"The first question cos from @GravediggerUnboxing," Becca paused to chuckle. "Sorry, that one got . They ask how strange it is to have a tail?"
"That's a good one @GravediggerUnboxing. At first, it was very weird. It changes so things that you really don't think about. For instance, if I want to sleep on my back, I need a specific type of mattress. But uniquely enough, it doesn't get in the way of sitting. But in a more chanical sense, it feels like it was always a part of . I never had any issues not being able to control it, or not being aware of where it was located. My best bet as the reason is that the Ascension also rewired my brain a little bit to make that a bit easier," Hera replied.
"Now one from..." Becca paused and turned to the crew behind the cara. "Really?" she got a nod and sighed. "@Beccaslovelygrippers, and I really hope it's a different Becca. They ask if you have to shed skin like a snake."
Hera nodded, trying to disguise a smile. "I do, but I'm still not entirely sure if it is a seasonal thing or if that only happens in response to sothing else. The only ti I had to shed was after I got hit by a very nasty blow. Even after healing, the scales around the wound started to peel off. I burned the skin because I really didn't know what I should do with it. But I'm open to suggestions. If I can look past the weirdness and the grossness of it all, it would be very tal to wear an armor made of my own skin."
Becca blinked slowly while staring at Hera. "That is a sentence I never imagined I would hear."
"But am I wrong, though?"
"You're not wrong, but the fact that your mind went there kind of worries ," Becca replied, getting a couple of laughs from the crowd. She took a look at her tablet and saw the next question. "This next question cos from soone in the audience. Would you be willing to have an entire family joining the Ophidianite species?"
"I would," Hera didn't even hesitate. "But I admit that I would ask if they are applying individually or as a group. It is possible that one of the family mbers could be a bad fit. In that case, the rejection of one or everyone will depend on how they applied to join."
"Would that include small children?" Becca went for a follow-up.
"No. And I have confird that. Even if it was sohow possible to give a child the Naga or the Ophidianite skill on the rank needed for the ascension, in order to go through the Ascension you need to be at least level two, which also would translate to being at least 18," Hera explained.
"I have another question. This one cos from . How do you know all that? Did you have a manual or a long explanation in the notification?"
Hera knew she couldn't talk about Tara. She had asked about that and the rules were the sa as talking to the guides. "During the Ascension, I was able to ask questions and receive answers from the System. I got the sa opportunity once I received the ability to ascend for the first ti."
"Are you able to get more details from the system?"
"I haven't tried, but it should be possible. Worst-case scenario, we can get more information once the next person is ascending, as long as they are also given the opportunity to ask questions about that. I would also like to add that during the entire process, you have several chances to give up. The system will ask you again and again if you are sure you want to continue, and until the very last step, you have the option to say no and just give it up. But I am not sure if giving up would have any ramifications," Hera continued.
There was a noise from the left which snapped Blue out of her trance. She had been watching Hera's interview over and over again since the broadcast a week ago, focusing on all the parts about being an Ophidianite. The controller knew she would never ascend while her brother and sister couldn't go to the MAZE, but after that, going through that process was a very real possibility.
"Sorry for the wait. The book was deeper in my bag," a voice followed the noise.
"That's ok, Mr. Ardane. You are already helping so much. You don't need to worry about making wait a little," Blue replied, putting her tablet away. She was currently at Wildborn's house, where Elias Ardane had just arrived. Before even setting things up properly, the man asked for Blue so he could start teaching her the skill.
"Please, call Elias. We're going to be working very close together now. We should be comfortable," Elias said with a smile. He was an older man with thin round glasses, a short untrimd white beard forming a line around his jaw, and thin hair hidden by a knitted cap. He wasn't the most muscular man, but did look fit. Then again, that was sowhat common for people who traveled through the MAZE often. It was hard not to stay in shape when physical prowess was a requirent for survival.
"Thank you," Blue smiled.
"Now, if you don't mind, could I see how far you've gotten with the construction of your arm?" Elias asked, already pulling up a small notebook and his tablet to make so notes.
"Sure, but keep in mind that I'm cheating a little bit," Blue replied. She moved to start working, but Elias spoke up.
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"What do you an by that?"
Blue frowned, thinking if she should say sothing. But she quickly decided not to worry about it. After all, what else could they take from her?
"A lot of people already know about this, but I had a legacy. Morgan threatened to give it to him, but when I did that, I got a title. I don't know why. So people are saying that it's about having the Legacy for just a few years before giving it to soone else, but I don't know. Anyway, the title makes it easy for to learn skills related to one specific elent. In this case, clouds."
"How much easier?" Elias asked with a frown.
"This much," Blue turned to her stump. Doing this while looking at the mana being created was much easier. The controller slowly let the cloud form around her arm. Initially, it didn't have a set shape, being just a blob that wrapped around her arm. But little by little, sothing started to appear. It wasn't an arm, not really. Anyone watching it would see more of an appendage, closer to a tentacle than anything else.
"That... is amazing. The people I've tried teaching this to usually took months to get to this level. If you don't mind asking, what rank is the skill that lets you do that already?"
"I actually have two skills doing this. The first is Mana Construct. It's a basic skill to make things out of mana skill. But the problem is that it's static. Or at least, as static as clouds can be. I can't move this. Not really. I an, I can do this," Blue triggered a simple gust of wind spell and made the cloud construction shift, "But that's because of the cloud, not because of ."
Elias nodded while rubbing his beard and looking at the cloud tentacle a bit too closely. "I see. You ntioned a second skill. Am I correctly assuming that is the second skill that allows you to turn this into a cloud?"
"You are. The construct I'm making is out of pure Mana, like it said on the book you sent . Then I'm using this other skill to convert it into a cloud."
Elias pulled back and grabbed his notebook. Flipping through a few pages before stopping, "I understand your intention with that. But you said that you are getting skills based on clouds more easily, right?"
"Right," Blue nodded.
"Very well, very well. This ans we should change the thod of acquiring the skills," Elias replied.
"What, why?" Blue frowned and tried to cross her arms, but it was hard to do that with one hand.
"You see, you have a unique benefit of getting skills related to clouds more easily. Yet, you yourself are not using that benefits. Think about it. The Skill will allow you to gain a new limb to replace the one you've lost. It's not related to clouds. Hence, by using the skin to create constructs made out of pure Mana, you deprive yourself of the very best tool you have at your disposal," Elias gesticulated a lot while talking, almost smacking a cup that was on a nearby table more than once during this short statent.
"Well, I figured I should start making the constructs like this and then figure out how to make the limbs out of clouds to get the skill," Blue defended herself.
Elias sighed. "Do you write with your left or your right hand?"
"My right hand. I can still write, at least," Blue glanced at her stump.
"And have you ever tried learning how to write with your left hand?" Elias asked.
Blue gestured to her missing arm. "And how am I supposed to do that?"
"I an, before you lost your arm, child. Have you ever attempted to learn sothing that you had already learned before? To learn sothing in a different way than what you've learned in the past."
Blue stopped to think for a mont. "I'm not sure. Probably sothing about fighting that I didn't really get before. But I can't think of anything specific right now." She paused. "Actually, no. I had so issues when I first got my Legacy... My old legacy. So of the spells that I used just didn't work the sa way. It took a while to get used to the new way they were behaving because of my new skill."
"Exactly!" Elias almost jumped, pushing his face very close to Blue's, "If you were to learn how to create a limb made out of Mana only to then try to change it, it would be much, much more difficult. If your desire is to have an arm made out of the very clouds that fly in the sky, you need to start with those clouds. Otherwise, your learning experience will hinder you in the future."
Blue took a step back to get so distance between the two. "Okay. I think I understand what you an. But if you don't mind, can you respect my personal space? I'm still not very comfortable being around people. And also, clouds don't fly. They float. They are lighter than air. That's why they can stay up there."
Elias took a step back. "Ah, yes. My apologies. I did not an to scare you. But I'm afraid this old skeleton who moves my skin does enjoy the spooky season of Halloween," he smiled and winked at Blue, while doing so strange quick dance with his arms, trying to seem cheerful.
"But... It's March," the controller tilted her head.
Seeing his attempt at a joke didn't work, Elias cleared his throat. "Nevertheless. If you wish that your new limb is created from a cloud, we must start the whole process considering the clouds."
Blue nodded. "Okay. And do you have any idea how to do that? I was trying to use the sa basis of a mana reinforcent, but without anything to reinforce it, it just didn't work."
Elias flipped through his notebook until he found the start of a specific section. "Here, child! I have a number of people who also wanted their nas to co from specific elents. Unfortunately, we were unable to find a blueprint that worked for all of them. But there are unique thods for each elent that we can explore."
"That's nice. How many elents have you been able to do that with?" Blue leaned over to see the notebook. The page was strangely empty, with just a couple of lines written down in really awful handwriting.
"Together with my students, I have been able to complete this with a grand total of two distinct elents! More precisely, they were able to complete this. This ans that half of my students chose this unique path." Elias replied.
"Wait... how many people actually tried to get that mana limb skill?" Blue frowned.
"I have looked for people capable of learning this skill across the MAZE. In the process, four people beca my students and learned this magnificent skill. This makes you my fifth apprentice."
Blue did her best not to frown. When Wildborn talked about this skill, she figured it was sothing more well-established. But apparently, it was as experintal as they co. Then again, it was only a few things she still could do while living with her parents. The controller had already decided that she would return to the MAZE, but she couldn't. Not right now. The mories of what happened were still fresh, and the fear that ca along with them was very much there.
But if she was able to create a new arm, and maybe even more than one, she would feel safer once it was ti to return. All she could do was hope she moved fast enough not to be left behind by her friends.
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