangerous places, but they also found their new home and cleared a path to get here. Seeing that same group working to make sure the surrounding area is safe and well-protected would help improve everyone's mood.

Despite the large number of people who were leaving, they split into somewhat larger groups. Hera had already briefed everyone about her vision and what she was worried about. They understood the potential gravity of the situation, even if it was mostly because the Duchess of Exploration was the one worried. That's why they decided to have larger groups.

Hera's party was the smallest one of the bunch. Blue, Alex, Helena, and Legan, but she had the added benefit of 3 extra members in Nimbus, Lurize, and Livy. Their job was to find out where the giant monster was. The Empress would be trying her best to find the location she saw in her vision, together with Lurize, to search the room. Bonnie was with Shane, Mylo, Farica, and Callena. Their job was to find other Naga structures around the room. Lastly, there were 2 groups of 5 dwarves each that would be looking for dungeons and for anything that could pose a danger. Since the internet tower was already set up, everyone could use their tablets to talk with each other if they found something. Back in the city, Renette would be in charge of following their location on the map. Now that she was here, there wasn't much to do, and she wanted to help. Eridan would also give a hand, but since people were already getting their definitive homes in Zaxalam, there were a lot of orders for beds and other wood furniture for him to make.

The one reason why Hera asked Legan to accompany her was due to the fact that he didn't have a chance to be an active member of the Royal Explorers. Just after he got his role, the guild started to harass the dwarves, and the plan of having him level up quickly with the guard was put on hold. Eventually, he was able to run some dungeons, but by the time they left, he was only level 14 and not level 18, as was the plan. The trip here helped him get one more level, but 15 was just the base level for this room. Hera didn't want to give anyone else the responsibility of taking care of him. It was also a good chance for her to see how he fought and give some points if needed. When everyone split off, the Empress' group started to move to the mountain to the left of the city.

"Ok, I think that's where I died. In the vision, I mean," Hera pointed to an area covered in grass.

"All the way up there?" Blue groaned.

"Yeah, it was close to the top. I'll be able to tell the height when we are looking down at the city. Let's get to higher ground."

"Yes, ma'am!" Legan saluted.

"You really don't have to do that. We are all friends here. Only Naka would be complaining if you are not calling her ma'am," Hera patted Legan's shoulder.

"Oh yeah. We got our asses chewed when we called her by her name during training," Blue chuckled as they started walking.

"By the way. How does your necromancy work? I don't think I ever looked into those kinds of spells," Nimbus got closer to Legan but stopped when he noticed the dwarf stepping back.

"Hum… It's… a bit, how can I put this. Weird, for now. Mr. Nimbus, sir."

"Is everything okay?" Alex asked.

"Yeah. No problem," Legan replied but didn't look towards Nimbus.

"Hey, short stuff, are you afraid of Nimbus?" Livy asked.

"No! Well... I mean. A little. He is a griffon, isn't he?"

"I am, but I don't… Oh, did you have a bad experience in the dungeon?" Nimbus frowned.

"No, I didn't even get to fight griffons. It's just… I grew up listening to stories about griffons and how they are terrifying. I guess I'm still scared of them," Legan admitted.

Hera nodded, "That's understandable. A lot of people from Boothudurn get like that when Nimbus is around. But as a Royal Explorer, you can't freeze up because of a scary monster. Nimbus is a good way to have some exposure therapy. He can understand if you say it's too much. I'm not saying you need to become best friends, but you should try to at least be able to talk with him without worrying."

"Ok, I'll do that," Legan took a deep breath and turned to Nimbus, "Mr. Nimbus. Necromancy is about controlling bodies. But the best way to use it, according to what I know, is to craft the bodies yourself."

Nimbus raised one eyebrow, "Are you going to dig up bodies to make a Frankenstein?"

"Frankenstein was the doctor, not the monster. The monster didn't have a name," Helena added while they moved deeper into the jungle.

"I know, but if I just ask if he is going to make a monster, it is hard to understand what I mean. Asking about Frankenstein makes it more specific," Nimbus explained.

Legan nodded, "Yeah, it does. And answering the question, no, I don't mean stealing the actual body parts. Even if there is a branch of necromancy about making chimeras. But they are all mindless. I need to make this clear. In essence, it's like making a golem made out of flesh. So, to actually use it, I need either body. Monster bodies, I mean, I never used anything on people, and I don't intend to. Or I can use a mix of raw materials that have a similar composition to a body to control it."

"So you just walk around with a bunch of meat?" Blue asked.

"Not meat," Legan pulled a small bag, "But before everything, I got my hands in some bone powder. This is the kind of thing butchers can sell. Same with blood. There are spells that will let me compress this even more, to the point where an entire skeleton can come out of a single tennis ball-sized thing. For now, I can do this," he tapped the bag, and all the gray powder floated off, forming itself into a small dog with large claws and fangs and some extra bones for its ribcage.

"How mana-efficient is this? If you are controlling all that, it must cost a lot," Helena got closer to the dog, whom Legan commanded to approach and act like a puppy.

"That's the draw of necromancy. It takes some mana to animate the body, but after that, it can move it on its own. Bodies are very good at keeping mana so that initial cost is everything I need. To make Timber here, it costs just under 2 thousand mana. Each command requires between 10 and 100 mana, depending on the complexity," Legan looked to the side and saw one of the squirrels in the room. This one with green fur and a blue streak coming from its forehead. He simply pointed at the monster, and Timber, the skeletal dog, rushed out at it.

The monster saw the incoming threat and ran away, but Legan used another spell to increase Timber's speed, allowing him to reach the squirrel and bite down on the top of its skull, killing it instantly.

"Effective, but a bit too noisy," Alex said.

"I'm not very good at being stealthy, but now I can also do this," Legan walked over the squirrel's body and reanimated it with another spell. The undead squirrel stopped bleeding and jumped onto his shoulder, "It can't use the skill or magic it had when it was alive, but it can still use its body."

"Maybe we can see you fighting against something a bit stronger," Hera smiled, trying to support him.

"I also want to see you fight," Blue turned to the Empress.

"What? Why?" Hera tilted her head.

"What do you mean why? Ever since you became an Ophidianite, you didn't get a chance to fight. I want to see what your new body can do," Blue had a large grin on her face.

"To be fair. I'm also a bit curious how you handle yourself now," Nimbus nodded.

Hera looked down; she didn't think about it, but it was true. Ever since becoming an Ophidianite, she didn't try to push her body, not really. With that thought in mind, they continued moving along the jungle, looking not only for the places that she saw in her vision but also for something to give them a bit of a challenge.