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Chapter 426 - Court of blades - 1
🕑 Added 2022-04-01 13:01:11 +0000 UTC##### Author's Note ####
If you are coming from the discord. April's fools! C'mon I wasn't about to stop now.
A small heads up, however. Because it's a freaking legacy, there is a lot that needs to be explained, and I don't want to do all that in the background. So this chapter and the next will be heavy with notifications and a bit of theory crafting on Hera's part.
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Court of Blades - Legacy
The Court of Blades is a legacy created by a member of the Court of Heroes.
With it, you are able to absorb any bladed weapon in your court. You can call any member of your court to fight by your side at any moment.
When your affinity reaches a certain point with a weapon and the conditions are met, you are able to assign a nobility title to your blade, allowing it to become one with you and with itself.
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The Court of Blades - Legacy
Empress: Hera Kingsley
Consort:
Spymaster:
Mistress of the Hunt:
Harlequin:
Knight-Captain:
Royal Guard:
Royal Adviser:
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Skill Acquired
Courtship
Court Ruler
Bestow Title
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Courtship - Legacy skill
A ruler needs a court, and to fill it, they must perform certain actions to entice possible subjects.
You are able to absorb a bladed weapon into your court. You are required to have a certain degree of familiarity with the weapon to accept it in your court. Doing so will destroy the weapon's physical form, but you can recall the weapon back to your side by spending mana. Weapons in your court retain 50% of their own status and are granted an additional 20% of the empress attributes. Each member of your court is able to use only a single type of mana. While they have access to that mana, the empress won't be able to use said mana. At any moment, you can expel a member of your court. If you do so, the weapon that you absorbed will be lost forever.
The level of familiarity with the weapon changes the % received from the empress.
Current members of your court: Lurize of poison (Zweihander) - 10 000 mana.
Court capacity: 1/5
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Court Ruler - Legacy skill
An empress knows that they only have to give an order, and it will be followed. As the empress of your court, you are able to give commands to its members, who will do their best to fulfill your orders.
Your blades will move on their own, inheriting any fighting style you possess that may also be applicable to them. Attacks against the blades will never harm the empress, but attacks against the empress harm her entire court. The court will prioritize the empress' safety unless commanded otherwise. If the empress is attacked, the court will do its best to protect them. All members of the court pledge their eternal loyalty to the empress.
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Bestow Title - Legacy skill
A court is more than an empress and its subjects. There are several moving pieces, each with its own duty to help the empress. When the conditions are met, you are able to bestow a title to a weapon. Doing so will allow them to serve you better by giving them mana bodies that match their personalities. A title is a lifelong vow that cannot be removed until the empress passes the court to someone else.
Giving one of your blades a title will increase the weapon's attributes depending on the rank of the given title. They will also be able to utilize 90% of their original weapon status and receive double the additional attribute from the empress for being a member of her court. The type of mana that one of your titled blades uses does not remove the empress's ability to use that type of mana.
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Several skills and spells can be affected by the legacy.
These changes will happen as the legacy adjusts to its new host.
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Presence of Ego item located.
Would you like to turn said item into the current legacy herald?
Doing so will not bind the item to the legacy.
[Yes] [No]
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"What? Wait. Fuck me, that's a lot of stuff," Hera kept blinking, overwhelmed by the number of notifications. Daskka flew to her shoulder and landed there to watch her owner toy with the flying windows.
Hera read each of them very carefully, worried about even touching them and doing something wrong. This legacy seemed amazing! If she understood this correctly, she would be able to have several weapons flying around her while she fought, and the only mana she had to spend was to summon the weapons. They would also get some power based on her own attributes, which meant that all her weapons should be stronger overall. After all, most weapons Hera had scaled with 2 or 3 attributes, and now each of her blades, as the skill called, would scale with all of them. Or at least, that's what she understood about it.
Then, there was the last notification. The only ego item Hera had was Daskka, and it was asking if she could be the legacy herald. The best part of it was that doing so would not make Daskka bound to the legacy. Meaning that she wouldn't be trapped with the skill. However, this felt like too much of a decision for Hera to make. She turned to the snake to ask her opinion on the matter.
"So, here is the thing. This notification is asking me if I want to make you the herald of my legacy. If I say yes, I think we'll be able to talk to each other. I mean, that is what Blue did with Stormcloud. She can talk with her legacy's herald. But, I don't know how this works. Maybe if we do this, you will change and not necessarily for the best, and I have no idea what that will do with your mind. Then again, I'm pretty sure this is the only chance we have of making you the herald. So, I want to ask you. Do you want to be the herald of the legacy?"
Daskka looked at Hera and, using that connection via poison, asked what a legacy herald was. Hera scratched her head and explained in the best way she could. As far as she knew, it was sort of a guide on how to use the legacy. It was a being attached to the legacy that would answer any questions the new holder had. From what she heard from Blue, the herald had a personality, and they could talk about other stuff, but she had no idea how that would work with Daskka herself. She added that Hera didn't have any preference. It was completely up to Daskka. If she wanted to be the herald, that was OK, and if she didn't, it was fine too.
Hera watched as the snake was thinking, really thinking. In a way, it was like watching a teenager trying to decide what college they wanted to go to. After a couple of minutes, Daskka turned back to Hera and said something she couldn't understand. The beginning of the feeling was 'I want,' but then it became a bit of a mess. Images of her hair, then of exit signs, followed by rats and other rodents. Then it turned into some large mountains and small temples. Followed by the lake in Boothudurn, and it ended with a dinosaur skeleton.
"I… didn't get that. Was that a yes or a no?" Hera asked, trying not to make Daskka feel bad. The snake nodded in response and pointed at the yes button on the notification, "Are you sure?"
Daskka jumped from Hera's shoulder and wrapped around Hera's hand, trying to make her press yes. Both of them knew that even if the snake really wanted, she couldn't force Hera to press something in a notification. They had tried that some time ago just to test it out.
Hera smiled and kissed Daskka's head, "Just so you know. I love you no matter what happens," and pressed yes.
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The title of Royal Adviser has been bestowed to the Ego Daskka.
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The notification disappeared, and Daskka seemed to be bracing herself for impact, yet… nothing happened.
"Daskka? Are you OK?" Hera asked and received a nod as a reply. The snake also seemed confused about the situation, "So what happened to the herald?"
"I am here."
Hera stared at Daskka for a moment. That voice came from her. She wasn't going crazy. The snake's mouth even moved, but hearing her pet speak for the first time was odd, to say the least. Her voice was softer than Hera expected, and it wasn't that young. It was like hearing a teenager speak even though the snake was technically only a year old.
"You can talk now?" Hera asked to confirm what she heard.
Daskka closed her eyes and seemed to be struggling with something until she finally opened her mouth again, "… Yesss."
"Wait, are you OK? Does it hurt when you speak?" Hera felt flustered. It was the first time she saw Daskka like that. Even when she was hit by a monster, she wouldn't struggle so much to get up.
"I… am…. F-f-fine…thissss….hard," Daskka continued, now her voice sounded closer to a growl.
"Oh… yeah, I guess. It's your first time speaking. But… is it going to be like that when I ask about the legacy? I have some questions," Hera was a bit worried. She had a lot of questions about her legacy, including why Daskka was given a title. She wasn't supposed to become part of the legacy. Hera didn't want the construct to be stuck with it, and she had no idea if the snake would still be part of the legacy when she passed it to someone else.
"And I have answers. When you ask about the legacy, my speech won't be a problem with our communication, although I might occasionally use our… let's call it poison link to explain things better," Daskka spoke without stuttering.
"What the hell? How are you speaking so well now? Was it that fast to learn?" Hera asked.
"No, when we are talking about the legacy I…. Kind of know what to say. It's like… the feeling that I get when you send your emotions to me. If I try to talk about something on my own…It…get…hard," Daskka spoke normally at first, but then her speech returned to that low growl.
Hera patted Daskka's head, "Don't push yourself like that. It doesn't seem to be something very comfortable. We can still talk like we are used to."
In response, the snake sent a message to Hera through their poison communication. It basically said that, no, it wasn't uncomfortable, but it took a lot of her to figure out how to arrange the words to make a sentence.
"How about when you talk as the herald? Does it hurt then?" Daskka just shook her head and sent a feeling saying that it was fun and it helped her learn.
"OK then. I'm going to ask a few questions about the legacy then. First of all, why did you receive one of the titles? Are you part of the legacy now?" Hera sat by the crates, leaning her back against the boxes to rest with one knee up. This talk should take a while.
"Yes and no, the position of royal adviser is reserved for the herald. If you had chosen not to make me the herald, whoever became the herald would be in that position. And no, when you pass a legacy to someone else or for any reason lose the legacy, I won't be a part of it. Unless, of course, the next holder also wears the necklace. In that case, it's likely that I will also be an option for the herald again," Daskka was now sitting on Hera's knee.
"That's kinda good, actually. If someone inherits the legacy, you might help them figure out how everything works since you already will have the experience of being with me," Hera nodded.
"Maybe, but I'm not sure," Daskka scratched her head with her tail.
"Why?"
"We don't know what's going to happen to me when you pass the necklace to someone else. Maybe when my owner changes, I'll lose the memories of the previous owners," Daskka replied.
"The necklace says otherwise. It's says that you will remember the skills at least, and I'm guessing you'll remember how to use them. And if you remember all that stuff, you're probably gonna remember me. Also, why are you able to talk without a problem this time? It was about you, not the legacy?"
"It was a question about memories and memories which included the legacy. But if I'm being honest, I have no idea how this works. It's still very new to me."
"I can say the same," Hera chuckled, "We'll figure everything out together, OK?" Daskka nodded in response, "Next question then. How can I know what skills or spells will be affected by the legacy?"
"You can open your status window. Any skill the legacy is considering to affect will have an L by the name. If the skill affected is already altered by the legacy, you'll have the full legacy after the name of the skill. Oh, And this only shows up if you see the description of the skills, so you have to open them one by one."
"Do I get a say in it? Like don't affect this skill, or do affect this one?"
"If the skill would go through a significant change and you could lose the skill when you don't have the legacy anymore, then, yes. I'll let you know when a skill like that is analyzed and then you can check it. But if it's something like your fighting styles, you don't have to worry. They are already part of the legacy, and even if you don't have it anymore, the skills will remain there. After all, those are more about knowledge than something that the system creates."
Hera nodded and opened her status window.
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Hera Kingsley -- Role: Explorer Level: 25
Legacy: Court of Blades [Blades]
Stats:
Strength: 68 Endurance: 68
Agility: 68 Charisma: 68
Intelligence: 68 Luck: 68
Mana: 40234/44678
Remaining attribute points: 11
Skills:
Legacy:
Court Ruler, Courtship, Bestow Title
Passive:
Exponential Growth
Observe: Red sight 3
Treasure Map
Handaxe Combat 3, Chakram Combat 2, Wire Trap Style 2, Subtle Strike 3, Naga style 2
Dodge 2, Run 3, Improved Stamina 4, Flee 2, Jump 2
Mana Recovery 4, Mana sensitivity 2, Shaper of Mana, Reinforced Mana
Improved Regeneration 3
Ailment Mastery 3, Poison Mastery 2, Allergy Mastery 1
Earth resistance 1, Wind resistance 2, Water resistance 1, Sturdy Body 1
Naga poison 2
Nature connection 1
Silver Lining 2
Ancient language 2
Active:
All in 2
Inspect 2
Hide 3, Sneak Attack 3
Weapon Maintenance 2, Weapons Rebalance 2, Weapon break
Etching 2
Medical Reference 2, Identify Ailment 1
Green Thumb 2
Chain of Command 2
Role Skills:
Local Guide
Private Room, Meeting Room
Explorer's Assassinate
Explorer's Map
Hunter's Catalogue, Explorer's Hunt
Explorer's Research
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Hera sighed, "That's a lot to go through."
"Imagine if you got the legacy later. It would be even more. Now, if you touch the legacy name, you can see the information about the legacy again. And if you touch the Blades option, it will show all weapons that are in your court," Daskka explained.
"Right," aside from the legacy skill, Hera also noticed that her silver lining had leveled up. Nothing changed in the description, and there was no L by the name, but it seemed like using her [All In] to increase her luck and get the legacy was enough to give her an extra skill rank, or at least, that's what she assumed happened. Still, there was a lot to go through, and she didn't even know where to start. However, as soon as she saw the name of one of her skills, she decided to start with that.
Comments
Perizou
that wasn't just the first blademaster, but all of them, and their blades
Xaekros
Thanks for the ch.! My first thought is how many masters did the first Blademaster have to know to make the test field like that. My second thought is "jackpot!"
