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Chapter 706 - Livy
🕑 Added 2023-08-05 13:00:08 +0000 UTCBefore starting the entire process, Hera made sure to tell everyone that she would be busy for a couple of hours. Not that she actually believed it would take that long, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Currently, the Empress was already inside her Private room, the Workshop - Hera's Version, to be precise. Where she would be able to see all the blades she had and where she was training in private during the last few days.
Hera was sitting in front of the table with the carving tool she got from peaches and the Searing Ember Stone she got from the Steamweaver dungeon. She was currently trying to find out some rune or symbol that could match Livy.
"Do you have any suggestions?" the Empress turned to the war axe, who was currently on top of the table and not floating like the rest of the court.
"I don't know. Maybe strength? Or power? Or force? I'm big, so…. Something big!" Livy replied.
Hera nodded, understanding where she was coming from, but at the same time, that would be too plain. If she was going to give her a seal, she wanted to do something special. It would be the first time one of her titled blades had a seal, and Hera didn't want to regret her decision later.
"How about you guys?" she turned to the rest of the court.
"Maybe Dragon? Or Leviathan?" Nimbus suggested.
"I don't think there is a symbol for that, unfortunately."
"Are you sure, mum? You did use the Naga seal on Viper and Crimson," Daskka pointed to the two daggers.
"That's true. Do you guys think the seal is ok?" Hera turned to the Naga weapons.
"It fits us very well," Viper nodded.
"And it makes the Naga skills you have stronger. Not just on us but on you too!" Crimson said in an excited tone.
'Can I ask one thing?' Lurize stepped closer to Hera, who saw the various seals she could place on Livy as holograms thanks to the Runebound Chisel.
"Of course," Hera nodded but didn't look away. She was essentially flipping through her options and didn't want to miss something special.
"When you make a seal, do you have to have only one element to it?"
Hera stopped and turned to the armored beetle, "What do you mean?"
'All seals you made only incorporated a single element. Fire, lighting, reflection, sound. Then you made the moonlight seal which is dancing the line of being multiple elements. Is it not possible to use more than one single element? Something like a charred tree, or a mist snake, or cloud griffon, golden beetle, a compound thing.'
Hera frowned, "I never tried if I'm being honest, but… in theory, it could. Hang on," she pulled her tablet and sent a message to Peaches asking about that very thing. She knew the guides couldn't tell her many things, but since she had the chisel, maybe he would answer.
It didn't take long for him to reply and ask what the hell she was trying to do. After a quick explanation, the guide just said, 'I'm coming over.' Two minutes later, there was a knock on the door.
"That was quick… Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Hera looked around, but no one could explain. Either way, she wasn't going to leave Peaches waiting.
Just as she opened the door, not only did she see the talking green apple that she knew so well, but also a new year's Chinese dragon.
"Oh! Hi Tailou! I wasn't expecting you to."
"Sorry, I should've asked. Is it ok for me to be here?" Tailou looked at Hera, then back at Peaches.
"Of course. It was a good surprise. I wanted to ask you what happened with Luna too, but this has nothing to do with what I'm doing."
"You actually know what happened to her. Well, with who she was."
"Do I?" Hera looked at the guide, not sure what he meant.
"Yes. Your friend found Selene. The giant statue of a wyvern. She was Luna, or, more specifically, Luna was based on her. During that night, Selene used all the power she had on her to try to force the moon to appear again and never go away. However, she didn't understand where the moon was. Because of it, when she tried to use her power to lock it in place, her intention took over. The idea of making sure the room would never be without the moonlight overwhelmed the power and created the new moon. But doing so turned her body into stone and fell into the ocean. This is what I told you to see. The thing when the light of the two full moons overlaps. You can see Selene sleeping underwater. The statue is unable to be damaged by anything."
Hera nodded, "I see… That's kind of sad but beautiful in a way. Luna, I mean Selene, gave her life to save the room, and now, who knows how long after, the moonlight still exists."
"Yeah, I always felt like she's still around," Tailou smiled but stopped himself before his eyes started to water, "Now, Peaches said you are trying to do something that I might help. What is it?"
"Right. Let me give you the rundown," Hera explained to both guides about the inner workings of her legacy. Peaches had heard some of it before, but only bits and pieces. This was the first time Hera ever gave him a full explanation which was very helpful since not even a guide was privy to the details of a legacy, "So now, I'm trying to use the Royal Seal to give something special to Livy. I was thinking about a dragon seal or something, but I don't know. It doesn't feel like it's the right fit. Lurize here gave a suggestion, and I wanted to ask if it was possible. Using more than just one symbol on the seal."
"I see… Well, there are a few types of Draconic symbols. Some are just generic, and others more specific, but mixing… I don't know," Tailou frowned. Seeing the head of a new year dragon with that expression was extremely cute, but Hera held herself back, even if Daskka, Crimson, Dusa, and even Ember were freaking out inside her mind.
"I wouldn't say it's impossible, but it's very tricky, Kid. The main thing is that you need to use two symbols that match, and I don't mean visually. The mana inside them needs to flow naturally from one to the other. And it can't just be the same symbol; otherwise, they would be fighting with each other to use the entire effect," Peaches explained.
"I see… but it is possible then. And it's all about the mana. I guess I'm lucky. My title, well, one of them, might be able to help me with this," Hera smiled.
Peaches paused for a moment, thinking about what she was saying, "Actually, yeah. That might help a lot. People usually can't see if the mana between the two symbols is fighting against each other or not until it's over. You should be able to tell right away."
"That's perfect, then. Actually… Daskka, can I give a Royal Seal to something that is from my Venomous Arsenal?"
The herald looked at the Empress, then closed her eyes. After 30 seconds, she whispered, "Oh shit," the eyes of the mist snake shot open, revealing the green and the silver eye, "Yes, you can! I mean, there is absolutely no reason to do that since the weapon is temporary, and making a seal takes a lot of time. But you can use it to test, and if it doesn't work, just drop the skill and call a new one!"
Hera opened a big smile, "Then that's what we are doing!" she turned to Peaches and Tailou, "I know this might be asking too much, but can you help me? Not to come up with ideas or anything like that. Just showing me the various symbols that can be used for each thing would already make my life so much easier. If it's too much, don't worry about it. Really. I'm sorry for making you come all this way here, or if you want to stay around while I work, that's completely fine too; I just want to get this done today."
"We can't share every single variation, but we can give you some ideas," Tailou turned to Peaches, "Right?"
"Right. It's not like I can say no now. I already gave her a chisel that shows her a bunch of different symbols. As long as we don't show something hidden or that people still don't know about, it will be fine," Peaches nodded.
"That people still don't know? Like what?" Hera tilted her head.
'Oh, oh, maybe it's something like FTL, you know, or some hidden law of quantum mechanics,' Chris suggested.
"FTL? Really," Hera turned to Chris. The new dagger was very into science fiction.
"When your scientist figures out everything needed for that, then yes. We can show you that symbol," Peaches paused, enjoying Hera's reaction as she realized the guide was confirming the existence of that before adding, "If that is a symbol."
Hera rolled her eyes, "That's just mean," she wasn't the only one disappointed. That joke made Chris so sad that she even stopped floating and just propped herself against the wall.
"A little bit," Peaches smirked.
As they started talking about the runes, sigils, and symbols that could be used to make the seal, the rest of the court didn't have much to do, and eventually, DJ spoke up.
'Yo, dawg. Mind if I play something nasty to help you focus?'
Hera stopped and turned to the Khopesh, "Do you mean music, or are you just going to beatbox?"
'I mean music, bro. Without a full crew is hard to go a cappella. Nimbus can help me out to find something with a good flow. Some chill lo-fi or synth wave to get you in the zone, you feel me?'
"Why is Nimbus the one who can help you?" Lurize huffed.
'My man, don't get me wrong, but you have metal gloves. It's hard to use a touch screen with those,' DJ said.
While her court was doing their own thing in the back, Hera focused on her work. Thankfully, it took her only an hour and a half to find a decent combination. Like Peaches suspected, when she started making a rune, she could see the pattern of mana, and when she added something different, she could tell right away if it would work or not. What really sped up her process was being able to understand why each mixture clashed. If the first symbol caused the mana to be too wild, adding something aggressive like 'power' or 'tsunami' was more likely to fail. While if she went for something calmer like 'growth' or 'leaf,' the process would only fail at the end steps. When she finally found a combination that she liked, Hera put Livy on the table again. She used the essence extractor to get a powder version of the Searing Ember Stone, using it to engrave the symbol for Dragon, which was a pair of wings with a dragon head in the center, with the symbol for Whirlpool behind. That created a frame that pulled the mana from the outside to the center, increasing its power. The entire thing had a soft red color, contrasting with the blue of the weapons itself. She also called Cerulea, keeping the small sea serpent cuffs that she became on top of the table.
"Livy, you are a new member of the court, but one that I hope will be with us for a very long time. I ask you to become the one who will lead our charge, the one who will push forward against all odds and come out victorious. For you are Livy, and as the source of the powers you possess, shall be known as Leviathan. The unstoppable force, ruler of the ocean," the Empress spoke, finishing the skill.
The two-handed axes became soft, then the seal Hera just created was glowing red, and suddenly the entire thing turned to water, washing away the cuffs, making them vanish as well.
A couple of moments passed when a geyser appeared from the ground. All the water clumped up, forming the Leviathan. Livy was now bigger than Lurize, towering at almost 3 meters tall with a long bulky body covered in scales that were a mix of pastel pink and a blueish gray. She wore a heavy vibrant blue armor adorned with ornaments that formed waves around her torso. There was a large dorsal fin going from the top of her dragon-like head to the base of her spine, where a pink tail appeared. This was very much like Cerulea's, with the pink, orange, and blue forming a flexible reef surrounded by the foam created by waves. Her hands were claws with five fingers, and so were her feet, and both had the same kind of mobility. The pants of the armor, which covered about half of the tail, was a dark brown, reminding Hera of the handle of the axe itself.
"Welcome," Nimbus smiled as the music continued playing, and some of the blades were dancing around.
"We are happy you are here," Lurize reached out to shake her hand.
"Thanks! Man, this is going to be really fun!" Livy grabbed the Royal Tutor's hand and shook it vigorously, almost pulling his arm out. Then she turned to the Empress, "When can I do a test run? This is so weird. I never imagined that having a body was like this."
Hera smiled, "Let's go to the Woolly Plains," she turned to Peaches and Tailou, "Would you mind if I went there? I want to throw a party tomorrow. Just for us, my court and you guys."
"Sure, kid. Go have fun. We'll talk later," Peaches said his goodbyes to everyone and walked out with Tailou. Half an hour later, Hera was walking through the entrance to the Woolly Plains, ready to test not just her new titled blade but her new court.
Comments
Perizou
Yes! The order of the runes/seals/glyphs/symbols will affect the interaction. But since this is a 'new skill' it's not something she considered. On the Example you gave, the result would still not work. The wild and aggressive mana would clash, but using the one Hera made herself (Dragon and Whirlpool) if we swap them around, the whirlpool would take all the mana from the dragon, stopping it from being fully formed. For the second question. I do have a 'map' with the connections between rooms and their rough shape. This drawing is an absolute mess and I don't think anyone aside from me would understand XD
Kensyi
This is more of a system/rules question. Maybe lore, but with the Rune/Seal crafting, does the order of the seals change their interactions, you used the example of Wild and aggressive, but if it was some thing aggressive then she used the seal for something wild would that change how the mana interacted? Like I am wondering if the Order of Operations of the seals matter as it were. I feel like depending on the order the seals or runes are in would affect how the mana works. Or am I way off base with my thinking? Also just a quick question on the rooms since this has come up in the stories, but did you have a layout of how these rooms connect to each other and how they layout on the layers that they are on? Just thinking about how they all interact would be so mind boggling.
