Rewards all around
After returning to Spiral, Hera and the others let Chika take the heart on top of the cart. The giant snake took the item into her mouth and moved to the side while Darni and the others got close to them.
"I have to say. I did not expect you to help us this much," Darni smiled at the group.
"Me neither. You have no idea how much trouble we would be without you all," Asher nodded.
Hera glanced at the rest of the group with a confused expression, "What do you mean?"
"We can tell you killed a Land Shark. That is its pelt, isn't it?" Naph pointed at the black pelt on top of the cart. Hera nodded, and the scholar continued, "That is the one monster around here that wouldn't be affected by the repellent pelts we are making. If anything, they would taunt it to come to fight us. And I see you even managed to nab a few other ones. If you are willing to part with them, it will help us a lot."
"NO! Hera, you promised I could have the obsidian pelt!" Bralac yelled while jumping on top of the cart and stepping in front of the pelt to protect it from the Naga.
Asher hesitated, confused by the dwarf's reaction, "I… did I say something wrong?"
"No, you didn't," Hera sighed and turned to the crafter, "Can you please get off the cart? I don't want you to fall when Nimbus starts moving. Also, if this would help them, it might be a good idea to let the pelt here. We can always find another for you later," Hera kept thinking about the first-time rewards. There was a chance for the rewards to come with tiers from F to S, and if this was the case, giving them the obsidian pelt could push them closer to the best possible reward.
"But… but…" Bralac's eyes looked like that of a puppy who just lost his favorite toy.
"Excuse me. But there seems to be a misunderstanding here," Asher interrupted the group, "I don't mean the obsidian pelt. The monster from where that one came from is too different from the other moles. Even if we use it to make the repellent, it won't work with them, and again, it would only be enough to anger the Land Shark. I meant the other pelts. The ones with patches of black rock."
"Sure, sure. Take it. Just leave my precious alone," Bralac grabbed the obsidian pelt while the rest of the team sighed.
"Is he going to be ok?" Casks asked.
"I really hope so," Hera shrugged.
"Just leave the man alone. I know how it feels to be excited with a new material," Naph scoffed.
Bralac just looked at the Naga blacksmith feeling like he had found a kindred spirit for once. Hera asked the rest of the group if they were ok with giving the remaining pelts away, aside from the obsidian one, and sent a text to everyone explaining what she was thinking about. Seeing the possibility of the best possible rewards, everyone agreed to it. While they were getting the pelts out of the cart. Chika approached Casks and Darni. She nudged them with an odd expression before opening her mouth and letting the heart she got from the Obsidian Land Shark fall into Casks' hands.
"Chika, what is…." Casks' eyes went wide, and she started to shake, "How… Why?"
'I love you. Now, you can have child. You can be happy,' Chika replied to everyone who was around and could understand her.
Casks started crying and hugged Chika while being very careful with the heart. Darni joined in, tears already dripping from his face, "You are the best friend I could ever have asked for. I… We don't deserve you."
'Wrong. You deserve more. I help. I always help.'
Hera was the only one who could get the full picture of that tender moment. She smiled, feeling the tears forming in the corner of her eyes.
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You have completed the Dungeon Quest
You have gathered enough supplies for the Naga to cover their city and even found a few pelts that are much better suited for their plans.
First time rewards:
80 000 gold
Spiral Supplies S
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You have completed the Hidden Quest
You helped Chika to deal the killing blow to her target. Now, Darni and Casks can have children and expand their family.
First time rewards:
80 000 gold
Chika's gift
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You have completed the Dungeon Quest as the first to enter this dungeon hard mode
Rewards: Spiral Gift
+1 Level
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You have completed both the dungeon quest and the hidden quest together during the first time this dungeon was ever completed.
The following rewards will be upgraded.
Spiral Gift -> Spiral Masterwork.
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You have leveled up
Current Level: 29
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Hera frowned, seeing the notifications. Everything was amazing, but there was a part of her that expected to receive another upgrade because she was considered a Naga. She knew it was greedy of her, but still, she felt it was only fair since it had already happened once. Then again, complaining about it was stupid. They got several rewards, the S rating supplies, the masterwork, a gift from Chika, and a level-up. Asking for anything more was just excessive.
Seeing the notification, everyone in the group gasped and celebrated. Darni and the others didn't seem to mind since they were already in their own world.
"Can we open the rewards now?" Chiton asked with a smile on his face.
Hera chuckled, "Sure. Just remember that if you get something too big, you are responsible for carrying it.
"I mean… what's the biggest thing we could get?" Alton asked.
"A house," Shane replied without missing a beat.
"What?" most of the dwarves asked at the same time.
"A house. There is this story about a dungeon that gave someone a full house as a reward. He opened it right in front of the entrance, and it was a nightmare to get it out of there. Every explorer knows about that one," Shane looked at Hera with a smile. It was clear that she wanted to tease the group.
The countess was still debating if she should play along or not when Mylo spoke up, "But wasn't the house just a doll house? Like," he gestured with his hands, "This big?"
Seeing his reply, the dwarves looked at Shane with a confused expression, then at Hera, who realized that the jig was up, "She's just messing with you guys. We can get something big like a cart or something, but usually, it's never something large enough not to pass through the entrance. But keep in mind that if the entrance is really big, there is a chance that the rewards can also be that big. Here, we should be fine."
Shane clicked her tongue and then pulled up her tablet, starting to level up and check her rewards. Everyone started to do the same, including Hera. She was now at level 29, and in total, she had 37 points to spend. Increasing all her attributes by using her [Exponential Growth] skill would cost 17 points per increase, so she could do it twice and bring all her attributes to 82. It's been a while since she had a big increase. The last time was when she traveled to the Waperath Jungle, and the reason for her high number of points was because of the amount of rooms she passed through. If she wanted to reach level 30 with a blast, she would have to do something different. Nimbus got the same amount of points, but according to him and Daskka, he couldn't have a total number of attributes bigger than Hera's. In total, the Empress had 492 points across all her attributes, and Nimbus only had 466. But, unlike it was with Hera, he couldn't use the [Exponential Growth] skill. If that was because his attributes didn't match or because her court couldn't use that skill was something that remained to be seen. In the end, the Sentinel decided to bump his intelligence to 46 and keep the last 2 points for the next level.
Hera felt like this was the biggest cheat of her Legacy. Not only could she make people to fight beside her, but they would even be able to level up at the same pace as she did. Then again, it was a legacy. It was supposed to be a cheat. Her next step was to check the rewards. First, she opened the Spiral Supplies S, expecting the masterwork to be better, and she would keep Chika's gift for last.
When she touched the option on her tablet, a light came out of it, and a scroll inside a metal tube appeared in her hand. She opened it, and it revealed the same painting that was in the middle of Spiral. A multitude of different and unique environments filled with color. Hera looked to the side and found the same spot on the wall, and it seemed like this was all a one-to-one representation, but on a different scale.
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Spirit of the Spiral Mural
Rarity - Epic
This scroll can be used to apply a permanent buff to any weapon or armor. The buff will vary depending on the item it was used whit. Weapons that share similarities with the images in the scroll can receive better effects.
The scroll has 3 charges, and when the last charge is used, the scroll won't be consumed, but the ability to increase the power of a piece of equipment will no longer be available.
Charges 3/3
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"Holy crap, this is amazing!" Hera gasped. For anyone else, this could be a hard decision. After all, there was always the chance of finding a better weapon. But for the holder of the Court of Blades, this was one of the best possible ways to increase her strength. If she could use this on Nimbus, she would have a permanent buff for life. But first, she looked over the entire drawing. It said that if the weapon shared similarities with the painting, the effect could be stronger. She noticed a couple parts that might match the Sentinel. One was a place with a volcano on a very tall mountain. The other was a mountain with red vegetation and a blue waterfall cutting the middle. The first option would match where Hera found the Flaming Frostguards, the second had the same colors, and in a few other drawings, she could see ice and places that had fire.
"Nimbus. What do you think?" Hera turned to the Sentinel, who was still in his griffon form.
'I don't know how that would feel, but I would be happy to be able to help you, even more, Empress.'
"Empress?" Hera raised one of her eyebrows.
'Sorry. I mean Hera,' Nimbus quickly replied, understanding her complaint.
"Ok then. Can you turn into your weapon form? Also, I don't know if this will affect your body. Daskka, what do you think?" Hera turned to the snake who was around her neck.
"There shouldn't be any problems, but I agree. This specifies a weapon, and Nimbus himself is no longer considered a weapon… I think," Daskka looked at Nimbus, "Yeah. I think that's right."
Hera stopped to think for a moment, "Ok, Nimbus, it's your choice. Do you want to try it? If not, that's ok. I can wait until I get an interesting weapon for this."
'What are the odds you would get a weapon as a reward that would be worth using it on? That way, we can see the effects,' Nimbus asked.
"I don't know. I mean, I'm kind of using a lot of my luck lately."
"But wouldn't that count as luck to both of you?" Daskka asked.
"Maybe. Let's try. That way, you can have a more well-informed decision," Hera nodded, realizing she was being too rash. She had no clue how that would affect the weapon and, in Nimbus' case, how it would affect him.
Moving along to the next reward, Hera touched the Spiral Masterwork option on her tablet. There was a light, and the item appeared in her hands.
"Ok. It was a good idea to wait," Hera said with a large smile.