Hera, Blue, and Silah walked out of the dungeon. They had some dirt on their hair and shoulders, but they were all smiling and laughing.

"It was a good idea to test that inside the dungeon. Can you imagine how hard it would be to clean that up?" Blue said.

"Yeah. The mess I made in the bathroom was with just the base cost, and you saw how well I cleaned that up," Hera triggered her necklace to clean her armor. A small pulse of energy coursed through her body, repelling all the dirt from her gear. Some of the sand even flew far enough to hit Silah and Blue.

"Hey, watch it!" Blue gasped.

"Sorry. New item, I'm still getting used to it," Hera smiled.

"I really liked that effect. Where did you get it?" Silah turned to Blue.

"I talked with Ogryn, and he's the one that enchanted it. He said he wanted to do it himself to pass it along to the crafters he has. It took a few tries to make it like, usable. The first prototype needed 100 thousand mana but cleaned the armor completely."

"Damn, he can put many people out of business with that," Hera didn't expect his first attempt to be so successful.

"I'll talk to him later. Having one to get rid of the ash from the forge would be incredible," Silah said.

They walked back to the humans' house. They still had a few hours before the time they agreed to head up to the nest. Naka and some others would join them, and everyone was apprehensive about the fight. Hera and Blue wanted to fight it when they got to level 15, but they needed a way to counter the storm the Sky Ruler could create before going there. Their original plan was to have Blue use most of her mana to mimic the storm using the legacy and cancel both of them out. However, doing that was risky because Blue wouldn't be able to use more spells, and there was the possibility of the Sky Ruler simply creating another storm.

But now, they had another plan. Ogryn had shown them a spell that could counteract clouds by absorbing some moisture inside them with sand. It was theoretical work, of course, but it still helped. Hera worked hard to make the same spell. However, it was complicated to create matter with magic, not to mention the struggle to focus only on sand. Since it was so specific, making that was hard. Hera understood that, in nature, it was almost impossible to find an area that only had sand. There would always be something mixed inside. It was only during the party, when she saw a picture frame with sand and water inside, that she remembered that sand is actually awful at absorbing water. The liquid passes right through it, and using that on a cloud wouldn't have much effect. She actually needed something similar to what people use on their yards or their plants. A mixed soil that could both absorb the water and let it go through it. After she stopped focusing solely on the sand, it became much easier to create the spell. After all, she wasn't trying to make something specific. It was more of a concept.

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Create Soil

Rank: Novice

Creates soil using mana. The soil does not have any minerals for growing plant life but behaves like natural soil.

The quantity of mana used will determine the amount and spread of the soil created.

Range: 10 meters

Mana cost: 200 mana

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By itself, the spell would barely help, but that was only one piece of the puzzle. Blue's legacy allowed her to create blank storm clouds. When receiving a spell, attack, or type of mana from an outside source, the clouds would inherit its effects, and the results would vary wildly. For instance, using a fire arrow only made the cloud warmer, but the grease fire would trigger an actual rain of fire. To make things even better, the blank storm clouds would start small but could grow considerably. It wouldn't be enough to clear the entire sky at once, but Blue could also move them around.

The three of them had just tested how the create soil spell would affect it, and the heavy clouds in the Wooly Plains' hard mode. The result was a resounding success. After being hit by the create soil, Blue's cloud turned into something closer to a sandstorm. Hitting the heavy clouds already present in the area made them much less menacing. It was like they were scooping up chunks of clouds with this combo spell.

After arriving at their house, Blue suggested not to talk or think about the upcoming fight during this moment of rest. The idea was to avoid stressing out, but forcing themselves to not think about something made it harder not to think about it. When the alarm that Hera had set up finally rang, they all sighed with relief and left towards the mines. As they got closer to the palace, they noticed the main street was filled with people. They were all on the sidewalks, almost like if they were waiting for a parade.

"… Did anyone tell Fethy about this?" Hera asked. Silah shook her head. But Blue just stared into the crowd, "Blue?" Hera pressed.

"I was drunk. Really, really drunk."

"C'mon, you know this was supposed to be on the down-low," Hera sighed.

Before anyone noticed them, the trio sneaked behind a house. Then, instead of walking down the main road, they ran to the sides, trying to avoid the eager eyes of the dwarves on the road. All three of them were very put off by the display. They could understand that it was a nice gesture, but there was still a possibility that they would all be cheering while Hera and Blue walked to their deaths.

After much sneaking around, they finally arrived at the Mines. There were still some dwarves around, but most seemed to stay away from Naka and the others. Most likely not to incur the captain's wrath. Still, Hera saw a couple of familiar faces, including the king, Risli, and Silah's family. It was her parents, two sisters, and two brothers. That was a big family, even by dwarven standards. They all worked with crafting, but only Silah and her father would make armors or weapons. The others made various tools or accessories. Her younger brother was the only one who broke the tradition of working with stone or iron. Instead, he was studying to be a dressmaker. Hera knew them, but she didn't have that much contact with the family, not that she didn't like them. Silah was the one who made sure her parents couldn't tell more embarrassing stories about her childhood. Hera and Blue greeted some of the dwarves around and moved to the side to talk to the king.

"I wasn't expecting you to come from there. The reports say you always take the palace road," Rutigan said.

"Sorry, we just wanted to take a different route. If we knew that this was going on, we would have walked along the palace road," Hera replied.

"I'm sure that would be the case," Rutigan gave Hera a look that told her he didn't believe her story.

It was expected, after all, she spent most of the previous night hiding from people who wanted to wish her a happy birthday. But at least the king didn't seem like he would press the matter. Not wanting to give him a chance to complain, Hera turned to Risli.

"Hey, I'm glad you came, but I would understand if you didn't. I know you are against us going there," Hera smiled at the shaman.

"Are humans all that spiteful? Just because I don't agree with your decision doesn't mean I'm not here to support you. Besides, if things go to shit, you might need my help," Risli smiled.

"Risli… there are children nearby," Rutigan pleaded.

"How is that my problem? I stopped babysitting a long time ago," the shaman stared at the king, who sighed and escorted the humans the last few meters towards the rest of the team.

They all greeted each other and waved at the crowd before going inside. The king wouldn't follow them towards the nest, and Risli would wait by the tunnel entrance. She was too old to make the trek all the way to the nest. Having people help her walk up or even carrying the shaman was discussed. However, they all knew that Risli would be too proud to accept that, and if she walked up on her own, it would take way too long. No one wanted to make their journey almost 3 times longer. This didn't mean that there would be no healers at the ready. Lerynn and Telanz would be by the nest entrance, not just for an emergency, but also for Blue and Hera to use hit-and-run tactics and recover themselves during the fight.

Naka and the other team members had all been helping them come up with strategies to raid the nest. A couple of days after Blue got her legacy, she started using its spells and abilities to practice during the dungeon. That led to Totrak and Pyrrick asking enough questions to realize that there was something different. Blue felt like she had no other option but to confess. Luckily, the fact she got a legacy didn't seem to bother anyone. Even after talking to the king, they all agreed that it wasn't something that belonged to them, like Risli's shaman legacy. In reality, everyone got excited about the possibilities that came with that legacy, and all their plans were created already considering her new abilities.

Aside from the healers, Naka, Ogryn, Totrak, Pyrrick, Lija, Sevaris, and Ganek went to the nest. Each mage had a different spell to assist them, while the guards would be there as a safeguard if one griffon tried to come out of the nest. That was something that none of them had considered at first, but during the humans' fourth attempt to gather information, one juvenile Sky Ruler chased Hera and Blue all the way back to the path. This made the entire situation more stressful, and Ogryn shifted the rock that formed the tunnel to block anything that might come through. Their fear was that, at some point, one of the sky rulers could come down that path and reach the city. If that happened, there would be mayhem.

Because of the barriers, it took longer to arrive at the nest's entrance. People were nervous as Hera and Blue received all the buffs. First, Pyrrick's stat boost was applied. Then Ogryn's element infuse that was changed from sand to soil after Hera's insight. Followed by a version of Totrak's solid aid that affected an area around an object that targeted both Hera and Blue's armor. Lastly, Lija cast Orbital Mineral around the two. She waved her hands around the ground as a dozen small rocks spun around the humans, creating small orbits around them. These stones could block attacks or hit anything that got too close. As a safeguard, if Hera or Blue said the king's name, the spell would stop, just if they had to get close to each other while the stones were still active.

Hera had her chakram on one hand, her old handaxe on her waist, and Silah's gift in her other hand. Blue also had some new equipment made by Kahala. It was a set of grey armor with a high defense rating and some skills to release steam when hit. The master armorsmith created that after some discussion with Blue and realizing the type of things that could synergize with her new legacy. Hera and Blue were inspecting all their gear and looking over their abilities to make sure they wouldn't forget anything.

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Dwarven Hope

Rarity: Rare

A handaxe created by Silah, a genius blacksmith from the city of Boothudurn. The weapon was tailormade for a human who arrived in the city. The materials used in the creation were imbued with the crafter's feelings, increasing its strength and effects.

Attribute scaling:

Strength x 1.8

Agility x 1.8

Endurance x 1.8

Charisma x 1.8

Weapon Skill:

I will protect you

An intense desire to protect the user was present during the crafting process. When the user takes damage, there is a 10% chance that this skill will activate, increasing the user's endurance by 20% for 5 seconds. During that effect, any healing the user receives is increased by 10%

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Hera couldn't help but smile at the weapon. Not only was it much stronger than her previous one, but the skill was something that made it seem like Silah would always be near her. She wanted to go give her girlfriend a kiss, but there were too many people around, not to mention there were the orbiting rocks that would hit anything that got too close, regardless of what it was.

With everything ready, everyone took a deep breath as the humans crossed the barrier. It was the second time they entered the nest during the day and the first time the sky was clear. The sun reflected in the snow made the ground look like it was shining. That made finding the monsters in the area much easier. The griffons stuck out like a sore thumb in the white sheet that covered the plateau. Another thing that was very apparent now was the location of each nest. All they had to do was to look for a cluster of feathers.

However, it wasn't all good news. Unlike when they came during the night, there were already a dozen smaller griffons flying around. Some seemed to be going down the mountain, while others just basked in the sun. As Hera and Blue looked around, the sound of flapping wings came from the side. Two griffons came up and stared at the humans before lunging to attack the invaders.