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MAZE - Chapter 994 - Blade Accord
🕑 Added 2025-01-10 10:12:09 +0000 UTCThe court was in a frenzy, everybody talking about the various skills they could get from the Inherited Tapestry legacy and who should have which skill. A couple of them were pretty obvious. Forge should get Craftweaver's Insight, and if possible, Daskka should take Balm of Life. If not, maybe it could be saved for the last titled blade, if it was possible to hold on to the skills.
Other skills were a bit harder to decide. Earthbreaker Strike sounded great for Livy, but also for the Verdant Marquessate. Night's Veil could work really well for the twins, and for the Alabaster Dukedom. Thundering Charge could work well with Lurize since he already had a charge attack, but there was an argument to be made that it should stay with Nimbus, since he was the fastest member of the court. But Tattoo of Stormshroud could also work really well with him, considering that the griffon he came from was made out of clouds.
Everybody was really excited while talking about this. The possibilities were almost limitless. Not to mention that since it was going to be the last skill to be added to the legacy, it might synergize with one of the other ones that the Empress got.
While everybody was excitedly having that conversation, Daskka spoke to Hera's mind without looking away from the rest of the group. 'Mum, there’s actually one more skill, but I didn’t want to say it out loud.'
Understanding that there might have been a reason for the herald's reaction, Hera did her best not to show her focus had changed. 'Yeah. There was a Wendigo skill, wasn’t there?'
'Yeah. That’s the one. It’s called Wendigo’s Ascendancy. The skill basically lets you absorb magic through your mouth. I’m not really sure how that would fit anyone who’s not a titled blade. You can recover mana, get access to a temporary buff related to what you absorbed, and even potentially get a new skill from it. But… aside from that, there are two things in the description that don’t sound great,' Daskka’s tail shivered as she spoke.
'Is it that bad?' Hera held back a frown.
'The skill says that you have a never-ending hunger that can never be satiated, and that with each bite, it makes you more ravenous than the last.'
Hera paused after hearing that. She knew for a fact that skills did not lie. That’s why their descriptions were always somewhat vague on certain aspects. You would never find a skill that said it was the most powerful attack that could be created unless there really was no way to create a stronger attack by anyone, no matter the level.
If the skill itself was saying that she would be struck with an endless hunger, that was going to happen. And if it said that each bite made it worse, then it could reach a point where she couldn’t control it anymore. Giving that particular skill to one of her court members would mean that they would become ticking time bombs. Eventually, they could become someone who was like Vulcan in his daemonic form, if not worse, all the time.
Keeping that skill to herself sounded awful. She would spend the entire time hungry, which meant she would be angry all the time. And if that got worse, then things could become very problematic.
'Ok. Yeah, that doesn’t sound like a great idea. But why all the secrecy?' Hera asked.
'I’ll tell you after you dismiss the court. Their presence might be an issue, because of the intensified emotions,' Daskka replied.
The Empress got even more confused, but decided to speed things along. 'Ok everyone, here’s my suggestion. We start by taking in Azure Chain, then Stormcloud, and the Inherited Tapestry last. That way, we can speed the process up a little bit. I think we should start with the capstone in every situation except the tattoo one, since it’s going to be bound to a bunch of other skills. Everybody should keep thinking about the skills they want or how we might use things, but once we get the actual descriptions for the new skills, then we can work things out too.'
'Yeah, now we just have to calm down and wait,' Nimbus nodded.
'Which brings me to the second point. I’m tired, I think I’m going to sleep, and you all should, too. I know you don’t need to, or you might want to be here to help if something happens with Blue, but there’s nothing we can do right now. We need to rest. And if you go to bed, then time will pass, and maybe when you wake up, things will have improved,' Hera yawned. She didn’t have to pretend. After eating and letting herself relax a bit, all the exhaustion of the day washed over her.
'Don’t you want one of us to stay behind?' Lurize asked.
'It’s not fair for me to ask that. You’re all tired too. Not physically, but it has been a day, so I think everybody should rest. We’re okay. Insomniac is in the camp, plus a bunch of powerful humans who didn’t know there was a war going on. And I doubt any of them would be on the guild’s side after everything that they went through. Just sleep. We are okay, and we might need to be on our A-game if something were to happen.'
The court accepted her suggestion, even if they more or less understood that there was something else going on. Still, they trusted the Empress enough not to dwell on things like that. If she believed she couldn’t tell them something, there should be a reason for that.
Once they all returned to the palace, Daskka jumped on Hera’s lap. 'Ok, now it’s just us. Why is that skill so scary?' the Empress asked without moving her mouth. She didn’t want to make too much noise and wake Blue up.
"Because the skill says that by consuming something, you can acquire their skills," the herald replied.
'Yeah, you mentioned that. I don't get it.'
"This is not something that will go back to you. Because right now, the skill is not trying to add anything else. But I can tell that when we got it, it was doing something. It was trying to absorb a skill that is related to making clouds," Daskka explained.
'So Morgan ate some of Blue's magic?' Hera tilted her head, still confused as to why Daskka was acting that way.
"Maybe. But I get a feeling from the skill that it would take a lot of magic to let you gain a skill. Or, since it came from a Wendigo, it might work better if you could go for a more direct approach…" The snake trailed off, glancing toward Blue's missing arm.
It took a long moment for Hera to understand what Daskka was trying to say. But when she did, she stood up angrily, forcing the herald to jump out of her lap to avoid falling.
'Are you telling me that piece of shit ate Blue's arm?' Hera's eyes turned into slits as her claws dug deep into her palms.
"I don't know, Mum. But it is a possibility. Especially considering this skill came from a Wendigo. And that's not just something the name says. The description also includes a mention of them."
'Can I see that description?'
"No, because it's not your skill. But I can read it for you," Daskka paused. "Everything that you consume brings you closer to the perfect form of a Wendigo. Yet, perfection can never be reached. Inside of you, there is a never-ending hunger that can never be satiated. Each bite turns you more ravenous than the last, and at the same time allows you to use the power of your enemies to fuel the next step in your evolution. By consuming magic, you are able to recover mana, gain temporary buffs, and, as long as you consume a substantial amount, acquire skills that belong to the target. Consuming organic matter increases the potency of that effect."
Hera felt blood starting to drip from her hands. 'Fuck that. I get why Blade freaked out now. Can we get rid of just that one skill?'
Daskka nodded. "We can. It won't affect anything else. There’s just one less skill for us to worry about."
'Then get rid of it. I don't care if I would get stronger by eating stuff. It’s not worth it to keep, especially if it’s going to make me crazy enough to even consider eating people.' Hera was now pacing around the room, still angry about the entire situation.
"Again, I'm not sure if he did eat her arm. It just looks like he had consumed a substantial amount that came from Blue. But it could also be from someone else. I mean, he got her legacy. If he ate her arm after that, it doesn't make sense for the skill that would be acquired to be something that makes clouds."
'But he might have done that before and gotten frustrated with waiting, and used that as a threat for her to give it to him. Either way, get rid of the skill,' Hera replied.
Daskka nodded and closed her eyes. After a moment, she opened them again. "It's done. We don't have to worry about that skill anymore."
Before anything else could happen, the snake turned into her purple mist form and started healing the wounds on Hera's hands. Between the warmth of the healing and her mounting exhaustion, the Empress finally let herself relax. All the tiredness she had been holding at bay overwhelmed her, and she plopped down in her chair, mumbling angrily in her mind while Daskka kept healing her. It didn't take long, however, for the Ophidianite to lose the fight against the sleep and fall into a slumber.
But for her that only lasted a moment, as Hera woke up in the morning feeling like she had just closed her eyes. Daskka was sleeping on her lap, and her hands were patched up. Unfortunately, Blue was still unconscious, but at least she didn’t look like she was struggling.
The first thing Hera did was open her tablet to check if anyone had sent any messages. They were still using devices that couldn’t connect to the internet, only ones with short-range capabilities. Still, it was enough for everyone in the operation team to communicate.
There was a single message she received. It was from Neria. The Triton had finished healing Hera's hands. She also let the Empress know that Iris, one of the elf twins, had passed away during the night. They had tried to heal her, but the wounds she suffered were too much. Without an actual hospital or someone proficient in that kind of operation, they hadn’t been able to save her.
Part of the message also had a question: could Nimbus travel while carrying two carts? One would hold the people who were too wounded to walk on their own, and the other would carry the bodies of those they had lost—currently Flint, Echo, Selene, and now Iris. Hopefully, that number wouldn’t increase.
Hera got up and left the tent, giving Blue one more look just to be sure she was still alive. Once outside, Daskka perked up. "Mum. One of the skills is ready."
"Just one?" Hera asked.
"Yeah. The start is going to take a bit longer. Then things will pick up. The Chainforge skill was added. It's now called 'Blade Accord.' Can I show it to you?"
"Of course," Hera nodded.
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Blade Accord - Legacy
The loyalty and trust between your court can be manifested into an azure chain connected to your blades. These chains can form a connection between multiple court members or be used by each individual.
When connected, skills from one blade can be fired from any other court member that is sharing that connection. These skills will not affect the other court member and will only affect their origin.
Those who are touching the chains can control them to move as they will. In addition, the Empress can control all the chains without touching them.
Mana will be spent to create the chains. The longer and more durable each chain is, the more mana will be spent.
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"That sounds interesting. Can I test it?" Hera asked.
"Of course, Mum. It's your skill," Daskka chuckled.
Hera first tried to summon the chains by themselves, but that didn’t work. It seemed she couldn’t simply create the chains out of nowhere. So she summoned a simple venomous dagger before invoking the skill. This time, a metallic blue chain appeared behind the dagger, almost like a giant tail. The chain itself could move and float like one of her blades, but she had to actively control it. It was clear it was a bit harder to hold on to the piece of the chain that was connected to the dagger, almost as if she could feel its weight.
The next set of tests included the entire court. The chains could connect all of them, even those in their titled form, although in that situation, the chain acted almost like a belt around their waists. It didn’t matter how many connections were there. Even if the entire court was connected by a single chain, one blade at one end could cast one of their skills from another.
This was already helpful for pretty much everyone. But Robin took that to another level. He could now fire arrows from any point in the chain, meaning that if they were able to trap an enemy inside the chains, they could obliterate them with magic arrows.
Something else that was going to be extremely helpful was the fact that Nimbus could still create chains in his griffon form, allowing him to carry more people as long as some other court members helped out.
This was just the first of the skills that came from the Azure Chain legacy. There were a few others that could fit, especially with this new skill. But now, it was about waiting and making sure that everybody was able to return to the alliance in one piece.
#### Author's Note ####
I know some people might feel let down, but there is a reason why Blade freaked out. The Wendigo skill is not nice.
Also, if you want to read a story that has that kind of thing. Eating your enemies to become stronger go my other story Energy Eater. The whole freaking power system is based of that lol.
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Comments
Pletter
For blades eating other blades try 'I Was a Sword When I Reincarnated' the part s after the anime. If you read that, you'll understand why that is a bad idea.
DrDankness
Aiii yah. No wonder blade was having a mental breakdown. Hell I bet thats why a selfish bitch like Frost would even give it up. Thats a NASTY fucking skill. And of course a narcissist megalomaniac ceo willing to start a massive multi-planar war would be ok with fking eating people to get more powerful. I could see an argument for keeping it if it didnt make you lose your mind but as is… yeah no fk that.
