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Chapter 596 - Post Game Analysis
🕑 Added 2023-01-25 23:48:36 +0000 UTC##### Author's Note #####
Hey everyone! First of all, I want to apologize for the delay in today's chapter. I was doing it last night, but my allergies were killing me, and between all the meds and the sneezing, I reached a point where I wasn't able to think full sentences, much less write them down. So I had to throw the towel and go to bed without finishing it up.
My plan was to sleep for a bit and wake up around noon (my time) to finish the chapter and post it with just 3-4 hours of delay. But the meds knocked me out! I slept for 10 hours straight and woke up full-on Robbin Willians in Jumanji (if you don't get that reference, please go watch that movie, it's great.)
I told people on the discord server which is the best place to know about those 'emergency warnings'
Another thing. I forgot to do part of my own proofing on the last chapter, and as I did it to make sure there weren't any mistakes, I came up with a better idea for Alex's skill upgrade.
To not make you guys go back and read it before reading this chapter, here is the new skill while the dust based skill is now gone.
Did the fact that dust keeps making me sneeze and messing with my nose played a fact on that decision? Absolutely it did!
Here is what Alex said abour her new skill:
Let me read it. It's a skill called fleeting wind. I can move better when I'm obscured, and I can create a trail of wind behind me that increases my speed. Also, any spells that I use will have a gust of wind following them, and I can follow that path to move quicker, whatever that means. Let's go outside. I want to try this
Again, I'm sorry for the delay and hopefully it won't happen again anytime soon. ######################
During the rest of the day, the group tested out their new items. Shane felt a bit sad about the results of the powder. The difference of power between putting the mana inside the projectile and just firing like she was used to was minimal. Sure, things would change if she weren't using her legacy, but at this point, not using it felt just wrong. Not to mention there was no reason not to. On the other hand, the socks had a lot of potential. The trail they would leave behind was very hard to see, but the effects that it could create were wild. Using fire mana created a large cloud of smoke that hindered the view of anyone except the person wearing the socks, and the person who ignited the chemicals. Using wind made almost an invisible barrier that would make those trying to pass feel like they were knee-deep in a lake. Poison, oddly enough, would cause a reaction that created vapors able to clean the air around the trail. And it wasn't just about air quality. Hera's Spore and Slow Fields and her Sensory Net would also vanish but it wouldn't do anything with the Soundproof Bubble. It was hard to tell exactly, but the current theory was that the vapors would remove things that behaved like dust in the air, while things that were more solid would not be affected by it. Even if they were poison based, like one of Hera's Poison Needles.
They also tested Mylo's new armor. They put it on the ground and tossed some spells at it to see what would happen. It was hard to tell how strong the effect was, but the spells did feel weaker with the impact. Using things like afflictions and such yielded no results, or at least that's what it felt like. Then again, they were trying to poison or mess with an object, not a person. However, Hera was able to notice one thing. As the spells hit the undershirt, some of the mana would be absorbed into the armor, and the more mana it absorbed, the more mana it would take from the spell. But if there were a delay between the attacks, that would go away.
"Hey, Mylo. I didn't check the actual information, but does it say anything about the defense getting stronger the more it blocks spells or something?"
Mylo shook his head, "No, it doesn't. Why?"
"I have a feeling that it's taking more mana out of the spells the more mana it takes."
"There are some rare occasions where items have some interaction that has some unexpected results. But they are very minor, so much so that the system doesn't bother with giving us the information about it," Helena chimed in.
"How minor? Like a 1% difference?"
"More like a 0.001%. That's why it doesn't even show that."
"Humm… I see," Hera turned back to the armor, trying to see if there was something else that she was missing.
The last thing they had to test was Alex's new skill. When she walked, there was a small air current behind her, as if it was pushing her forward, but at the same time, it would make it harder for any animal to catch her scent. Daskka was the one who noticed that. When she used a spell, even if it weren't a wind spell, the magic would have a gust pushing it forward, making it reach its target faster. Some spells would also get stronger with that, but for most, it only reduced the actual travel time. But the biggest boost was the trail created by them. The small air current would allow Alex to move extremely quickly when she was following it. Her speed would rival her Wind Chaser spell, but it would allow her to stop and change her direction midway, unlike the spell. However, if she left the trail, she would lose the boost of speed. During the test, they found out that the limit for that trail would be the same as the spell's range, meaning she could control how far she would go.
If Alex was running at full speed, she could be even faster than Nimbus on his Griffon form, but that came at a cost. She could only keep up that speed for a few seconds and would be too exhausted to do anything else after it. The trail accelerated her movement, but the strain on her muscles and stamina was very much the same for the amount of effort she was making. Still, that was all up to her. How fast she would move and for how long was completely under her control. As long as she paced herself, she could move at incredible speeds nonetheless.
During the day, Hera also asked Yarnball about their theories. She spent most of her mana on each question, and little by little, she confirmed that this was indeed a smoothie, and all their theories were correct except the one where Jadas went full-on mad scientist. However, that wasn't all the story. There were more factors that resulted in the extinction of the people in this room. This was verbatim what Yarnaball answered, which made everyone worried. Extinction was a heavy word, to say the least, and having something like Hera's relic say that felt define disconcerting. As if the people in this place didn't have a chance to survive or something like that.
Hera also asked where they could find those last pieces of information, but the answer was something she already knew. In the underwater city of Abyssia. The only answer she got about the underwater city was that there was something dangerous there. When she tried to expand on that information, she only got replies that meant that she didn't use enough mana for the question.
At some point, when everyone was training, the Empress went to her room to be alone. Well, not exactly alone, but to be with her court. She asked Daskka if everyone was ok, and the herald confirmed that they could be summoned without a problem, but Nimbus and Lurize would still have fragile forms. Not to the point that they would just collapse in the wind, but fighting wasn't a good idea for at least another day. That being said, all of them were willing to come out if Hera wanted to talk.
The Empress nodded and spoke, "You are always with me," calling her entire court out.
The blades appeared around her this time without the flourish of her summon in the dungeon. Lurize and Nimbus were standing by the bed while the rest were floating in different places in the room.
"Hey, everyone. How are you all feeling?"
"Not great," Core said.
"Yeah… that was rough," Frost nodded, which looked as if the glaive was just shaking back and forth for everyone else.
"I know, that cube thing was really scary," Hera agreed, thinking everyone was talking about when she had to dismiss them.
"What? No, that was fine. Everyone was ok to fight against that thing. Even if it broke our shape, it shouldn't remove us from the legacy," Ooze explained.
"Yeah… I agree, but it wasn't a risk I was willing to take," Hera shrugged.
"You are worried about us but not about yourself?" Nimbus was staring daggers at the Empress."
Hera tilted her head with a confused expression, "What do you mean by that? I was taking care of myself."
"Were you? Then what the hell was that last move?" Nimbus asked.
"Nimbus, I don't understand why you are so upset. I know it was a reckless move, but it wasn't like I went in without any idea of coming out. My plan was to have you turn into a griffon and rush out. If needed, the rest of the court would help open a path. Again, I know how reckless it was, but it wasn't a suicide move, just one that, if it failed, would put me in a very bad position," Hera explained with a very calm voice.
"But…" Nimbus wanted to continue arguing, but he didn't have anything to say against what the Empress said.
"Come here," Hera tapped the side of her bed. Nimbus slumped and walked over to her side, sitting beside her. After he got comfortable, the Empress took the Sentinel's hand, "Look. I know it was risky, and I apologize for worrying you," she turned to the rest of the room, "all of you. But it was something I thought I had to do. We were in an uphill battle, and I could feel we were starting to slip. It wasn't easy, and it was a stupid idea, but it worked, and I'm not going to apologize for that. But I do apologize for making you all worry."
Nimbus let out a long sigh, "It's infuriating when you act like that. I want to be mad, but you are actually being reasonable. Can't you act like one of those noble characters that make us angry in shows?"
Hera chuckled, "Want me to act like a spoiled brat? Sorry, but I don't even know if I know how to."
"I know," Nimbus rested his head on the Empress' shoulder, who then turned to Lurize and the others.
"Does anyone else have something to say about what I did? It's ok if you do. I think it's better for me to listen than to let any problems go away only to come back later."
Edge, Armory, and Scythe complained about her attack, but their complaints were the same as Nimbus'. Her move was too reckless, and she needed to take better care of herself. On the flip side, Dao and Lurize had a different opinion from the rest of the Blades. They agreed that it was a reckless move, but they also approved her decision to do so. If the fight kept going, they would be in an even worse position, and despite the danger, Hera's plan was actually very well put together. Lurize, who has an amazing defense because of his skill, being the front of the battering ram, while Nimbus, who is more mobile and focused on protecting others, took care of the rear. Finally, having the Empress herself as the deadly force behind the attack worked very well for the situation.
This conversation started exactly what Hera wanted to do, a strategy meeting. After leaving the dungeon, she decided that she should have a 'post-game analysis' with her court. They could talk about the things that happened, their mistakes, and good ideas. Doing so should improve their teamwork even more and help everyone get in a good flow. Just because they could sense each other and had Armory as the de facto commander of the group, that didn't mean they had no room to improve.
Daskka also took that moment to ask for suggestions on what she could do to help. She was upset about being the designated healer, even if it was an important job. Everyone gave a different suggestion, from focusing on her silver mist form to attacking the enemies with her body, to focusing more on spells since she had the same amount of mana that Hera did and have her as the mage of the group. Another option was to have her lean more into the supporting position, focusing on buffs and ways to control the battlefield. Lurize also suggested that Daskka leaned into what a snake would do in nature. Move around unseen and go for the kill when the moment arrives.
While they were discussing the options that someone in the shape of a snake would have, Hera had a few ideas about herself. She wanted to be more flashy with her combat, but no one said that buffing had to be something simple. So far, she only used buffs that increased one type of damage, but when she was using her elemental armor, her body would be encased in that element. Using the stone armor, she would be covered in small illusory rocks. Using the fire armor made her look like a mirage, with everything around her being distorted by the heat. To be more flashy, she could make her blades look like full-blown magical weapons and not just the flying constructs they appeared to be. Another idea was to use mobile spell circles. She would need to learn how to make them properly, but if she could add some interesting effects, that might solve her image issues. The bottom line was that she always fought as a group. There was no need for her to be flashy by herself. Just like dancing, making impressive choreography for a single person took a lot of effort and complexity, but if a group was in sync, even simple dance moves would look amazing. Not to mention, she had a couple of kobold friends that would surely like that idea, and they might have even better suggestions for her when she managed to talk to them again.
Comments
Pltergeist
no problem with the delay and get well soon
Gail Burke
Awwww, such a wholesome chapter, thank you! I hope you are feeling better today.
