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Ooze - Sound

Chakram

Attribute Scaling:

Empress attributes: 74

Strength: x3.67 [1.8(3.6) + 1.87] Charisma: x3.27 [1.4(2.8) + 1.87] Luck: x3.97 [1.1(2.2) + 1.87] Intelligence: 1.87 Endurance: 1.87 Agility: 1.87

Weapon skill:

Howl:

You can make your weapon scream, causing nearby creatures to run away in fear or to become frozen in place.

Range: 50 meters

Mana cost: 200 mana

Engraving:

Deals 10% of the damage as lightning damage when imbued with mana.

No engraving slots

Familiarity: 53%

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Executioner - Strength

Hand axe

Attribute scaling:

Empress attributes: 68

Intelligence: x3.25 [1.45(2.9) + 1.8] Charisma: x3.1 [1.3(2.6) + 1.8] Dexterity: x2.9 [1.1(2.2) + 1.8]

Agility: x1.8 Strength: x1.8 Luck: x1.8

Weapon Skill:

Executioner's strike.

Attacks that hit a vital spot in the target will deal 100% more damage.

Engraving:

Increase the strength of the weapon by 10% when imbued with mana.

Strength Scaling when active: x1.98

1 engraving slots

Familiarity: 66%

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Hera only needed three tries to make Executioner's engraving. Despite strength not being the best attribute for it, she decided to pick it since it was the type of manner that her blade used, hoping that the effects would be stronger because of it. Unfortunately, Daskka said that they weren't. Any other blade would receive the same kind of buff, meaning that this engraving wasn't the best option for Executioner. That ended up being one more reason for her to consider changing her blades in the future. If Hera wanted to be more effective with her legacy, she would have to stop being so sentimental with her weapons.

"I have to say, watching you add a new blade to your court is something else. I mean, it's smooth and simple. You can barely see the weapon stop existing. Well, I guess it doesn't stop existing. It's just somewhere else," Bonnie told Hera. The previous day, when Hera decided to add to her roster, she sent a text to everybody because they had mentioned they wanted to know what the process of adding a weapon to her court looked like.

"Really? I don't know. To me it just looks like smoke, and I kind of think it's Daskka who's doing that. Like maybe she doesn't have to, but she does it anyway, I don't know," Hera looked towards the snake that was on her shoulder.

"You're kind of right. I don't have to do the mist, but at the same time, something has to. During the process of adding a weapon to your court, something has to cover it completely and then make the blade disappear. It could be anything really, fire, water, ice, light, dust, blood, whatever. It just ends up being me because…well, I'd like to practice making things with the mist," Daskka explained.

"Oh, OK. Is it always that beautiful? Also, is it always the same thing that gets the weapon, or does it change depending on its element?"

"I'm not sure. If you want, next time, we can try."

"Try what?" Bonnie asked.

Hera started explaining when Blue arrived. The controller was also curious about their conversation, and she asked to be filled in with what was going on. Even Alex shared some of the excitement, but to a lesser degree. She wasn't bothered by the legacy anymore, but she was more curious about what the blades could do in action and not about the small details of getting them.

Right now, they were already in the waiting room for the No Hotel dungeon, just waiting for Blue and Helena to arrive, and there was no one else around. It was very similar to the entrance of a hotel. There was a large chandelier on the ceiling, several very comfortable couches and chairs, and a fireplace that was turned off and didn't seem to be real. The structure of the fireplace looked much more like one of those parts of a building that were just made to look good and did not actually have a function. All in all, it was a nice place if it wasn't for one detail. The walls had a light blue texture that tried to replicate small waves rippling through the stones. When you were paying attention to them, everything was fine, but when you were looking elsewhere, it created an optical illusion that the walls were moving. If the rest of the hotel followed that pattern, it would be very easy to get disoriented, which was likely part of the dungeon's design. It didn't take long for Helena to arrive, and when she did, they talked a bit more about the No Hotel before going inside.

"OK, things to watch out for. Don't stay outside any room after you hear the roar. There is only one roar, and trust me, you won't miss it. Inside there, we can find several statues. They are the people, I guess, that work in the hotel. We can ask them for directions or advice about rooms, but they won't give a complete answer unless our destination is right on our faces. Also, don't worry about finding the coat or the pattern to locate her room. It's usually something so mind-boggling that it takes longer for us to figure it out than it would take for us to find it if we just walked. " Helena explained.

"Sometimes we might split up too, right? Do I remember that correctly?" Alex asked.

"Yes. Some of the rooms have a limit of people that can be inside. When that happens, we're gonna have to split up and communicate either toward communicators or by knocking on the door or just yelling. As long as we're inside a room, we can do whatever we want, and the Housekeeper won't do anything about it," Helena nodded.

"And inside each room, there's a challenge of sorts. Like the place getting really cold," Blue added.

"You guys really remember. That's correct. Inside that room, there will be a trial of sorts. We need to stay inside for at least a specific amount of time, and if we stay for longer, we're just gonna add to the time that we have to roam around before the Housekeeper starts patrolling the hallways again. On top of the door from the inside, there will be a clock. If the time is red, it shows how much time we have to wait until the Housekeeper goes back inside, and when it's green, it shows how much time we will have before the monster starts walking around again. When everybody is inside a room, the red timer will start ticking down even if we are in split groups. And as long as there is no one in the hallways, the green timer will pick up after the red timer goes to zero. Another issue. Each room has its own timer and if we split up the timer will always be equal to the longest one. Which might cause some problems."

"Does that mean that when the clock hits zero, it's going to start ticking up at one second, and we have to wait for however long before going out?" Hera asked.

Helena shook her head, "Not really. Since each room is a test, when you complete the test, meaning the red timer counts down to zero, we get a bonus time to move around. It can vary depending on how hard the challenge was. If it's a cold room and we're just chilling by the time the test is over, we should get around 5 or 10 minutes. Let's say the challenge is on par with the temperatures in the Arctic, then we would get a lot more time. If I remember correctly, the most time I ever got with the group was an hour. And the challenge was really tricky. It was about being in a place where the oxygen got thinner and thinner. By the end, we had less air than one would have on top of Everest."

"Can we fail those challenges and still survive?" Blue asked.

"Some of them, yeah. I've only mentioned the ones about cold, but there are some more unique ones. Sometimes we are going to have to do an obstacle race, climb a wall, or find a white flower in the middle of a yellow flower field. Everything is non-combat-related, but sometimes combat might help. For instance, I did one test that was about breaking wooden boards. Kind of like those things you see in martial arts presentations. The more we broke, the more bonus time we would have later," Helena continued explaining, almost like a teacher talking to her class.

"OK. Is there anything else?" Bonnie asked.

"No, that's about it. Are you all ready?" the mage looked around.

Everyone nodded, but Hera remembered a detail, "Oh. I was reading up about the dungeon, and someone in the comments of a video said to look under pillows. They said something about chocolate mints. I'm not sure if they were telling the truth, but I guess it's worth a shot."

"Huh. I don't think we ever checked under the pillows when I did this. It's worth a try," Helena nodded.

With that, the group walked towards the dark green door, and, on the other side, they could see the reception desk for the hotel. It was the same color as the door and made out of simple wood with some details to give it some personality. However, something about that seemed a bit off. The lines were too perfect, and there wasn't a single speck of dust anywhere. As they approached, they found no one at the desk. It was completely empty, no paper, no computer, and no keys to be seen in the hangers on the back. It was like the place was completely deserted.

"Wasn't there supposed to be a statue here?" Blue looked around, searching for the person who would give them the key and the quest.

"Yeah, they are there," Helena pointed to the left. Everyone looked over, but there was nothing. The moment they focused back on the desk, they saw a creature standing there.

"What the hell?" Hera gasped while jumping away from the statue that had just appeared. Everyone else did the same with Bonnie tripping and almost falling to the floor.

Helena started laughing, "I'm sorry. Your reactions were great."

Hera took a moment to look at what was behind the desk. There was a humanoid statue, although it had no ears or facial features aside from a half-moon mouth and two black beady eyes that seemed to peer into one's soul. It also seemed to have a frazzled black hair under its bellboy hat. Looking down, she could see that it was wearing a jacket with a vest and a tie, but everything was made of stone that had a slight tint to it. The hat and the vest were red, while the jacket was black and the tie blue.

"Welcome to the No Hotel. Will you be taking individual rooms or one for the whole group?" the voice came from the statue, but it was unmoving. The mouth didn't change, and the words seemed to be injected forcefully into everyone's minds.

"Oh, this is weird…. What do we answer?" Bonnie turned to Helena.

"We will be taking a single room, please. One for all of us," Helena replied to the statue before turning back to the group, "Now close your eyes."

"Why?" Alex asked.

"The statues can't move unless no one is watching them," Helena explained.

"That's not creepy at all," Hera rolled her eyes.

"That's how things go. Now close your eyes," Everyone followed what Helena said, and after a couple of seconds, the mage spoke up again, "You can open now."

"Fuck me!" Blue gasped. The statue was now with its hand towards her and its head was uncomfortably close to her face. Hera also noticed that the frazzled black hair had changed to a blue shade that was eerily similar to Blue's hair.

"Yep. They do that," Helena chuckled, "Also, just a heads up. They move extremely fast. If you blink, it's enough for them to change their position from standing still to that or to get very close to you, if that's the case."

Blue reached out to get the keys, and as soon as she did so, a notification appeared in front of them.

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Dungeon Quest

Find your room

The No Hotel receptionist has given you your room key. Enter your room to complete the quest.

Rewards: 250 000 gold. No Hotel amenities

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"Your room is room 8592B. Is a very nice room with an amazing view of the frosty mountains behind the hotel. I ask you to please be careful when walking our corridors. We are currently understaffed, and our Housekeeper needs to keep her schedule. You are free to enter any vacant rooms while she's passing by to avoid any uncomfortable situations," the statue spoke. Now that Hera could pay a bit more attention, she noticed how the voice was weird. It was like each word had a slightly different pitch than the previous one.

"OK… and how do we get there?" Bonnie asked.

"Your room is to my left, your right. If you get lost, please look for one of our staff. They'll be able to assist you in locating your destination," the statue spoke, still frozen in the same position that it gave the key to Blue.

Alex walked over to the corridor and noticed how narrow the place was. Even if Helena said that each hallway had a different size, she felt that it was a bit too much, "Are all hallways like this, or do they get bigger? This feels a little claustrophobic."

"No!" Helena gasped.

"We are able to accommodate our customers. If you wish the hallways to be wider, we can make it happen," the statue replied before the ground started rumbling. The waves on the walls moved, folding into themselves and showing a large square room with five rows and five columns of doors on each side along with some stairs and moving platforms.

"What did I do?" Alex turned to Helena.

"Shit. It's my bad. I forgot to warn you guys to be careful when talking to this one. The hotel is going to be all wide and weird, and it's easier for the Housekeeper to see us now," Helena sighed.

"What?!" Bonnie gasped, "Does that mean that it will kill us on sight?"

"Not really. But she will start chasing us when she sees us. We're lucky that the Housekeeper is not that fast, and she doesn't have any ranged attacks."

"I would advise you to move quickly. The change in the hotel changed the Housekeeper's schedule, and she will start working soon," the statue now had changed. Its back was turned to the group while it seemed to be placing a key on the large key hanger behind it. Its head had done a complete 180-degree turn, and the beady eyes had small curves on the bottom trying to show some sort of happy expression that only made it more creepy.

"We better get going then, guys. This just became a bit more complicated," Helena clapped her hands and gestured for everyone to move.