Hera watched as a large number of students, who should be between 18 and 19, stepping into the arena. She had placed her Court in such a way that it was easy for those who wanted to participate in this exercise to make lines that would signal who they were going to fight.
But, unlike what she was expecting, no one stepped in front of her. And it wasn't a situation where people were shy about getting closer to the area. Many of her court members, or at least her titled blades, were already seeing lines forming in front of them.
Nimbus had a good five or six people already in line, and so did Livy, Vulcan, and Filigree. On the other hand, Viper had twelve people in front of him, with Crimson having eleven. But the clear winner of this popularity contest was Lurize.
The Empress never said to anyone that he was supposed to be the Royal tutor. The one blade who was the most capable of teaching others. Yet somehow in this setting, the people who wanted to participate in the duel event very much all seemed to gravitate towards him. His line already reaching twenty people. That was a very strange result, but then again, Hera wasn't going to complain about it.
The one thing she found really strange was the fact that no one seemed to be willing to fight her. She noticed one of the teachers approaching and asked, "Did I do something wrong? Was that little display too much? Are they scared of me or something?"
The teacher chuckled and shook his head. "I don't think so. Although not in the way that you're thinking. They probably understood the difference in strength between you and them, and they know that if they're fighting someone that's so beyond their capabilities, there's very little they can learn during a spar. Unless the person is actively holding back and trying to teach them something. I think the students are just going to whoever they think is closest to their own power in hopes of getting the best of this."
"But we all have the same power. Like, sure. I might be a bit more powerful if we're counting the legacy but if we're talking about just the raw fighting ability, we're all the same," Hera spoke in a lower voice to make sure that the students didn't hear her and the teacher just raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I guess they're going to have a surprise, then. But don't worry too much, it's not because of the duel."
"Although I'm sure some people do feel you may have exaggerated a little bit. But there are others who were going to think that Frederick finally got what was coming to him," another teacher added.
They were both wearing electric blue with an emblem that represented Clan Azure, and another that represented the school. Or at least, that was what Hera was assuming. Clan Azure's emblem was a set of coiled chains overlapping with one another, very similar to how the vault door looked. And the school was a castle surrounded by chains, almost as if they were an aura of sorts.
The second symbol was also present on the uniform that the students were wearing. Hera thanked the two teachers for their explanation and did her best to pretend that it didn't bother her. She wasn't expecting that many people were going to want to fight her, but not having a single challenger did make her feel somewhat frustrated.
Still, she made sure she sent a mental message to her entire court asking them to control their abilities. They were fighting people who were all below level 10, and they should pull back as much as possible to give the students a proper training session.
"Okay then, let's do it like this. Each fight will last for 3 minutes," Hera spoke up, and she started to walk around the arena. "It's going to be a one-on-one fight, and no one is allowed to interfere with one another. Me and the rest of my Court will be playing defense, so feel free to go all out with your abilities. You don't have to worry about hurting another student or that a stray spell might hit someone else. If you're going to activate a very wide area attack, let me know so I can stop it."
Hera glanced at her titled blades. They all agreed with what was being said. After all, this suggestion was coming from the entire court, not just from the Empress herself.
"Once the 3 minutes are over, I'm going to let you all know and then the next challenger can step forward. I don't care if you are in the middle of an attack. If we don't do it like that, we won't have enough time for everybody. If you want to fight again, go to the back of the line. My Court is being generous, so you are free to try to go for someone who doesn't have as many challengers. Just keep in mind that there might be a reason why people are not trying to fight them," Hera glanced to the bleachers.
"To make sure that the people in the crowd are not entirely bored or lost in the mayhem that this is about to become, I'll be talking a bit about my experience in the MAZE. This was also what the Matriarch asked me to do, and I'll try my best to fulfill this last favor she asked me."
Despite everything, Hera made a point of making it clear that this was the last favor that Valera asked of her. After all, the Empress had no intention of becoming a friend of Clan Azure in the long run. The duel was already way beyond what she hoped to do when she came here. Still, Valera gave the Empress a nod of agreement, and they started.
There were many, many students, and they all were eager to test their abilities against someone strong. But unlike Frederick, all of them, with a couple of exceptions, were first gauging their opponent. Trying to see if there were any openings or if there was anything they could do to improve their odds. Not rushing headfirst into the battle, and a great number of them were even using [Observe] on the titled blades.
Hera knew about that because she was being showered with notifications that someone was trying to observe her court. It had been a long time since she saw that kind of thing. At least in a random place like this. Usually, it was something akin to asking to see someone's ID.
And while she was used to having to show her information at any official place that asked for someone's ID, or a party like the gala that she went to a couple weeks back. Being observed out of the blue was something rather strange. Still, she mentally dismissed all the observe notifications for the moment and started speaking.
The Empress decided to give the students a little bit of her background. She didn't go into too many details aside from the fact that she was indeed human when she was born. And that the guild refused to let her be an Explorer the first time she tried to be one. But she didn't go into the specifics on how she got to level up.
Saying that it was only due to a lucky break and applying in a lottery that allowed her to get to that point. Then, she talked about her early days discovering magic and understanding how dungeons worked or the other experiences that you could only truly get when you were inside the MAZE. She went on to talk about Boothudurn and how she and a friend got stuck there due to a series of unlikely and unforeseen circumstances.
She talked about the Naga and, more specifically, Chika and how the giant snake was killed by powerful explorers, even though this wasn't something that Hera herself wished had happened. And how she and a friend decided to travel a bit and in the process, she found her legacy.
Halfway through her story, a lot of the people who were on the line to fight against the titled blade had given up and were now in the audience just listening to her accomplishments. A few people shed tears when she mentioned Chika's plushie, the one that was left behind by Darni, and how the Naga hero did everything he could to recover the memory of his brother. The emperor who was hidden away by the Naga.
She went on to talk about Ditzvery and how the Sentinel attack was a pivotal moment in her life. She measured no words in speaking how hard it was to kill someone for the first time and the spiral that the event sent her into. The Empress made sure not to talk about Alex's curse or any of the more important events of those days. By the time she was talking about the war, there was no one else fighting. They were all just sitting and listening intently to the Empress's words.
Hera herself was somewhat aware of that, although if it wasn't for Oberon's help, she wouldn't be able to notice all the details. The hat seemed to be very proficient in telling stories as he would give some hints and nudges to where what was the next topic that Hera should approach.
"You know what they say, war is hell. Yeah, that's not just a cool thing to say. It really is awful and something that you can never forget. I'm not going to lie and say that I'm glad that Clan Azure did not participate in the war. And I say this because I truly believe that with your help a great number of lives would have been saved. But at the same time," she paused and looked around the arena.
"I am very happy that none of you had to witness what I did. That none of you had to see former friends trying to kill each other. People who you once thought were your companions, your allies turning around and trying to do their very best to destroy you. That you didn't see people who, even though you might not like trying to deliver bombs that would kill thousands of innocents, thousands of children just to get an edge on the battle. Just to hit our armies' morale, maybe win a few meters in territory."
Hera paused again and looked down before turning to the side. Facing the crowd, where Matriarch Azure was sitting. She wasn't looking directly at the older woman. But she was talking in their general direction, facing the older students and the teachers.
"But I do hope that in the horrible scenario where something like this were to happen again, you are able to look into your conscience and realize that there are things more important than the well-being or the progress of one single clan. That there are fights that must be fought no matter the cost."
"But still, it's somewhat rare to see big wars like that happen in one's lifetime. Or at least, in a human lifetime. Multiple wars, I mean. That one felt like a once in our lifetime situation. So, I don't think any of you will have to worry about that. And I think that's all we have for today's class. At least, my part of the class. I hope you all enjoyed it, and good luck in your future adventures. Also, if any of you ever decides to try to become an Ophidianite, know that I will be more strict with you than I am with others."
People started laughing, assuming it was a joke, even though Hera knew that it really wasn't. She didn't like how the clan behaved, even though the kids here seemed to be on the better side of things. Still, that came off as a joke, and she wasn't going to correct them just to sour the mood.
Valera walked off with Joseph and some of the other elders. But Insomniac, on the other hand, stepped towards Hera to talk to her, but before he managed to reach her, the Empress received a call on her tablet. With a frown she picked it up not knowing whose number was that and saw George on the other side of the screen.
"Hey, Hera. Are you still nearby?"
"I am. Why?"
"I got some materials that I was saving up for a really big project, and inspiration just hit me like a truck. I'm almost done with your weapon. Do you want to come by to get it? Make sure that we can go over any finishing touches you might need, but it's basically done, and I'm pretty sure you're going to be very happy with the results."
"Already?"
"Yeah, I was not expecting things to be this fast either. Then again, I did have a legendary set of motor and a chain already made, one that I felt you would fit very well with your weapon. I created this piece a very long time ago when I was trying to make something just powerful without worrying about the durability. That kind of sped up the process by a lot."
Hera paused for a moment and quickly reached down to her bag before even saying anything to George. She pulled up a pink flower, the one that she got from the dinosaur room. The item said that it could upgrade an item, as long as it was something that fit her somehow. And it could only do that during the next 3 days. Which was also the time where it would give her more luck.
She checked the timer, and there were still a couple of hours before it went out. Meaning that maybe she could get not only a new weapon but also an upgraded one. Which could only make it even more powerful.
"I'm on my way," she said with a big smile.
Insomniac approached with a confused expression, but before he could say anything, Hera dragged the man out of the arena, running towards Forge's workshop as fast as she could.