"Before we start. Here is the deal. Nimbus, Lurize, Livy, Viper, Crimson, you will be on the backline this time. I want you all thinking about how you would run this dungeon without me," Hera had her titled blades in a line, but she noticed Livy's disappointed look, "I'm not saying you can't fight, but be on the defense. Don't push ahead. We, and by that I mean the team, need to practice our well. Teamwork."

"We are still going to protect you," Nimbus added.

"I sure hope so," Hera smiled, "But seriously, I want to ask you to look at this dungeon, thinking how to beat it without help. And without using mana if you can."

"Why are we not using mana? We all managed to get a Blade Core," Viper asked.

Neria's lesson on compressed mana was way more successful than anyone could imagine. The idea was simple: gather your mana like you were trying to cycle it, or do whatever you did when you meditated to increase the maximum, and then push the mana together. The triton explained how people would focus on a specific part of their bodies and then place all mana there, like a box, or a vault. In just one hour, Vash was able to do that, followed by Skyler, Roan, Hera, and Flint. Each of them had a different name for the skill, a version a bit more tailored to their intention. Skyler and Roan had something called Mana Reservoir, the most simple version of that kind of skill. An extra pool of mana they could use when they wanted. The recovery of that extra mana was around 0.2% of their natural recovery. This meant that when the reservoir reached the same capacity as their regular mana, it would take around two days to completely fill up. In addition, any spell that used that mana would take 20% more mana. However, according to Neria, that skill increased the amount of mana that could be stored quite quickly, while the regeneration increased only as the rank of the skill increased. The penalty would be affected by the rank, too, becoming smaller and smaller. At rank 9, spells should only be 2% more costly. Flint got one named Mana Storage, and although the name sounded the same, it had an extra effect. If he used that extra mana to create an item from his blueprints or used an item, the increase in mana cost would only be 10% instead of 20%. Vash's skill was extremely similar, called 'Mana Tour Bus', which allowed him to have the same reduced increase in the cost of spells that were affected by his perform skill, which already made those spells cheaper.

Hera's version, on the other hand, was wildly different. Initially, it was called 'Mana Well, ' and it had a higher regeneration rate. It would be equal to 0.5% of her passive mana regeneration plus another percentage-based recovery. But that secondary recovery would be based on the Mana Well itself and the layer she was currently at. While at the 1st layer, she would have an extra 0.001% mana regeneration. If she were in the 12th layer, the number would change to 0.012%. There was no mention of a cap, but this also meant that if she could reach the hundred thousandth layer if that were a thing, she would recover the entire Mana Well pool in a single second. But that wasn't all. Daskka recognized that the skill could be added to the legacy. Doing that removed her ability to use spells or normal skills with the mana from the Mana Well. Instead, it would allow her to use any skill that belonged to her blades, or that was part of her legacy with a 5% increase in their cost. In addition, if any of her blades used a skill, they would first reach for the Mana Well and not Hera's natural mana. The cherry on top was that each of her blades would also help increase that maximum mana regeneration from the skill itself. It would be a 0.001% increase from each blade and a 0.01% from each titled blade that was out. The whole 'increased with the layer she was at' and would also continue to work without a problem. In the end, Hera really liked that idea. Not just because it would allow her to use her mana without having to leave some for her court, but she wouldn't end up falling for the trap of 'I have so much mana!' and end up forgetting how much mana she could recover in a pinch. Accepting Daskka's offer, the Ophidianite gained a new legacy skill.

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Empress Core - Mana Well - Rank 1

Legacy

By creating a core, the Empress can now fuel the power of her court while keeping her own mana to herself. The more the court uses that core, the more mana it will be able to contain.

Current Mana available: 10 000/10 000

Current Core recovery: 52/s (0.5% of your Passive Mana Regeneration 10 587/s)

Being a Mana Well, the Empress Core has an increased total mana regeneration. That regeneration is influenced by the depth of the layer the Empress is currently at and the amount of court member out of the legacy.

Extra regeneration by layer depth: 0.001% per layer depth.

Extra regeneration by court member: 0.001% per blade current out of the legacy.

Extra regeneration by titled blade: 0.01% per titled blade

Current extra mana regeneration: 6/s (0.059% of maximum core mana)

(0.012% Layer + 0.007% Court Member + 0.04% Titled blade = 0.059%)

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After the first hour, they all got their skills, but no one said anything since it was all about meditation. Neria had warned them all that she would let them try for some time before checking their progress.

"Everyone? The hour is up. Can I continue the explanation? I'm sure you are all having some problems pushing the mana into the right spot. It will take a while to get the skill, but you should all be able to get it in a few weeks. Also, when you get the skill, remember that if it gets a passive regeneration, that's fine and all, but you can still use your natural mana to fill up the compressed mana," the triton asked.

"Actually… I got it. The skill, I mean," Hera replied.

"Same here," Roan nodded.

"Me too!" Vash puffed his chest.

"And me. It's been like 40 minutes. I was working on increasing the space. I figured I could do the same process to make it work," Skyler added. They all turned to Flint, who was the only one who didn't say anything.

"What? I got it, too. It's only been two minutes, but I got it, ok?! Feel free to say I'm the slow one because I'm short. I know I heard enough jokes about it," he huffed.

"SLOW? SLOW?" Neria gasped, "The four of you got a skill that takes weeks of constant training for most people in one fucking hour, and you are calling it slow?!" the healer wanted to continue talking, but she just kept opening her mouth and closing, giving up any argument midway only to try again, and fail.

"I… think we broke her," Vash waved his hand in front of Neria but to no avail. She was just staring at a random point on the carriage floor.

"I just… I didn't even have a chance to talk about the differences in types of that skill… How did you all get it so fast?" Neria grumbled.

"I don't know. It was just super easy to concentrate mana," Skyler replied.

Hera thought momentarily, "That might have something to do with my title. Ever since I got it, It's been much easier for me to use mana. But I never saw it happening with someone else. Then again, ever since I became an Ophidianite, I didn't stop to meditate like this."

"What title? The Ophidianite Progenitor? Why would that affect mana?" Neria asked.

"No, not that one. One of my other titles," Hera replied.

"Other title?" Roan raised one eyebrow.

"One of?" Vash added, realizing what that meant.

"Yeah, the Mana Touched. I didn't talk to you about it?" Hera tilted her head, receiving a synchronized 'NO!' from the rest of the team. Hera explained about her titles and also regaled the group with the stories about how she got them. After dealing with the curse, she didn't have to worry about it spreading again; even the guides confirmed that. During that time, the titled blades continued trying to make their own Mana Core, and they got it. Each of them had a personalized core, although they were basically the same; they just changed the names and elements to match each of them. To make this easier, they unofficially named them 'Blade Cores.'

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Lurize Core - Mana Well

By creating a core, the Lurize can now store the mana given by the Empress to move around without being limited to the range. In addition to that, the mana inside the core can also be used to fuel spells or skills of the poison element.

Empress Mana available: 1 000/1 000

When doing a Royal Quest, the rate at which the mana inside the core is spent due to distance is reduced by 50%

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They weren't able to recover that mana themselves. After all, this wasn't their mana but Hera's. Still, this meant they could use their own spells and skills without worrying about anything else, adding that to the increased distance they could be at, making the skill perfect for the situation. Nimbus's core allowed him to use protection element spells, Livy water, while Viper and Crimson had the Naga element. There was one more surprise in the middle of all of this. Maybe it was due to the [Army of One] skill, it could also be a weird interaction with Lurize's [Accent Weapons Master], or just because they could sense what each other was doing, but everyone, including Hera, was growing their Cores at an incredible rate. In just the three hours that it took for them to reach the city, stop by the Alliance Center to report and gather a few supplies, and reach the dungeon entrance, the titled blade's cores had reached beyond 100 thousand. At the same time, Hera's was already about to reach 150 thousand. The Empress also could fill up her blades' cores by using her natural mana, just like what she could do with her own. Even better, she could do that without giving them a Royal Quest. This meant that they could move around without worry. All she had to do was fuel them with enough mana.

Again, "Why are we not using mana? We all managed to get a Blade Core," Viper asked.

"Yeah, but the core can only take a small amount of mana. We don't know if you can complete the dungeon with just 100 thousand mana. This is just a safety measure. If we end up with a lot more mana tomorrow night in our cores, you can use your own."

Viper nodded, "That makes a lot of sense. I'll try to figure out how to fight without mana."

Seeing that the Ophidianite wasn't talking anymore, Flint clapped his hands, "Great. Can we go then? Everyone ready."

The entire team nodded. This would be their first and likely worst attempt at completing the dungeon. But the more they ran it, the better they would get. People said it took about 30 minutes to complete an entire run. However, no one mentioned how long it would take for people who just got here to complete the quest. The answer was closer to 2 hours but despite all that. Hera and her team were aiming to kill the boss in 20 minutes.

Touching an archway carved inside the rocks, a notification appeared in front of Hera.

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Would you like to enter the Monarch of the Glen dungeon?

[Yes] [No]

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