Upgraded Rewards

After that, it was over. They had finished everything they could do here. Hera glanced at Pandora, who gave a big thumbs up and asked about the rewards. Now that the system had confirmed, the dungeon was over.

Hera began reading the notification return to the entrance of the dungeon, apparently her reward changed from Scale Heart Hunter's Gift to Scale Heart Chieftain's Gift.

"Have you ever heard that name before?"

The dwarf shook her head, "Not really. "We usually just get the hunter one. But I do remember some people who got something else. I just don't think that's the name."

"Maybe it's because they consider me of Noble Blood or something," Hera suggested.

"Maybe. It's a bit strange. Do you mind waiting to open the gift after we go outside? It might be a good idea to show this to the harpies here. Since it's something that I don't think anyone ever saw, some we might be able to help people or something. Not sure."

"Right, I don't want to open here, anyway. What if whatever I get is something really big, you know?"

The leader of the scale of hearts, together with Carcassonne and a group of hunters and civilians, approached Hera once more to thank her. They even offered to throw her party as a celebration. For a moment, Hera considered, but she ultimately refused. She wasn't in the mood for a big party, and Pandora mentioned she participated in that kind of thing a few times already. It was fun, but it wouldn't add anything to what they did."

In the end, they decided to leave. They had stayed here for about 6 hours already and Hera was starting to get worried about the rest of the team. Instead, they started walking towards the exit of the dungeon, with Pandora's expression growing darker with each step.

"Just so you know, we won't be able to do anything about what's going to happen next."

"What do you mean?" Hera asked.

"The moment we go through that," Pandora gestured to the passage they were about to take. The one inside a large tree that would take them out of the dungeon, "Something will happen to the people who are here. There's nothing anyone can do about that. It's part of the dungeon, part of the events that transpired."

Hera frowned, still a bit worried about that, but nodded and continued moving towards the dungeon exit. The Empress had dismissed her court as she used to do before going in or out of any dungeon. Then she just walked forward, still confused by the dwarf's reaction. That is until she heard a noise coming from the back. More specifically, she heard the screams coming from the settlement.

Turning around, Hera saw the Scale Hearts running around in a frenzy. Children were crying with the adults trying to organize the madness somehow. But nothing that anyone said or did it seem to be working. They were all screaming for help and crying as if the world was about to end. Hera turned her attention to the sky. The location where the Scale Hearts were staring at and she understood that their reaction was exactly what should be expected considering the situation.

No one had died during the fight against the final boss, but Nactra-Vall had done a lot of damage to the settlement. Even with Hera and Pandora fighting it far away. Yet, in the sky, a dark cloud started to approach, and the closer it got, the more clear it became. That was no cloud, instead a swarm of bugs. The same strange mantis like creatures that was Nactra-Vall. Thousands, if not millions, of them accompanied by one massive creature look like the one that Hera and Pandora fought against, only several times bigger.

"What the hell?" Hera turned and walked towards the settlement once more. Wanting to help them fight the incoming swarm. Yet, she was quickly met with an invisible wall blocking her path. Confused, she turned to Pandora, who just shook her head.

"This is part of the dungeon. We finished the boss without killing those things. Just like they did. Now, what is going to happen is just their fate."

Hera frowned, but then looked again. "Wait, are you saying that the giant insect bodies on the perimeter of the island are those things? They wiped everything here and then died on the beach?"

"The most accepted theory is that after the insect attack the settlement, they started to grow too much in numbers. Eventually, it became unsustainable, and they all died off after having destroyed the ecosystem here. Funny enough, we also believe that their bodies work like a fertilizer to help the land heal and bring it back to what it is today, too."

Hera glanced back, watching the Scale Hearts scream and cry for help as the first wave of those creatures crashed into them. Some were able to fight back, killing a few of the bugs before being overwhelmed by the sheer numbers. But others, the ones that tried to escape, faced a much grimmer face. They were captured by the spider web like thread that was able to turn objects into puppets. With a quick yank, they were dragged to the middle of the swarm and devoured while still screaming. At the end, the very invisible wall became overwhelmed as the bugs covered it completely, turning the entire corridor dark.

Pandora continued walking forward, not wanting to see what was going to happen. She had done so once before and decided never to witness the event of this moment. Hera, on the other hand, continued to watch for a couple more moments. Hoping she could get any assemblers of hope. Any indication that in the end, the Scale Hearts still managed to survive. But that didn't seem to be the case. They all perished under the assault of the swarm and not even a scream could be heard over the incessant sound of wings buzzing.

Hera left the dungeon, finding Pandora outside waiting for her. A few other people who were also about to enter notice how they're free tonight last late and gave her a solid knot. It was a bit of a rite of passage to witness what happened to the Scale Hearts, and it wasn't easy for anyone. The expression on the face of those who saw their fate was always the same, worried and saddened.

"Should we find the others?" Pandora asked, and Hera gave a nod.

"That might be a good idea." She pulled up her tablet, checking if there were any messages from the other members and so far away seemed like the two of them were the first ones to complete the quest.

"How long does it take for people to finish the dungeon when they're going for the first time?"

"Between 8 and 10 hours. Unless they get really unlucky with a couple of the hunts. Then it should end in a day. But if you need, you can sleep there. It's kind of nice, actually."

"Something tells me that one of the groups is going to end up spending the night there.

"You think that's you think Farica and the others will take that long to finish?" Pandora asked.

Hera shook her head. "No, no. I think Bonnie and Alex will want to stay for the night and since Shane is not really going to be helping them find the monsters, or at least that's what she said, they might need to stay there for longer than they expected."

"Then should we head back to the hotel?"

"Sure. But let's talk with a few of the harpies here first. I want to know if anyone else ever got the chieftain's gift."

It didn't take long for them to find the answers, as there were a couple of people nearby who, instead of going into the dungeon, helped everybody with the logistics of running it. They had a list of all types of rewards one could get and hearing about the chieftain's gift made them both worried and excited. It meant that now there was a complete the new set of rewards to the acquired but they had no information about that. Even worse, they had no idea how to acquire that reward without being in the city tonight.

The empress offered the token that she gained during the dungeon as a loan so they could test it and see if there really was something to do with that. They quickly accepted and started some making some calls so more experienced group could attempt the dungeon and to acquire the new rewards.

With that out of the way, the Empress return to her hotel room together with Pandora. She sent a message for everybody else, letting them know they were out of the dungeon and hoping to talk and at once they all return and they would have a meeting during dinner to confirm everything they had discovered. But as much as Hera wanted to share the knowledge of a possible greater reward with the rest of her group, her curiosity got the better of her.

Just as they arrived in the hotel room, she pulled up her tablet and took the reward she got from the dungeon. She had no idea what to expect, but according to Pandora, the list of items that she could get was very big. From simple consumables that could assist her in the dungeon to powerful equipment that even someone at her level might be interested in using. Sure, the weapons themselves were likely nowhere near as strong as the ones Hera already had. But there was a chance that something good was in the mix. An accessory or something with a unique skill that could really help the Empress out.

Once she opened the reward, a pair of gloves appeared in front of her. They were a bit strange as there was a tiny claw at the tip of each finger. But it wasn't enough to actually do any harm. Instead, they were only minor annoyance even if they were to strike anyone. Both of them were a deep brown color very reminiscent of mud, with the tiny nails being a pure white, giving each a unique contrast. They're also some white Engravings all along the gloves with I thick white lines around the wrist.

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Nactra's Bloodthorn Threads

Bladed Strings

Epic

Scaling:

Charisma x 65, Endurance X 63, Agility X 55

Passive Skills:

Self puppetry:

The wearer can control themselves to be more resilient against effects that would hinder them.

Resistance to debuffs: +15%

Wearer has a 30% chance of ignoring the effects of a debuff or ailment.

Silk of Life:

Any damage dealt by the threads can return to the wearer as a minor healing effect.

Thorned Lash:

The strings are able to extend unnaturally, digging deeper into its target's flesh no matter its armor.

Attacks bypass 10% of targets' defenses.

Attacks have a 5% chance to cause a bleeding effect on target.

Targets already under a bleed effect caused by another skill have the intensity of the bleeding harshly increased.

Active skills:

Divine Marionette:

The wearer can use their surroundings to create a large marionette that can be controlled with the strings.

Duration: 1 minute.

Mana Cost: 25% maximum mana.

Crowned Bind:

The seared lashes out with the bladed strings, entailing enemies in a web or razor-sharp threads.

Immobilizes targets for up to 5 seconds.

Range 10 meters.

Cooldown 3 minutes.

Targets immobilize have a 1% chance of be affected by a bleed status.

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After reading the description, Hera was surprised that this was, in fact, a pair of weapons. Gloves with bladed wire attached to them. From what she could understand, she could snap her wrist to unravel the tread and use it to attack. Only the outside part of the strings being able to damage anyone. She had never considered something like that. And it was a shame that this weapon specifically wasn't as strong as any of her court members, otherwise she would truly consider the change.

Some of the skills it possessed were quite interesting. She tried wearing them, but because of her claws, the gloves didn't fit quite well. Still enough for her to attempt to an attack at a random can that they had brought to their room. The string was quite tricky to use, but it seemed effective enough. Maybe she could order something similar from a blacksmith in the future. Hera always liked the idea of having basic bladed weapons, but the additional something more unique was also very interesting. Being able to keep her enemies on her toes was something that fit quite well with her fighting style.

After giving the gloves to Pandora so she could test it out, Daskka who was quiet ever since the glove appeared unlike the rest of the Court, who were also commenting on the possibilities, spoke up. "Mum, I'm pretty sure that if you get to 100% familiarity with that one, we can add it to the court as a titled blade."